How tracking your steps every day can help you live a healthier life

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The popularity of fitness trackers like the Apple Watch and Fitbit has seen a huge spike in step tracking. No matter if you’re a fitness fanatic or you’re about to start your journey, you’re probably wondering why it’s so important to get your steps in.

It may not come as a surprise to learn that it can do wonders for your health and wellbeing. In fact, it’s probably doing more than you realize.

Tracking your steps ensures that you meet your goals and reap the rewards of your hard work.

Dr. Kristamarie Collman explained to Bustle, “Nowadays, tracking steps has been a huge trend.For some, it can spike motivation and help set attainable goals depending on one’s lifestyle. Once you have reached the initial goal, it can push you to work up to more steps. Tracking your steps can help keep you accountable for moving throughout the day, and it certainly provides a nudge to sneak in more activity for improved overall health. One of the best parts is it helps to keep track of the progress which has been made over the long-term. This can be a total confidence booster.”

So, with this in mind, here is why tracking your steps every day can help you live a healthier life.

A Culture Focused On Health And Well-Being

The work and office environment has prioritized the company’s bottom line over everything else, paying little attention to employee health and wellness.

With the rise of fitness trackers and other devices aiming to fulfil similar objectives, health and wellness has certified itself at the forefront of workplace culture. As a result, teams are happier, more engaged with the firm they’re working for and more likely to stay at the expense of a poaching competitor.

Daily Motivation

Step tracking gives you a visual representation of your progress. You see exactly how many steps you’ve taken that day, week and month, the number of calories you’ve burned and a lot more.

It’s said that you need to take at least 10,000 steps a day to maintain a healthier lifestyle. But how are you supposed to know how close you are to that goal without tracking?

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Tracking steps also allows you to see what times of the day you are most active. If you’re behind your normal activity levels, trackers can send you a reminder to start walking or do some form of exercise.

This is quite the motivation to help get you on your feet and make healthier life choices.

Hold Yourself Accountable

Motivation is one thing. Holding yourself accountable for not being active is another. Getting in shape is usually seen as an individual effort and no one else cares about how much progress you’ve been making.

If you take a day off, it’s really easy to miss another, and another, saying you’ll get round to it later/tomorrow/etc.

But with a fitness tracker, you get personalized goal reminders to ensure you keep your health a priority. It’s a lot harder to brush your schedule to the side when you’ve got a consistent partner reminding of you of its importance.

Patient Safety

Most people’s thoughts go straight to weight loss when they’re asked to think about step tracking. But there are much deeper benefits than that.

For example, people with serious health problems should seriously consider using a step tracking device or fitness tracker. Not only will it help to improve health and wellness, but they can also serve as a warning device.

Patients that need to keep their heart rate and/or blood pressure within a certain range will certainly benefit from a tracker. These devices prevent such patients from reaching dangerous levels, potentially saving their lives.

Enhanced Chronic Disease Management

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that around 84 million Americans, which works out to more than a third of the population, have prediabetes. Of those 84 million people, 75 million don’t know that they have it.

A further 30 million Americans have diabetes, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. High blood pressure also requires around-the-clock tracking and management.

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Thanks to step counters and fitness trackers, patients can keep an eye on their daily activity, from physical activity to diet. The result is improved awareness of health, a better lifestyle and reduced chances of falling ill.

Incentivize Healthy Habits

Step tracking apps incentivize users with exclusive points or badges, essentially turning health monitoring into a game. According to an article by CoolThingsChicago, wearable tech can even  enhance a user’s ability and capability, only adding to the gaming narrative.

Startups and established fitness firms are all using the gamification of the health industry for several purposes

One example circles back to accountability mentioned earlier. A group of friends all tracking their steps ensures that they all keep up with each other – no one wants to be left behind.

Sleep Tracking

Sleep is very important to health and wellbeing. The better your sleep, the better your metabolism, mood, energy levels and more.

Many of the devices that track your steps can also track your sleep patterns, showing you how long you sleep for, its depth and how often you woke up through the night.

This information helps you make healthier life choices as you won’t want to go to bed knowing your actions will leave you in for a terrible night’s sleep.

Healthcare Cost Savings

A Kaiser Family Foundation report showed health insurance premiums have been rising across the board. However, by tracking your steps with a fitness tracker, the rising costs can be offset.

In the eyes of insurance companies, those that keep an eye on their steps are making healthier choices so they’re less likely going to make a claim. And when there’s less chance of something happening, the costs of insuring against it go down.

Conclusion

Technology like step monitors and fitness trackers are going very important to patient health and wellness, both right now and in the future. Not only can they save people money on their insurance, but they ensure they are held accountable and are motivated to hit their fitness goals.

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