Fitness
Build Full-Body Strength Anywhere With These Trainer-Approved Bodyweight Exercises
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Hollow Body Hold
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: The hollow body hold is even more challenging than a plank (trust us), and requires full-body activation. Pro tip: Press your back into the floor and squeeze your core while doing this move. If you feel your lower back is rising off the floor, bend your knees to 90 degrees, says Sariya.
How to:
- Start lying on back with with arms extended overhead on floor and legs straight resting on mat.
- At the same time, and with control, lift arms, head, shoulder blades, and legs a few inches off the floor.
- Hold the elevated position, ensuring your low back is still glued to the ground.
Plank
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: Planks are a great way to build total body strength. They’re a type of isometric hold, which takes a lot of effort and builds both stamina and endurance. Plus, they can easily be modified by planking on your knees or elevating your hands until you can do them all-out.
How to:
- Start on all fours with shins and palms flat on mat.
- Step back onto the on balls of your feet, creating a straight line from heels through the top of your head. Keep your gaze to the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes and abs to keep hips inline with your shoulders. Hold here as long as you can.
Bird Dog
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This is a great move to practice coordination, and builds core stability and balance.
How to:
- Start on all fours with wrists directly under shoulders and knees under hips. Keep back flat, core engaged, and a slight bend in elbows.
- Extend left arm out in front at shoulder height and right leg straight behind at hip height.
- Bend leg and arm and bring to midline under torso until elbow and knee touch. That’s 1 rep. Alternate sides.
Reverse Crunch
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This move builds strength and control through your core abs. Make sure you’re using your lower abs—and not momentum—to perform this movement. If you’re struggling, imagine you’re pushing your heels to the ceiling, Sariya says.
How to:
- Start lying on back with arms by sides and feet lifted off the ground, legs extended, and toes pointed.
- Squeeze your core to pull your hips off the ground. Do your best to push your toes up towards the ceiling instead of back towards your head.
- Slowly return to start. That’s 1 rep.
Russian Twist
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This move builds rotational strength. Make sure you have the proper form when doing this oblique-working move: Puff out your chest and keep a long line from your tailbone to your shoulder.
How to:
- Start seated with upper body leaned back until abs are engaged, legs lifted and bent, arms bent, hands clasped, and elbows wide. For an extra challenge, lift heels up off the floor.
- Rotate torso to right side so that right elbow is hovering off mat.
- Keeping lower body still throughout, rotate the upper body to the left side. That’s 1 rep.
Inchworm Shoulder Tap
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This exercise strengthens your shoulders, and works your core.
How to:
- Start standing with feet hip-width apart.
- Reach down to ground and crawl out into a high plank position, with your wrists just under your shoulders.
- Keeping hips square to ground, lift right hand to tap left shoulder.
- Return right hand to ground.
- Lift left hand to tap right shoulder.
- Return left hand to ground.
- Walk hands back to feet and return to standing. That’s 1 rep.
Plank Up Down
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This move builds strength in your chest and shoulders. To make it harder, come up onto your toes.
How to:
- Start in a high plank position (on knees or toes).
- Lower down, one arm at a time, into a forearm plank, keeping elbows under shoulders.
- Reverse the movement press hands one at a time into floor to return to high plank. That’s 1 rep.
Downward Dog Toe Tap
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This move fires up the core and hamstrings, all while strengthening your shoulders. Pro tip: If you can’t reach your toes, aim for knees or shins.
How to:
- Start in a high plank position with a straight line from head to heels and shoulders over wrists.
- Press torso back toward legs so heels lower to the ground, while reaching left arm to right toes. Maintain a long spine.
- Return to high plank.
- Repeat movement, bringing right arm to left toes.
- Return to high plank. That’s 1 rep. Continue alternating.
Scissor Kick
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: Scissor kicks strengthen your lower abs and hip flexors.
How to:
- Lie on back with arms down by sides, palms down, and elbows and lower back touching the floor.
- Engage core by pressing lower back into the floor, tuck pelvis, and lift both legs about six inches off the ground.
- Raise one leg to 60-degrees, while maintaining the other leg at the 45-degree angle.
- Continue alternating legs up and down keeping knees as straight as possible.
Inchworm
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This move fires up both your core and upper body, making it a great warmup move for your upper body days.
How to:
- Start standing with feet hips-width apart.
