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December 6, 2016
Here at Azevedo Family Psychology, we treat your mental health. But your body relies on your brain as much as your brain relies on your body! Regular exercise has a proven effect on depression, anxiety, and other common mental health issues.
The burgeoning market of fitness tracking devices shows that more and more people have discovered the connection. They’re a fun, rewarding way to reach daily fitness goals. Today we’re looking at trackers from the two major manufacturers: Garmin and Fitbit! For the sake of simplicity, most of our selections are in the ballpark of $100, the typical entry point for fitness trackers.
Fitbit
Fitbit has two trackers in our price range: the One and the Flex 2. Both are $99.95.
The One is a discreet, clip-on design, perfect for the fashion-conscious or uniform-restricted. Its battery life leaves something to be desired – only 14 hours – but it does keep all the features of similar trackers: automatic syncing to your phone, sleep tracking, and more.
The Flex 2 is a classic band-style design, and slips right over your wrists. For the same price as the One, you get better battery life, automatic exercise detection, and call/text notifications a la Apple Watch. Fitbit bands are notorious for breaking, but the Flex 2 also offers bangle and pendant accessories.
Garmin
Garmin’s Vivofit 3 is their primary device in our price range, retailing for $99.99.
The Vivofit 3 has the Fitbit beat in terms of raw features. Its year-long battery life means no proprietary connectors to replace, and its LED screen displays much more than the Flex 2. It measures all the same stuff as the Fitbit, and has the same water resistance of 50 meters. The gain in battery and display does come at the cost of smartphone notifications, and the band is noticeably wider than the Fitbit.
The Vivofit does have a particular feature that may be a drawback: it uses ANT+ instead of Bluetooth to sync to your phone. ANT+ is less common, so your phone is less likely to work with the device. Make sure you check before you buy!
Physical fitness is an important part of your mental health and if you live in the Triangle and want to begin your journey, contact Azevedo Family Psychology today! We’d love to get you off and running.
