Fitness Apps: What Are They And Their Benefits

Ever tried using a fitness app out of curiosity of what it is and its benefits? Have been eager to want to track your health and fitness progress? You’re not alone there!

Fitness Apps: What Are They?

Using fitness apps have been a trend to most people but what are they really designed for? What is its purpose? Who uses them mostly? Are they really that beneficial?

In one article I’ve read, fitness apps are designed to provide users with a convenient, personalized and effective way to stay healthy and are available in smartphones and other mobile devices which gives easy access to people who want to track their health and monitor their progress.

Not only do fitness apps track your progress, but it helps improve one’s well being and mental health. (Source: “The Benefits of Fitness Apps: How They Can Improve Employee Well-Being and Mental Health by Corporate Wellness Magazine” ; https://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com/article/the-benefits-of-fitness-apps-how-they-can-improve-employee-well-being-and-mental-health)

Fitness apps do offer training classes, store users’ exercise and fitness data and provide recommendations to keep a healthy lifestyle. They also help improve the regularity of the users’ physical activities, the frequency of fitness exercises and walking behavior and so on..

It also has been said that long-term use of fitness apps will improve people’s physical, emotional, social and cognitive status as well as promote well being. However, the negative effects of fitness apps have been receiving little attention. (Source: “Exercise or lie down? The Impact Of Fitness App Use On Users’ Wellbeing” by Jie Cai; https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1281323/full)

Benefits Of Fitness Apps

Here are a few benefits of using fitness apps:

• Increased Convenience

• Personalization

• Motivation

• Tracking

• Stress Reduction

• Cost-effective

• Improved Physical Health

Downside of Fitness Apps

While there are numerous benefits in using fitness apps, there are also downsides or setbacks of these tools. These apps are also prone to pose security risks as they can collect and store sensitive personal data (e.g. location, biometrics, health conditions and habits) which could be valuable for hackers, advertisers, insurers, employers or other third parties who could possibly use these data or information for malicious or commercial purposes. (Source: “Best Practices to Use Fitness Apps and Trackers Securely” by Lear, Joe K. ; https://mobroadband.org/fitness-apps-and-trackers)

How to secure your fitness app and tracker:

• Choose a reputable brand

• Read the privacy policy

• Adjust settings

• Secure the account

• Update device

• Be careful with social media
  

Example of Fitness App

One example of fitness apps is Fitbit. You can visit their website via this link to learn more about them: https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/home