Workouts are important for elders and one of the best ways to keep them motivated is to arm them with the right equipment. We review some of the best fitness trackers for seniors below.
Apart from main tools like exercise bands, DVDs, balls, and rollers, items like an easy-to-use fitness tracker for seniors help them to track progress and could get them excited as they conquer their fitness goals, one after another.
In this post, we will dig deep into the best fitness tracker for seniors and learn why easy-to-use fitness trackers for seniors could make all the difference in an elder’s fitness quest.
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Top Fitness Trackers Suitable For Elderly People
If you Google “what’s the best fitness tracker for seniors”, you are likely to stumble on hundreds of non-classified results.
Here, instead of going for a one size fits all approach, we go one step further and categorize them according to the best for each function;
1. Best Fitness Tracker For Women
The best fitness tracker for an older woman is first and foremost full of all the essentials- heart rate monitor, a friendly screen, easier controls, is comfortable to use, and has advanced reporting tools.
But it’s also typically great looking and comes with an option to switch between different styles.
Naturally, the Fitbit Charge 4 (+Fitness Wristband) comes to mind thanks to its looks, accurate readings, and gigantic display that make it an easy-to-use fitness monitor for elderly women.
2. Fitness Tracker For Men
Elderly men participating in various workouts may want to track certain aspects of their fitness more than others.
So, be it a fitbit for elderly men or the best fitness watch, men will need a device that’s fully tailored to their workout habits.
The Yamay Smart Watch is a leading tracker for men with its excellent heart rate and sleep monitoring tools.
Its well-designed app can be tailored to record comprehensive exercise data while also setting tailored workout goals.
3. Best Fitness Tracker Watch
The market offers a number of models here but what should you look for in the best fitness tracker watch?
In addition to being user-friendly, it should be an overall activity tracker capable of tracking everything from the steps counter, sleep time analysis, walking/running distances, heart rate, blood pressure, and all the way to calories lost.
It’s even better if it provides phone and SMS Reminders, social media sharing buttons, and has an anti-lost feature to help elders locate it in case they misplace it.
From our experiences, the Fitbit Sense Advance can be a fantastic choice given that it packs all these features and a long-lasting battery.
It even has a sedentary alarm that jerks him/her out of sleep if they are missing scheduled activities.
4. Fitness Tracker With Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Monitor
Many industrious seniors who are more proactive concerning their lifestyle enjoy wearing fitness trackers with heart monitors as they report all sorts of heart condition indicators simply but conclusively.
These advanced types of healthcare technology devices go beyond your typical step tracker — they can precisely monitor heart rates, daily behavior, issue alerts, and even blood oxygen levels.
A cardio fitness monitor such as the Smart Watch with a built-in heart rate monitor scores an elder’s fitness levels and suggests improvements.
Other useful features include all-day activity recording, sleep tracking, and handy reminders to get going once it detects periods of inactivity.
5. Best Waterproof Fitness Tracker For Swimming
Swimming can benefit our grandparents in multiple ways including reducing falls by strengthening their balance while also amplifying their confidence and response.
Swimming can also boost appetite and help in weight management where obesity is an issue.
Having the best fitness tracker for swimming makes the experience more productive as it scientifically and accurately captures activity plus active motions during sessions.
The available data can help them make sense of their time as a ‘fish’ and readjust where necessary to attain a healthy lifestyle.
Importantly, only waterproof trackers work for swimming…Those which can last in the depth of deep waters for long without getting damaged
The Polar Ignite is by a distance one of the best waterproof fitness trackers and can survive for even as long as half an hour in cold water without harm.
6. Best Budget Fitness Tracker
If you need the best cheap activity tracker, with an emphasis on functionality and design, the Fitbit Inspire 2 is a very solid option.
It boasts of a meticulous all-day activity tracking function and can last 7 workout days on a single charge for an unbelievable sub-$30 price.
To match seniors requirements fully, the tracker offers up to 14 exercise modes and can help a user to better understand their specific activity data.
7. Best Fitness Tracker For Yoga
Yoga helps to beat back the negative effects of advanced age by enhancing muscle resilience, keeping the mind awake, and encouraging relaxation, on top of strengthening the joints.
Its multi-pronged approach encourages the spirit, mind, and body to remain strong while delaying the slowdown that sets in with age.
A good fitness tracker for consistent yoga tracking is the famous Helalife Body Temperature Monitor Watch.
The elder must, however, add his/her favorite yoga exercises using the well-built Fitbit companion app before accessing their heart rate and calorie data.
8. Simple Pedometer For Seniors
A simple exercise for seniors is walking. Now, a pedometer tells them how many steps they have taken helping to motivate longer distances. Modern models even allow you to set a goal for walking a given number of steps throughout the day or during an activity.
A good pedometer like the cute 3D Fit easy-to-use pedometer for elderly women and men is very easy to program and use. It has a large print and comes with a lanyard.
It’s easy, fun, and tracks walking, jogging, or running goals with its advanced Sensing technology measuring steps, calories, distance, MPH / KPH, exercise time and provides a daily tally to help him stay motivated.
Buying Guide For Easy To Use Fitness Tracker For Seniors
Before adding your chosen fitbit for seniors into the shopping cart, you will need to confirm a few things;
- Ease of use
The rule here is very simple:
If it’s not easy to use, then it’s not for seniors!
