What Fitness Gadgets Are Worth It?

What Fitness Gadgets Are Worth It? It seems in the current climate that everyone is spending money on fitness gadgets. Some of it is worth it, some of it is not. So I thought I'd give my honest rankings, regardless of that fact that, even though I take my fitness pretty seriously, I'd have little interest in technology. But if tech matters/interests you and makes you more interested/likely to tend to a healthy/active lifestyle then by all means, go full hog on whatever it takes.

My criteria are simple: does it actually make a difference to your training or health, and is it worth what it costs?

Fitness wearables: 3/10 Do they provide value? Sure. But honestly, just get a watch that counts your steps. Oura, Whoop, Apple Watch, Garmin, they all give you excessive metrics in my opinion.

Giving your workout a “strain score” or telling you your “recovery score” might be helpful, or it might be harmful. Learning to listen to your body is a skill, and you only get better at it by practicing it.

If you completely hand that skill over to a device that doesn’t actually know you, you’re going to run into some kind of consequence. These devices also make errors, more often than you’d think.

Studies testing wrist-worn watches during strength training have found heart rate readings off by as much as 28% compared to a chest strap, and the harder the sets, the worse the accuracy got. If your strain and recovery scores are built on that data, how much can you trust them? Save your money.

Sauna: 4/5 The research on sauna is genuinely strong. Regular use is tied to lower rates of cardiovascular disease and dementia in long-term studies out of Finland. I also just like it regardless of the science, because it forces me to meditate. No phone, no distractions, I’m just there.

Cold plunge: 3/5 The hype outpaces the evidence here. Cold plunging gets credit for a metabolic boost, but most of that is short lived, and the long term data isn’t nearly as strong as sauna’s. It’s also worth knowing that jumping in a cold plunge right after lifting can blunt your strength and muscle gains if the timing is off.

That said, I still rank it a 3 because of what it does for me. With cold plunge, I have to focus on my breathing, and coming out of it gives me a rush of adrenaline, almost like a feeling of accomplishment.

Walking pad: 5/5 Great way to get movement in, and worth the investment, especially because they’re cheap. You can find a solid one for a couple hundred euros on Amazon.

It adds steps to your day without taking time away from work or anything else, the motor is quiet enough to use during calls, and some come with an incline setting if you want to make it harder. Hard to find a downside besides needing the floor space for it.

Smart scales: 2/5 The scale weight itself is useful. Weighing yourself regularly and watching the trend over a few weeks is one of the simplest ways to know if your nutrition is working. The problem is the body fat percentage. These scales send a small electrical current through your body to estimate it, and that reading changes based on how hydrated you are.

Drink a big glass of water, finish a sweaty workout, or weigh in at a different time of day, and your body fat number can swing for no real reason. If you want to track body composition, a regular scale, a tape measure, and progress photos will tell you more.

Lifting straps: 5/5 Cheap and they make a huge difference. I’m not saying use them on everything, but they’re extremely valuable anywhere grip is the limiting factor and starts to affect your form: deadlifts, RDLs, landmine meadow rows, or supersets that tax your grip like pull ups paired with walking lunges.

Shoes: 4/5 Depends on what you’re doing, but a good shoe can make a huge difference. I'm not saying you need the most expensive shoe out there, but if you’re doing a lot of running, investing in a quality shoe can save you from injury. If you’re lifting, a flat, stable sole is what you want. Sometimes just going barefoot is the best option for lifting too.

P.S. You don’t need any of these gadgets to make progress, just consistency. Later in the week I can delve into what it takes to make real progress.