STACK #204 Oct 2021

LIFE TECH FEATURE

visit stack.com.au

WATCH POWER!

T he one positive to take from the across lockdown areas has pushed workouts online or into parks, but it’s not just regular fitness enthusiasts pounding the pavement. Sedentary working from home conditions have made many of us realise the importance of exercise. And there’s plenty of evidence available to support the benefits of regular exercise, too. Endorphins and serotonin released in the brain can improve mood, and working out promotes sleep, can boost the immune system, and helps reduce the risk of serious illness. Hand-in-hand with this increase in physical activity is the continual rise in the popularity of the fitness and smart wearable. Fitness trackers have been around for over ten years now, and have developed and evolved into big business. In 2021, the wearables market is forecasted to be worth $81.5 billion, with a sales growth of 20 per cent year-on-year. Exponential adoption rates are prompting developers to push the boundaries of technology in the quest to introduce new and unique features. pandemic is the uptake in personal fitness. Intermittent closure of gyms

It’s easy to understand the allure of health and fitness tracking technology. A wrist wearable can deliver a diverse range of data relating to the individual in real-time, and provide ongoing tracking. Today’s smartwatches have extended far beyond the rudimentary step-counting of the original trackers. Now it’s possible to monitor a diverse range of health

blurred. It boils down to the feature set that you require, compatibility, functionality and even how it looks and feels on your wrist. Many fitness trackers and smartwatches share similar features. While the Galaxy Watch4 and Fitbit Sense are pitched at a more consumer level and offer a broad gamut of features, a specialised sports watch like a Garmin might appeal more to a professional athlete or climber. Are they accurate? This depends on what you want from your smartwatch. Different brands use different algorithms to determine analytics, and often rely on how accurate the input of user data is. Consumer smartwatches are excellent tools for providing a general overview of lifestyle, health and activity monitoring. However, elite athletes will probably find that consumer wearables will not provide the depth of information and accuracy they desire. Money talks It’s possible to pick up a fitness tracker for just over a hundred bucks. On the other side

markers, track and encourage exercise, pay for the morning latte, check your social media notifications, and call or message your friends. But with so many brands, styles, and types available in-store, where do you start in your quest to either upgrade an existing piece, or join the wearable revolution? Smartwatch, sports watch, fitness tracker – what do I need? With each year, the clear distinctions between a sports watch, a smartwatch, and a fitness tracker are becoming increasingly

STEP ON 10,000 steps is the magic number that we all aim to achieve every day. Once hit, and surpassed, that extra slice of pizza you consumed the night before has been nullified, right? The origin of those 10,000 steps goes back to 1965 when a Japanese doctor invented a pedometer and christened it ‘Mano-kei’, a word that translates to 10,000 steps. There was no actual sports science behind the number – it was just a marketing campaign to sell the pedometer! Still, 10,000 steps is a good daily goal to aim for.

28 OCTOBER 2021

jbhifi.com.au