How Wearable Tech Can Help You Stay Healthy and Active Every Day

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There’s something to be said for lacing up your shoes and heading out to walk or run unencumbered by technology when it’s just you, the ground, and the sky.

Then again, it’s nice to know how many steps you took, how fast you moved, and how many calories you burned.

How about your heart? How did it respond to the workout? How did today’s workout stack up against yesterday’s or last week’s?

Having all this data at your fingertips has never been easier. Wearable fitness trackers, like fitness tracker watches, give you this information in real time.

For some people, seeing the numbers motivates them. It makes setting and tracking goals easier. Sometimes, employers even tie employee incentives to fitness tracking data.

For others, wearable tech monitors vital health information and sends it to their health care team.

Below, we’ll review the types of wearable tech and the information it provides. We’ll also talk about how that data can help you stay healthier.

Types of Wearable Tech

First, the market for wearable tech is enormous. By 2028, it’s likely to reach a value of about $70 billion. This explains why everyone seems to have some watch tracking their every move.

Broadly speaking, there are two main categories of wearable tech:

• Consumer wearables — These are wearable tech pieces that consumers can buy every day. Consumer wearables vary in how effective they are. Though they may undergo rigorous product testing, they don’t require U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance.
• Medical-grade wearables — These help manage specific conditions, like high blood pressure or diabetes. These devices can also help monitor someone after a medical procedure. Medical-grade wearables require clinical data and FDA clearance.

The consumer and medical wearables you’re probably most familiar with include:

• Wearable fitness trackers — These watches or bracelets measure steps or distance, heart rate, and other types of physical activity. Some trackers can also track your sleep.
• Smartwatches — These usually do everything fitness trackers do, but they can also monitor health, such as blood O2 levels. Some can even track stress levels or detect irregular heartbeats (called arrhythmias).
• Smart rings — Newer to the market, smart rings are similar to smartwatches. They can track activity, measure your duration and quality of sleep, and monitor your health.
• Smart glasses — The smart glasses category is expanding quickly. They can measure eye movements and even brain activity. Monitoring eye movements can help analyze stress, detect fatigue, and manage neurological conditions.
• Biosensors — These are typically patches on the skin or small sensors in clothing that help monitor health conditions. Continuous glucose monitors are a type of biosensor. Sweat analysis patches also allow you to understand your sweat and sodium loss during a workout.
• Smart clothing — There are yoga pants with sensors that can tell you about your alignment, diabetic socks that can monitor you for ulcers and injuries, and smart jackets that can measure body temperature, heart rate, and lung function (which are helpful for mountain climbers).

Privacy and Data Security in Wearable Tech

Though wearable tech offers many health benefits, it also raises concerns about data privacy and security. These devices collect sensitive health data, which companies may store or share.

Before using a device, review its privacy policies and adjust settings to control data sharing. Using strong passwords and updating your device’s software can also help protect your information. As wearable tech evolves, regulations and security measures will continue improving to safeguard user data.

Health Benefits of Wearable Tech

Beyond feeling like you have the latest and greatest, wearable tech can also help improve your health.

If you’re wondering how to track fitness progress effectively, smart devices may have the answer.

In fact, there’s good evidence that simply monitoring your physical activity makes you do more of it. A 2022 review in The Lancet analyzed results from 39 studies about wearable activity trackers. The studies included almost 164,000 people across all age groups.

The study found that, on average, people who track their activity:

• Improved their overall physical activity, body composition, and fitness.
• Took 1,800 extra steps per day and walked for 40 minutes longer.
• Lost about two pounds.

This study confirms what health psychologists already know: Paying attention to something makes a person feel more accountable.

Researchers have found that wearable tech helps empower people to make changes. These devices also allow you to take greater charge of your health.

Take a blood pressure monitor, for example. People previously went to the doctor’s office or pharmacy for blood pressure checks. Now, anyone can buy a monitor and check their blood pressure at home.

Wearable devices might even save lives. Some health conditions require a wearable device, making them essential for monitoring and managing symptoms.

For example, people with diabetes use continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). These wearable devices help them monitor their blood sugar levels 24/7 in real time and avoid dangerous drops or spikes.

Wearable devices can also:

• Detect falls and trigger an alert system.
• Tell you if your blood pressure is too high or too low.
• Detect irregular heart rhythms like atrial fibrillation.
• Detect seizures.

Which Is Better: Tracking Steps or Time?

How many steps should you take a day?

You may have heard the magic number of 10,000 steps a day. A 2022 study in The Lancet showed the risk of dying before age 60 decreased when people took 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day.

In reality, you don’t have to hit 10,000 steps a day to improve your health and well-being. If you can only do 4,000, then do 4,000. Increase as you’re able.

As for whether it’s better to count your steps or focus on time? Both are effective. That’s what a 2024 Journal of the American Medical Association study found.

The study looked specifically at women in their 60s. It found that step-count goals and time-based goals both:

• Lowered heart disease risk.
• Decreased overall risk of dying.

So, keep going, whether you’re watching the clock or trying to hit a number. Every little bit of activity helps, and your watch agrees!