- Hinge at hips and lower down until hands reach the ground, focusing on core activation and spine alignment, keeping legs as straight as possible.
- Crawl forward lifting one hand at a time with legs straight and hips lifted until in a high plank. Try to keep hips as square to the ground as you can throughout the move.
- Walk hands one by one back to feet.
- Reverse motion to return to standing tall. That’s 1 rep.
Plank Jack Shoulder Tap
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: There’s a lot going on in this intermediate-to-advanced move. It targets lower abs and shoulders and gets your heart rate up. Pro tip: If your wrists start to get tired, you can do this on your fists.
How to:
- Start in a high plank position, with hands stacked directly under shoulders and head to heels in a straight line.
- Keeping core engaged, tap right shoulder with left hand as you jump feet outward.
- Return to high plank.
- Immediately repeat on the opposite side. That’s 1 rep.
Plank Knee To Nose
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This is a good core move that improves your spinal stability.
How to:
- Start in a high plank position with right foot lifted slightly up off the floor.
- Exhale and pull the right knee toward the chest while rounding the spine to bring nose toward knee.
- With control, reverse movement to return to plank position with right foot lifted. That’s 1 rep.
Leg Lower
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This move is great for core stability.
How to:
- Start lying on back with arms on mat and hands under butt, palms down, legs raised at a 90-degree angle from the floor, feet flexed.
- Slowly lower one leg as far down as possible without allowing your lower back to lift off the ground.
- Return to start.
- Repeat with the other leg. That’s 1 rep.
Forearm Side Plank
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: This move works the shoulders, obliques, and the rectus abdominis.
How to:
- Lay on side with right forearm flat on the floor, elbow under shoulder, and both legs extended so body forms a straight line from head to feet. Feet can either be staggered for extra stability or stacked for more of a challenge.
- Engage core and lift hips off the floor.
- Pause and hold.
- Repeat on the other side.
Side Plank Thread The Needle
Movement pattern: Core
Why it rocks: Level up your side planks with a little extra movement. Pro tip: If you’re struggling to stack your feet, split your stance for better balance.
How to:
- Start on left side with left forearm on mat and knees bent.
- Raise right arm toward ceiling and lift hips up and away from the floor until body forms a straight line from head to heels.
- Keeping hips lifted, rotate left arm down and underneath torso and allow gaze to shift toward the floor.
- Reverse the movement to return to start. That’s 1 rep. Complete on the opposite side.
Pushup To Plank Row
Movement Pattern: Upper Body
Why it rocks: This exercise targets your chest and back at the same time. Once you get comfortable with the move, add a resistance band around your hands for a little more back challenge. Or, you can also pop into a high plank position for a full pushup.
How to:
- Start in a modified plank position, knees on ground, wrists under shoulders. Maintain a long spine with knees to head aligned.
- Lower into a pushup so chest hovers just above the floor, and elbows are close to sides.
- Push up from ground to return to modified plank position, then drive right elbow toward sky, performing a row.
- Return right hand to ground.
- Repeat row with left arm.
- Return left hand to ground. That’s 1 rep.
Superman Arm Extension
Movement pattern: Upper Body
Why it rocks: This is a great move for people who want to strengthen their posterior chain (or all the muscles on the back side of your body!). It can even help improve posture, says Sariya.
How to:
- Start lying facedown on a mat, legs extended, elbows tucked at sides.
- Squeeze glutes to lift legs and extend arms overhead simultaneously, pulling thighs and chest off the floor.
- Pause, then lower legs and bend arms to sides to return to starting position. That’s 1 rep.
Triceps Dip
Movement Pattern: Upper Body
Why it rocks: This move isolates the triceps. Pro tip: Make sure your hands are right outside your hips and your elbows are pointing behind you in order to really target the back of your arms. To make it more challenging, straighten out your legs.
How to:
- Sit in a chair (or on a box/step) and grip the front edges with hands.
- Scoot butt forward until it’s hovering just off the seat and legs form a 90-degree angle and straighten arms.
- Lower body down until biceps are parallel to floor.
- Engage triceps to press back to start. That’s 1 rep.
Superwoman Isometric Hold
Movement Pattern: Upper Body
Why it rocks: This move works the back muscles that stabilize and support your spine, making everyday movement easier, says Sariya.
How to:
- Lie facedown on the mat, with arms and legs stretched out.
