Your fitness tracker may be doing more for you than just letting you know how many steps you took today, it might have encourage you to walk more.
A new study revealed its finding that in 16,000 participants monitoring exercise increased an individual’s activity.
Researchers did an analysis of the data from 141 study comparisons and 121 randomized control studies to find out what the impact of exercise monitors had on day-to-day activity. Monitors included phone apps and products like Fitbits.
The study found that using fitness apps created an increase by an equivalent of 1,235 steps per day and increased moderate to vigorous physical activity by 48.5 minutes a week. The study did note that impact on sedentary time was insignificant.
Study authors stated the effects are very relevant when it comes to health and disease risk, especially for those who are only moderately active or not meeting current guidelines. Study authors stated that while many studies have been done on fitness monitors since their inception into our culture this is the largest study to date.