Podcast Summary: The Dr. Shannon Show

Episode #198: Fitness Trackers: What Features are Important?
Host: Dr. Shannon Ritchey, PT, DPT
Date: December 26, 2024

Episode Overview

In this solo episode, Dr. Shannon Ritchey dives into the world of fitness wearables. She breaks down which features of fitness trackers actually matter, which ones should be interpreted with caution, and who may benefit the most from using them. Throughout, she offers evidence-based advice drawn from her background in physical therapy and personal experience, focusing on how to use (or not use) data from wearables to improve health and fitness.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Do You NEED a Fitness Wearable?

• Dr. Shannon makes it clear from the outset: you do not need a fitness wearable to improve your health.
  • “First, I do not think you need a fitness wearable to improve your health.” (01:03)
• She shares that her own use of the Oura Ring began for fertility tracking, and while she likes some features, she stresses that wearables can sometimes distance you from tuning into your own body’s cues.
• Cautionary anecdote: Despite her Oura Ring reporting “good” recovery when she was very ill, her body told her otherwise.
  • “If I'd simply gone by what my ring was telling me, then I would have done my workout for that day when clearly my body needed rest.” (03:24)

2. Important Features to Pay Attention To

Steps

• Reliable Metric: Most fitness trackers are quite consistent in tracking daily step counts.
  • “Most fitness trackers can pretty reliably track steps, which is again kind of a good metric to pay attention to … especially if you're trying to get more active.” (05:27)
• Goal: Shannon recommends aiming for at least 7,500 steps/day, but acknowledges it can be hard to estimate without a tracker.

Calorie Expenditure — NOT Recommended

• Dr. Shannon strongly cautions against relying on calorie estimates from fitness devices.
  • “Studies show that fitness watches or fitness wearables overestimate expenditure, with some popular watches overestimating by over 211%.” (07:02)
  • “A fitness wearable simply cannot capture the complexities of your metabolism and therefore I don’t recommend putting too much weight into the calorie expenditure number.” (08:00)
• Advice: Ignore “calories burned” from wearables and focus instead on activity trends.

VO₂ Max

• Some trackers provide VO₂ max predictions, a scientifically valid indicator of cardiovascular health and longevity.
  • “VO2max is a strong predictor of your overall cardiovascular health and is associated with longevity.” (09:04)
• The Oura Ring uses a six-minute walk test to predict VO₂ max.
• To improve VO₂ max: Regular high-intensity interval training is key.

Muscle Mass and Strength — Missing Feature

• Current wearables do not reliably measure muscle mass or strength, which Dr. Shannon notes is a significant gap.
  • “They don’t really do a very good job at giving you any metrics about your muscle mass or your strength. … really is a huge part of overall fitness and a gap that I think is missing in the wearables industry.” (10:16)

Recovery & Readiness

• Dr. Shannon recommends wearables that balance activity with recovery metrics.
  • “We want them to be in balance. Although we want to be active overall, endless activity at the cost of our recovery is not the goal.” (11:12)
• Early wearables encouraged endless activity (like “closing your rings”), which often led to burnout and injuries.
• Look for:
  • Trackers with long battery life (ideally several days)
  • Devices that monitor HRV (heart rate variability) measured during sleep for reliable recovery data.
  • Wearables like Oura that combine temperature, sleep, and HRV to produce a “readiness score,” even adjusting daily activity goals based on recovery state.
• Still, Dr. Shannon emphasizes you often know intuitively when you’re recovered or not.
  • “In general, you likely know if you feel recovered or not even if you’re not using a fitness tracker.” (14:24)

Fertility Tracking

• Many smart rings use temperature/HR data for ovulation and fertility prediction.
• The Oura Ring boasts about 83% accuracy for ovulation detection per studies, but Dr. Shannon shares her personal experience:
  • “To be honest, the temperature tracking hasn’t been super useful for me. … since breastfeeding … I just don’t think I’ve been kind of regular enough … But I know that for a lot of people it works really well.” (16:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On trusting your body:
  • “I could tell from my own body … This is an extreme example, but if I’d simply gone by what my ring was telling me, then I would have done my workout for that day when clearly my body needed rest.” (03:24)
• On calorie tracking:
  • “I don't recommend tracking calories from your workouts at all.” (08:09)
• On recovery tracking:
  • “The best way to measure your recovery is done during sleep. … HRV … is a metric that is most reliably measured while you sleep.” (13:00)
• On personal behavioral change:
  • “My behavior changed zero when I got a fitness tracker. My steps have stayed the same, my sleep hasn’t improved, and I haven’t seen overall better results.” (18:05)
• On personal motivation:
  • “Some people are motivated by those metrics to change their behavior. I just personally think if you're doing all the right things somewhat consistently, you really don't need to invest in one of these trackers unless you're interested in, like, tracking fertility a little bit closer.” (18:23)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:03 — Do you need a fitness wearable to improve health?
• 03:24 — Example: Mismatch between wearable’s recovery data and body’s real state
• 05:27 — Steps as a reliable metric
• 07:02 — Calorie expenditure overestimation
• 09:04 — VO₂ max: the useful but less common feature
• 10:16 — Wearables’ weakness: muscle mass/strength
• 11:12 — Importance of balancing activity with recovery
• 13:00 — How HRV and sleep data can guide recovery
• 14:24 — Trusting innate body signals
• 16:15 — Fertility/temperature tracking and its usefulness
• 18:05 — How fitness trackers impacted Dr. Shannon’s own behavior (not much!)

Conclusion & Practical Takeaways

• What to Ignore: Calorie burn numbers.
• What to Track: Steps, recovery/sleep quality, fertility if relevant, possibly VO₂ max.
• Usefulness: Wearables can be great for beginners needing motivation or accountability, or for specific uses (like fertility tracking).
• Caveat: If you’re already in a good routine, wearables are not essential.
  • “If you're doing all the right things somewhat consistently, you really don't need to invest in one of these trackers unless you're interested in … tracking fertility a little bit closer.” (18:23)
• Final message: Use fitness wearables only if they serve your specific needs or genuinely help you stay motivated—but don’t let them override your own internal cues.