A fitness tracker built for the older generation should be friendly to them and straightforward to use.
Forget the manual or the demonstration videos- seniors are no longer as sharp as they were in youth and are only comfortable with easy to understand devices.
- The Display
A bigger display is especially important since the user will not struggle to read important reports on the screen.
It’s also easy to navigate.
- What Does It Capture?
Preferably, it should be able to track as many items as possible….
- Calorie burned: Most fitness gadgets for seniors track the amount of calories lost and show the precise outcome after each workout. Some also provide calorie intake and weight tracking to enable a comparison between food intake and calories burned.
- Distance: A fitness tracker worth its name must log the steps and distance covered by the elder over a workout.
- Heart rate monitor: Senior’s leaning fitness trackers should process the output heart rate in real time. This allows him/her to gauge and control the intensity in training.
- Sleep tracking: Monitoring the quality and length of sleep is fundamental for seniors looking to build on their general fitness and physical well-being.
- The Battery
Be it the best fitbit for senior citizens or just a pedometer, an energy-efficient tracker is paramount.
Go for one with a lasting battery since the owner may forget to charge it resulting into it, disapprovingly, going off when out there.
- Water Proof
If your older pal loves swimming, they’ll need a waterproof fitness tracker since they are specially designed to survive water.
And something which can serve them all the crucial metrics including average pace, distance covered, lengths, and various reports.
- What Is The Budget?
Fitness trackers vary a lot in price. The latest generation may offer more features but could leave a gaping hole in your pocket.
However, there are some very good models coming at reasonable prices not forgetting that even the latest devices tend to become cheap once the hype associated with the launch fades.
- Aesthetics
After some initial struggles, the tech community is now designing fitness devices that are both very functional and super attractive.
Sample the different shapes, sizes, and styles before getting something to taste.
- Extras
Certain easy to use fitness tracker for seniors come with special features to help make the fitness journey for seniors simpler.
There are those with an anti-lost feature which vibrates once misplaced far from the phone and a sedentary alarm that helps the senior stay active throughout by reminding them to move around or stretch after sitting for too long.
Advantages of Fitness Tracker For Seniors
Now, adding an easy to use fitness tracker for seniors helps a seniors’ workout project in so many ways;
1. Health Monitoring
A greater majority of fitness tracker for seniors keep tabs on the heart rate, blood pressure, burned calories and other details.
This information can help seniors and caregivers act accordingly as the health status changes.
Some fitness trackers even sound an alarm when some of the measurements reach risky levels.
That explains why fitness trackers are referred to as health tracker for seniors in some quarters.
2. Help Seniors Keep Track Of Progress
The most accurate fitness tracker assists the elder to maintain records of their exercise statistics, extensive reports, and generate detailed concise info-graphics.
Such information will assist the elder and her trainer to know when to tweak her routine if, for example, the current exercises aren’t producing results.
3. Personal Trainer And Tips
Some of the best fitness tracker for seniors are packed full of fitness ideas and suggestions some customized to meet personal health requirements.
Meaning that even if the elder lacks cash to hire a personal trainer or pay for the gym, they can still workout and improve their conditioning at home and for free.
4. Motivates Seniors To Sweat It Out
Psychologically, feeling that you’ve achieved is a great motivator. The same applies to fitness programs.
A fitness tracker for older adults clearly points out progress (and missed goals) and can help to inspire them to take up more exercises and to pursue remaining targets.
5. They Encourage Elders to adopt Healthy Eating
Watching the diet is super important for the health and overall wellbeing of our elders.
Now, a fitness tracker for grandma with a food analyzing component provoke users to choose healthier eating choices by educating them about the composition, quality, and nutritional value of their diet
6. They Keep Seniors Accountable
Many easy to use fitness tracker for seniors have apps integrated with social functions which let a senior citizen to share their performance details with other elders and to inter-compete.
The best fitbit for seniors, for instance, offers personal and group challenges encouraging users to chase fitness goals both in and out of the gym.
These apps also offer special effects or bonus in-app rewards to users on conquering a certain goal.
A cross-section of the easiest fitbit for seniors even displays an elders ranking within their social network after several rounds.
7. They Help Seniors Fix Their Sleep
The easiest fitness tracker to use also delivers concise insights on an elders sleep pattern. This way, an elder can know if they’re meeting the daily recommended sleep threshold of between 7 to 9 hours each night and if not, act to fix their sleep patterns.
A fitness tracker for elderly can also be helpful for grandparents with sleeping disorders like sleep apnea to examine the quality of their sleep
8. They Are Easier to Use
Despite the prevalence of best workout wristbands and related trackers, only a few are designed with the unique usability requirements of elders.
The thing is, most seniors aren’t tech savvy and would prefer to work with the simplest tracker.
Thankfully, the select few elder-oriented trackers feature easy to understand statistics, interactive screens, vibrating alarms, and historical data making it easier for the senior to understand how they are faring.
Summary
An easy to use fitness tracker for seniors helps active seniors to measure their performances and keep them motivated to pursue their fitness goals.
Some of the trackers offer provide useful tips in addition to training ideas and can help him/her to exercise without a personal trainer.
With a tracker, seniors can fix their diet, sleep, and monitor their overall health.
When choosing, consider only options that are easy to use for an elder- big screen, colorful menus, and easy to navigate.
Otherwise, your aged parent could just be about to step up to great health thanks to these small devices.