> If one doesn't have health issues and/or not a professional athlete - why would one want to keep track of fitness so closely?

The majority of Americans are overweight -- which is a health issue, and addressing that health issue is one of the major reasons people use fitness trackers.

> I just go out and get exercise and enjoy myself and all this fitness app stuff seems like a distraction.

Lots of people don't enjoy exercise, especially people trying to establish a pattern with it that haven't done so yet.

> Is it just an obsessive hobby done out of curiosity or is there some reason I should use a fitness app instead of simply enjoying myself on my bike, hiking, etc. and focusing on that instead?

I think you are presenting a false dichotomy.

>The majority of Americans are overweight -- which is a health issue, and addressing that health issue is one of the major reasons people use fitness trackers.

I've been overweight at times when I overwork. Especially after I was in a situation where I was a caregiver for a sick loved one for some years. Even after that spell of time, I lost weight fairly quickly (and healthily) by mountain biking. I've lost weight by exercising via having fun on a mountain bike, hiking, climbing, kayaking, surfing, etc. and eating less (and somewhat healthier) and drinking more water.

I guess I just don't see how a fitness app would have improved my situation. Again, I'm not dissing on those that use them, but I personally don't get it.

I'm still curious after your response. How would a fitness app and device helped me?

>Lots of people don't enjoy exercise, especially people trying to establish a pattern with it that haven't done so yet.

Maybe it's because they set it up like a chore with a computing device instead of doing it for fun and health as a side benefit?

I'm only half-kidding about that...

I personally can't stand sitting inside and getting exercise on some rat wheel in a gym. If it's hot, I bring lots of water and dress appropriately for the weather. If it's cold, I bundle up. I enjoy the challenge that the elements bring to the table outdoors. I also like using my brain trying to navigate trails, etc. instead of doing repetitious, boring (to me) brain-dead indoor exercise machines like treadmills, etc.

I dunno, maybe if people worried less about their fitness tracking devices, trying to treat exercise like work and instead just have more fun, they'd be more apt to exercise?

I wouldn't enjoy exercise either if I treated it like work.

>I think you are presenting a false dichotomy.

Perhaps I am for others. For me personally, I just don't see the enjoyment of meticulously tracking my heart rate, etc. while I'm flying down some trails, hiking my bike up rocks, etc. I know my heart is working because it's pounding with joy (and sometimes fear) and that's enough for me. Or, if someone spots a bear I sure as heck don't need a fitness app to let me know my heart is ticking. ;)

Again, I know what works for me certainly doesn't work for everyone, but as hard as I try, I just don't get the fitness apps and devices being very conducive to enjoyable exercise. Just seems like another distraction from getting busy and having fun in the process.

The only device I like to bring is a little shuffle for music and I often turn that off so I can hear the sounds of nature while I'm out there. A fancy pants fitness device that alerts me that my heart rate has reached some kind of "optimum" zone or whatever just seems like a mechanical killjoy to an otherwise organic, almost tribal/ animalistic/sensual experience getting down and dirty with nature.

Again, this is just me. If other find enjoyment in fitness apps and devices that run them, then more power to them! :D

Who knows, maybe someone can make a good enough argument for me to start using them someday if/when I have health issues, etc. down the road.

> I'm still curious after your response. How would a fitness app and device helped me?

It might not have. Not every product on the market is designed for you personally.

Again, you keep saying that you have lots of exercise activities you know about and enjoy, and that the challenge you've had is overwork. Lots of other people don't have lots of exercise activities they enjoy, but measurement, and the feedback and sense of accomplishment from improving their numbers is something that they get positive feelings from which help counteract the negative feelings from an unpleasant activity that doesn't produce immediate tangible results (although, for people whose challenge is overwork, measurement can be an early signal that an imbalance is occurring that might be visible before tangible harm, so it could be useful for people whose situation is more like yours, as well; come to think of it, lots of people I know who have found trackers useful seem to be more like you in that regard -- several, for instance, are usually regular ballroom dancers, but have lots of other commitments and less-fitness-friendly activities in their life, so...)

> Not every product on the market is designed for you personally.

Sure they are. I am product Gawd.

> Again, you keep saying that you have lots of exercise activities you know about and enjoy, and that the challenge you've had is overwork. Lots of other people don't have lots of exercise activities they enjoy, but measurement, and the feedback and sense of accomplishment from improving their numbers is something that they get positive feelings from which help counteract the negative feelings from an unpleasant activity that doesn't produce immediate tangible results

I see your point.

> although, for people whose challenge is overwork, measurement can be an early signal that an imbalance is occurring that might be visible before tangible harm, so it could be useful for people whose situation is more like yours

So a fitness app could use tracking to alert me when I need to take a break from work and repeatedly prod me to get exercise? I'd smash it and then I'd need an anger management app to help me cope with my fitness app. ;)

> why so many people use them?

So they can blog about the 1k they walked on facebook.