- Squeeze glutes and lift torso and legs up as far as you can. Imagine reaching out with arms and legs.
- Pause at the top and hold.
Incline Pushup
Movement Pattern: Upper Body
Why it rocks: This is a great move for people working their way up to a flat pushup.
How to:
- Start in an incline plank position with hands on a chair, bench, or step and feet on floor with head to heels aligned.
- Lower down, with elbows pointing 45-degrees away from body, until arms bend to 90-degrees.
- Press back up keeping body in a straight line. That’s 1 rep.
Andi Breitowich is a Chicago-based writer and graduate student at Northwestern Medill. She’s a mass consumer of social media and cares about women’s rights, holistic wellness, and non-stigmatizing reproductive care. As a former collegiate pole vaulter, she has a love for all things fitness and is currently obsessed with Peloton Tread workouts and hot yoga.
Olivia Luppino is an editorial assistant at Women’s Health. She spends most of her time interviewing expert sources about the latest fitness trends, nutrition tips, and practical advice for living a healthier life. Olivia previously wrote for New York Magazine’s The Cut, PS (formerly POPSUGAR), and Salon, where she also did on-camera interviews with celebrity guests. She recently ran the New York City Marathon.
Cori Ritchey, C.S.C.S., is the fitness editor at Women’s Health, as well as a certified strength and condition coach and group fitness instructor. She’s reported on topics regarding health, nutrition, mental health, fitness, sex, and relationships for several years. You can find more of her work in Men’s Health, HealthCentral, Livestrong, Self, and others.
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BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – News 13 brings you a segment focused on health and fitness on News 13 Midday every Wednesday called “Wellness Wednesday.”
This week, Personal Trainer Traycee Green from Pure Platinum was in the studio with News 13’s Chris Marchand to discuss how physical activity can help protect you from heart disease.
Green said that heart disease is the leading cause of death and that physical activity is one of its best-known protectors.
She added that men need twice as much exercise as women.
Green said that results from one study showed that women needed four hours of activity to cut heart disease risk by 30%. But for men, it took them nine hours of activity to cut heart disease risk by 30%.
However, even though it takes longer for men, Green says the best type of exercise is the one you enjoy.
To help lower the risk of heart disease, the NHS guidelines say to do 115 minutes of moderate exercise a week, 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week, and a minimum of two days a week of strength training.
For more information, watch the video above.
Fitness
This 30-second walking habit can make every walk more effective and boost your fitness in less time
Following the news that the NHS is due to launch a walking rewards scheme, walking is – quite rightfully – back in the spotlight as a form of exercise in its own right.
So, if you’re feeling inspired and ready to take on the new Movement 26.2 programme when it launches next year, personal trainer Michael Baah has a hack for getting even more health benefits from your walks.
‘If I could change just one thing about how people walk for fitness, it wouldn’t be asking them to walk further,’ he tells Women’s Health. ‘It would be asking them to walk faster, briefly – 30 seconds of purposeful walking can completely change the training effect of a walk without adding any extra time.’
‘Think of your walk like charging your phone – walking at the same pace from start to finish is like using a standard charger,’ notes Baah. ‘Adding short bursts of faster walking is like switching to fast charge – you’re getting more benefit from the exact same amount of time.’
Why 30-second brisk-walking intervals are effective
And if you don’t think 30 seconds is enough to elicit any meaningful change, think again. ‘Those 30-second surges force your heart, lungs and muscles to work harder together. As your heart rate rises, your body becomes better at delivering oxygen where it’s needed,’ explains Baah.
‘Over time, your recovery improves, everyday tasks feel easier and your overall fitness increases.’
How to add intervals into your existing walking routine
‘People often think getting fitter means finding another hour in the day. More often than not, it simply means making better use of the time you already have,’ says Baah. ‘That’s why I love 30-second walking intervals. They’re realistic, accessible and easy to stick with, and it’s those small habits that create lasting results.’
For beginners, Baah recommends three to five 30-second brisk intervals during a 20 to 30-minute walk, two to four times a week.
‘As your fitness improves, gradually build towards six to ten intervals, or introduce a gentle incline before adding more,’ he says. ‘Consistency always beats intensity – I’d rather someone complete three quality interval walks every week than one exhausting session they’ll dread repeating.’
Think of it like you would do strength training, notes Baah – ‘your body adapts when you gradually ask it to do a little more’.
In a world obsessed with step counts, he encourages clients to shift their perspective, and ‘to stop obsessing over step counts and ask themselves one question instead: “How quickly can I burn around ten extra calories today?” For most people, that simply means adding a handful of brisk-walking surges into the walk they’re already doing. It turns an ordinary walk into purposeful training.’
As for assessing the intensity of your intervals, Baah advises forgetting ‘complicated heart rate zones’.
‘During each 30-second burst, you should still be able to say a short sentence, but you shouldn’t want to hold a full conversation – that’s usually the sweet spot.’
Mistakes to avoid
Common mistakes to avoid, says Baah, usually relate to misjudging intensity.
‘The biggest mistake is treating every interval like a sprint – you want controlled intensity, not exhaustion,’ he adds. ‘Stand tall, swing your arms naturally and increase your cadence rather than taking longer strides; walk as if you’re late for something.’
And while most healthy adults should be able to safely introduce interval walking into their routines, Baah advises ‘anyone with chest pain, uncontrolled high blood pressure, unstable heart disease or persistent dizziness [to] seek medical advice before increasing intensity’.
‘Likewise, people recovering from surgery or undergoing cancer treatment should follow an exercise plan that’s tailored to their individual needs.’
One of our most frequently asked questions here at Women’s Health? How to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. So, we asked superstar trainer Oyinda Okunowo exactly how to do it. In this 4-week plan – created exclusively for Women’s Health COLLECTIVE members – you’ll get the workouts and nutrition guidance needed to help you on your way to better body composition. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to Oyinda’s plan and start training today.
Get the plan
Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Health and Fitness Writer for Women’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis. She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity. A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.
Fitness
I’ve tested most of the popular fitness trackers on the market, and here are my top recommendations that match your fitness level
Whether you are training for a marathon or working out for the first time in months, a fitness tracker can show you health and exercise data that can help you better understand your efforts. Most have heart rate, GPS and activity tracking built-in, and many can provide insights into your sleep and recovery. I test fitness trackers and smartwatches regularly, and have tested dozens over the years. Below I’m sharing some of the best ones on the market, and advice on how to find one that fits your needs.
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The best fitness trackers of 2026
My top picks come from well-known brands like Fitbit, Apple and Garmin. Every option on this list was sent to me by the brand for testing purposes.
Best overall: Garmin Vivoactive 6
The Garmin Vivoactive 6 hits a great balance of fitness features, smartwatch capabilities, battery life and price, all packed in an approachable design. During my testing, I was constantly surprised by how many features it has and how rich its features were, especially considering this is one of Garmin’s more affordable watches.
The Vivoactive 6 tracks your health, sleep and fitness activity — with in-depth metrics and analysis for all three. Fitness is particularly impressive, with features like body Battery, workout recovery times, Garmin pace pro and Garmin coach (with running and strength training plans).
One standout feature I love is workout animation — the watch will play short videos of a silhouette performing certain exercises. This is mostly when you are doing Garmin Connect workouts (think HIIT, cardio, strength and yoga), but where I find it the most fun is for Move Alerts — the watch will remind me to move, give me a few movement options to choose from, then play an animation of that movement to follow. It made taking breaks at my desk a lot more fun.
The Garmin Connect app is less intuitive than apps from competitors like Fitbit and Apple, so — give yourself time to get used to it before dismissing it outright.
Best for beginners: Fitbit Charge 6
Lowest price ever
Many NBC Select staffers use and love Fitbit fitness trackers because of their lightweight designs and easy-to-use features. The Charge 6 is a small, beginner-friendly fitness tracker that’s light on weight and light on price. It feels comfortable to use after only a few minutes of swiping through the watch and app, with bright, colorful and easy to understand metrics and graphs.
The Charge 6 tracks and showcases your heart rate, daily steps, distance traveled, fitness activities, calories burned and nightly sleep. It does not track more advanced running stats like cadence, stride length, ground contact time and vertical oscillation like some of my other picks.
New to the Charge 6 is Google Wallet, Google Maps navigation and YouTube Music controls. It also now has a button on the left side that returns you to the home screen or pause workout screen. One important thing to note though, is that you can’t turn off the device. Instead, it goes into “power-saver mode” after 10 minutes of inactivity.
Best budget: Amazfit Active 2 (Sport)
The Amazfit Active 2 is a ridiculously good value — so much so that I was suspicious of it at first, but after weeks of testing, I absolutely recommend it. The software could use refinement, but everything else is excellent for a fitness tracker at this price point.
The standout is build quality — this does not look or feel like a $100 fitness tracker. It has a medium-sized, bright screen surrounded by a stainless steel case that looks sleek and classy (much more so than the Fitbit Charge 6 or Garmin Vivoactive 6). The watch also has a built-in speaker, so it can announce things like mileage during runs or turn-by-turn directions during navigation.
The downside is software — the Zepp app could use some refinement. Like Garmin, it shows a lot of data and options, but can get confusing the further you dive into everything. You can learn more in my Amazfit brand guide.
Best screenless tracker: Google Fitbit Air
If you want to track your health and fitness stats as simply as possible, get the Google Fitbit Air. It’s a screenless fitness tracker that looks like a simple band, with plenty of colors and styles to choose from and swap between.
Because it doesn’t have a screen, you control everything through your phone and the Google Health app, which showcases stats and scores for things like steps, weekly cardio goals, sleep, readiness and more. It’s simple, intuitive and easy to use, making it ideal for beginners, just like the Fitbit Charge 6.
The band automatically tracks walks and workouts, but it’s not totally accurate or confidence-inspiring: I recommend manually starting and stopping workouts like outdoor runs and bike rides.
There is also the optional Google Health Premium subscription for $9.99 a month, which adds an AI (read: Gemini) powered fitness and health coach to the app. I had a mixed experience with Google Health Premium, I found it took a lot of time to personalize to my needs, and even then, I didn’t find it all that valuable, but you can always try it for a month and cancel if it’s not right for you.
Best smart ring: Oura Ring 5
If you hate wearing watches (or anything on your wrists), a smart ring is the best way to track your health and fitness. The Oura Ring 5 is the best one on the market — I’ve tested it for months, and it’s a big improvement on the already-excellent Oura Ring 4.
It tracks stats like heart rate, body temperature, blood oxygen, sleep stages, stress levels and exercise metrics and stores them in the Oura app. It automatically tracks walks and exercise, but I find it best to manually start and stop outdoor workouts like runs for the best data. The app itself is one of the best I’ve tested, with a detailed but approachable design that’s helpful at a glance and very informative as you dive deeper into things like trend reports.
I love that the Oura Ring 5 is significantly (40%) smaller than the Oura Ring 4, and feels more like a regular ring on my finger instead of a bulky smart ring. It comes in six colors and a range of sizes. If you want more than just the current day’s stats, the Oura Ring requires an Oura Ring membership, which costs $6 a month.
Best for iPhone: Apple Watch SE 3
The Apple Watch is one fitness tracker that almost always stays on my wrist, and this is the brand’s lowest-priced model. It costs much less than the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3, but has almost all the same fitness tracking features and metrics.
The Apple Watch SE 3 is easy to use, especially if you have used an iPhone before. The apps are similar or identical, and the square shape of the watch makes it easy to scroll through notifications and texts. It shows detailed workout, health and sleep metrics via Apple Health and Apple Fitness with no subscription required. You can also use the Siri voice assistant to make requests and send voice texts, which is much easier than typing a text mid-run, in my experience.
The watch gets up to 18 hours of battery life, according to the brand — that’s less than most competitors. It does charge quickly, though, getting nearly a full charge in just 45 minutes. It also comes in two sizes with many watch band options.
Best for Android: Google Pixel Watch 4
The Pixel Watch has improved each year to the point that it is now one of the best fitness trackers and smartwatches for anyone with an Android phone. It does everything you would expect of all the best smartwatches: notifications, texting, calls, tap-to-pay, media controls, offline maps and more.
For fitness, the watch has built-in tracking with more than 50 workout types to choose from, with more in-depth data compared to other Fitbits like the Fitbit Charge 6. You can build custom workouts, including custom runs with stages, intervals and more. The watch can also automatically detect walks, runs, bike rides, and more, and start a workout all on its own. I often forget to log walks, so this feature is one of my favorites.
New to the Pixel Watch 4 is satellite SOS emergency assistance (on the LTE version), multi-band GPS (which should lead to more accurate GPS data), improved battery life and so much more.
Best for runners: Garmin Forerunner 570
If you are already into your running journeys, the Garmin Forerunner series is for you, and the Forerunner 570 is my top pick. It has more than enough tools for runners and racers and comes in two sizes, so you can get the best fit for your wrist (unlike the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 970).
My favorite training tools are training readiness, training status and HRV (heart rate variability) status, which work in tandem to help optimize training and recovery. Training Readiness combines multiple metrics to give you a top-level score about how beneficial your training will be. In practice, it helps me decide whether to take a rest day or push myself harder than usual.
It also has advanced running metrics like power, cadence, stride length and ground contact time, as well as multi-band GPS for the most accurate, consistent distance and time stats possible. It is pricey, though: if you are just starting out as a runner, my other top picks (or the Forerunner 70) provide more than enough stats and tools.
Best for athletes: Whoop 5.0 (Peak)
Lowest price ever
For athletes, Whoop’s minimal design and extra-detailed stress and recovery metrics is a great fit. Like the Google Fitbit Air, it’s a small screenless tracker that’s lightweight and inconspicuous on your wrist. That’s where the similarities end, though.
Whoop differentiates itself by focusing heavily on recovery and strain. It gives all of your activities a strain score between zero and 21, and highlights things like heart rate zones and strength training more than other trackers. Using Whoop makes me think more about the quality and intensity of my workouts rather than distance or time. Again, this is more useful for athletes or people training towards a specific goal.
The required Whoop subscription is very expensive, though. There are three subscription tiers: Whoop One ($199 a year), Whoop Peak ($239 a year) and Whoop Life ($359 a year).
How I test fitness trackers
I’ve tested dozens of fitness trackers and smartwatches for NBC Select. I am a runner and bicyclist, and use fitness trackers to monitor my pace, heart rate and distance. I test each one for at least two weeks, using all available features, including sleep tracking. I often wear multiple fitness trackers at the same time to compare data like heart rate, average pace, mileage, elevation and sleep score, incorporating external heart rate monitors when appropriate.
To pick the best fitness trackers, I paid close attention to the following factors:
- Comfort: A fitness tracker is only useful if you enjoy wearing it. I wore each tracker day and night to see if they became uncomfortable, disrupted my sleep or irritated my skin.
- Data tracking: Fitness trackers collect various biometric data and present it in different ways. I tested and chose trackers that collect a range of insights and present them in helpful and easy-to-understand ways.
- Battery life: I tried each tracker for at least two weeks and noted how often I needed to charge the device.
- GPS tracking: Many fitness trackers have GPS tracking built-in. I took note of how long it took to connect to GPS, and how consistent the GPS data was, especially compared to other trackers.
- Compatibility: Not every fitness tracker works with every smartphone. I tested and included options compatible with both iPhone and Android devices.
How to shop for a fitness tracker
When shopping for any fitness tracker, price and compatibility should be top of mind. But beyond that, I recommend prioritizing the following:
Buy something you’ll actually wear
A fitness tracker is only useful if you actually want to wear it. Otherwise, it’s just a piece of tech sitting in a drawer collecting dust. Be sure to buy something that will feel comfortable on your wrist (or finger) for hours and fits your lifestyle and aesthetic. Try on different fitness trackers (in-person if you can). This can give you a better sense of size and weight than pictures online. If you buy one online, check the return policy before you check out just in case you find that it’s not the fit you desire.
Consider form factor
If you don’t ever wear rings, you probably won’t find the Oura Ring comfortable. Similarly, if you don’t like to wear a watch, you may find the Apple Watch and Google Pixel Watch uncomfortable. Know what you like, what you don’t, and how much convincing you would need to change that.
Identify your goals and needs
I believe that everyone can benefit from the data fitness trackers provide if you understand your wants and needs.
Think about what data you care about. If you love outdoor exercise stats like pace and power, a Garmin watch may be the best match for you. If you want broad exercise and health data, plus all the latest apps, a smartwatch from Apple or Google is a better fit.
Fitness isn’t one size fits all. Take stock of your goals and needs before checking out.
Why trust NBC Select?
I am a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology and fitness, including stories on workout headphones, walking shoes and point-and-shoot cameras. I’ve been testing fitness trackers for years — I try new models constantly, comparing them against previous versions and similar competitors. I leveraged my experience testing fitness trackers, smartwatches and smart rings to pick the best ones on the market today.
Catch up on NBC Select’s in-depth coverage of tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date.
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