Correlating with Tech

Every hour more people come into the gym and a lot of them are wearing Fitbits, Apple Watches and you name it. This wearable technology has spread into our everyday lives and hopefully made people aware that they need to move, spend time exercising at high intensities and get enough deep sleep.

While I see the benefit of these devices, I want people to avoid the dependance trap of them. You shouldn’t have to track your sleep to know if you got a good night’s worth or not. These watches are great because they can correlate you to what your normal is, what is too little and what is too much.

Hannah has been wearing a tracking watch for 6 months now. Her watch tracks her heart rate all day and provides a resting heart rate every morning. When she is starting to feel sluggish, or her body is beat up from hard workouts in the gym, we know that her resting heart rate has probably been rising for the last few days. The same thing happens when she stays up late a couple nights in a row. After several months, we use the watch to confirm what we think is happening, instead of relying on it to tell us what to do.

This wearable tech is great and I hope more and more people wear it and get moving more. I’m urging people to avoid dependence on this technology. Use it as a tool to learn how to listen to your body. It’s a skill that needs to be honed over many years. Developing that skill will keep you training safely for a long time. You should know when to push and when to back off, the watch isn’t always right.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach