Fitness
tracking bands have become the must-have accessory for fitness fanatics -
but scientists have revealed they may not be as accurate as you think.
Researchers
tested several of the most popular models, with participants taking
part in 13 different activities, including running and playing
basketball.
They
said the results showed the bands were at best 'reasonably accurate,'
but that most were more than 10 per cent out when estimating calories
burned.
The results of the experiment
HOW THEY DID IT
To
test the devices, 30 men and 30 women wore all eight monitors during a
69-minute workout that included a series of 13 different activities,
ranging from writing at a computer and playing Wii tennis to playing
basketball and running.
Participants also wore a portable metabolic analyzer that researchers used for comparison to test the accuracy of each device.
Participants also wore a portable metabolic analyzer that researchers used for comparison to test the accuracy of each device.
13 different activities, ranging from writing at a computer and playing Wii tennis to playing basketball and running.
Gregory
Welk, a professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University said the
results show that bands have huge differences in terms of accuracy.
'People
buy these activity monitors assuming they work, but some of them are
not that accurate or have never been tested before,' said Welk.
'These companies just produce a nice-looking device with a fancy display and people buy it.'
To
test the devices, 30 men and 30 women wore all eight monitors during a
69-minute workout that included a series of 13 different activities,
ranging from writing at a computer and playing Wii tennis to playing
basketball and running.
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