PEORIA - Do you find yourself counting steps? Checking your wrist several times a day? Comparing your steps to your friends? Then you know the fitness tracker craze is here.
But does it motivate?
"I didn't in the past wear a FitBit or any of the gadgets that are out there now, but I've worn a FitBit six months, and it kinda pushes you more," said Sue Wheeler.
Sue Wheeler is one of many sporting a FitBit on her wrist for an early morning workout.
You see them at work, at a grocery store and especially on the trails, but is it just for fashion or fad, or does it actually improve your fitness?
"Anything health and fitness is going to be a fad,” said personal trainer Justin Bolkema. “There is always going to be money to be made there. So the things that are good about them are that you have a competition with friends and you are measuring your steps and they look all nice and slim. If it makes your become more physically active, I'm happy about it. If it gets you out of the house, that is absolutely great. If you are actually trying to measure your fitness as far as a goal or something or become more physically fit, then you need to look at more variables and specifically the heart rate."
Some gyms like the Peoria Riverplex recently introduced a program to incorporate bands with heart rate monitoring.
"We're taking those chest straps and displaying each individual persons heart-rate zone up on a TV screen, so during the workout you are going to be able to know what calories am I burning, what intensity am I working out at and then also you will be able to see your heart rate max percentage displayed on a board so you can either just use that for yourself, or you can be in competition with others in the class," said Fitness Coordinator Amber Parkinson.
"I hope to learn how to stay in a fat burning zone, know if I'm working hard enough or if I'm just kinda coming and doing the motions?” said Angela Bland.
"I know what zone I need to be in and instead of my head telling me 'oh I'm tired and I wanna quit, I can look at my heart rate and say I am going to push myself a little bit more," said Audrey Lemasters.
“We always say 'why would you just guess when you come in to workout, when you could know where you are at?' So that’s why any kinda tracking device is going to help you be more specific in getting right into the workout you need to be, calories burned or intensity level. Use those different tools available so that you can be more accurate," said Parkinson.
Professionals say some of the more popular fitness bands and apps are…
"The FitBit is definitely the most common,” said Bolkema. “A lot of people use the iPhone health app as well. There's a ton of them out there that claim to have a little bit different of a thing, but if its only kinda measuring your steps and that’s just based on how many times your phone bounces in your pocket, probably not going to be the most accurate."
And in reality, it will be up to the user to get the most out of the tools available.
SPECIAL REPORT: The Fitness Tracker Craze