How Does Fitness Band work?
Remaining physically fit is very important these days.
With urbanisation and modernisation, lifestyle diseases are increasing at an alarming rate. People are consuming adulterated food items which in turn are degrading the health of individuals to a great extent.
Several lifestyle diseases which are seen among people these days are diabetes, CVDs, PCOD, obesity, arthritis and many more. All these are due to a sedentary lifestyle devoid of any physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns and food habits, convenient foods and other habits like smoking and alcohol consumption.
To lead a healthy life which is free of diseases, besides eating nutritious food and maintaining a balanced diet, it is also important to get involved in physical activities.
Doing physical exercises regularly can keep away diseases and other associated health problems.
But how will you understand or assess the amount of physical workout you are doing?
With the advancement of technology, many types of fitness trackers have been developed which can find out the amount of work you are doing. Fitness bands are one of that equipment which can be worn on wrists before initiating physical activity to assess the amount of work out you have done at the end of the work out session.
How Does Fitness Band Work?
Fitness bands are like wrist bands which are worn on wrists and are bestowed with a smart technology which will measure the amount of workout along with some important parameters like heart rate, pulse rate, blood flow, number of steps taken, menstrual cycle tracker, amount of calories burnt and also the number of hours of sleep. Also, it will warn a person against any abnormality faced while working. For example: – if you are working out in the sunlight for too long, then the fitness band shall give an alarm for excessive exposure to the sun.
Next, let us have a look at the different features of fitness bands and how they work while measuring some of the several parameters mentioned above:
Measuring the number of footsteps
The fitness bands are well-equipped with certain smart features which have accelerometers and GPS trackers fitted within them. The accelerometers measure the number of steps taken daily and the GPS tracker fitted within shall help you the distance you have traveled by walking or running on the whole day.
The results shown are very much accurate and also are capable of assessing what exercises you are doing on a particular day. The data collected is stored in the tracker for further processing and the processing is done when the collected data is transferred to the smartphone or laptop which contains the software with which the fitness band is synced.
Tracking of heart rate
Any fitness band or fitness tracker makes the use of an LED light which makes the capillary veins in the wrist visible to the sensor which is fitted in the wrist band. This sensor makes analyses how fast the blood is pumping to the heart and interprets it in the form of “beats per minute” format. However, to receive an accurate reading, the wearer should be still and quiet without talking, sweating or moving.
Measuring or monitoring blood pressure
Blood pressure is nothing but a reflection of your heart health. It is surprising to know that a small instrument like a fitness band can record the blood pressure of a person easily with the help of sensors fitted in them. Fitness bands take oscillometric readings in the morning as well as in the evening.
The fitness bands which take automatic blood pressure readings consist of an electronic sensor which assesses and interprets the systolic and diastolic blood pressures. There are certain fitness bands or trackers which makes use of photoplethysmogram which is a heart rate sensor and uses a pulse oximeter. The work of this sensor is to illuminate the skin and observe any kind of changes in absorption within the skin.
Measuring exposure to UV rays
With some technological features in it, a fitness band detects the absorption of any harmful UV rays from the sun. We know that UV rays from the sun are actually harmful and increased exposure to it can lead to skin cancer. Fitness bands consist of UV sensors which give alarms when an excessive amount of UV rays is being absorbed. The software associated with the sensors convert the data into values which can be easily understood by users to be aware of being exposed to excessive sunlight.
Measure sleep patterns
Sleep has a major impact on a person’s life. Improper and inadequate sleep patterns influence the health status and well being of any individuals. Fitness bands are known to track the duration of sleep as one of the vital activities and also are able to tell the user about the different phases of sleep.
With the help of accelerometers, the fitness bands measure the movements of the user, speed and direction as well. If the band does not detect any kind of movements for consecutive hours, then it is considered that the user is asleep or resting. This process is known as actigraphy. Data is interpreted through algorithms of the software.
Measure electrical skin connectivity
There are galvanic skin response sensors inside a fitness band which is capable of measuring electrical connectivity of the skin. If the body gets aroused by any kind of internal or external force, the skin becomes a good conductor of electricity. At that time the body begins to perspire, and the galvanic skin response sensors are able to detect that. Under such condition, the sensors inform the software about what the body is doing and hence allows better health tracking.
Fitness bands are none other than a collection of sensors integrated and fit in a small device which can be worn on wrists. Apart from GPS and accelerometer, there are other sensors for measuring body temperature, altimeter, and perspiration. Optical sensors are also present within some fitness bands.
Different fitness trackers use different algorithms to interpret data to users.Fitness bands are modern innovations of technology which have crept into the modern and advanced life of human beings. In the course of a busy schedule daily, people hardly get time to look after their health.
Fitness bands have been made compulsory in many companies these days because it makes a person eager to stay fit. There are fitness bands of different brands available in the market having numerous features which give accurate results of various health parameters of the body. With the help of fitness bands, staying healthy is no more a problem these days.
