Google Fit

Google Fit is an app designed to help users track their physical activity and work towards a healthier lifestyle. It integrates activity tracking from your phone or smartwatch to monitor movements like runs, walks, and bike rides, providing real-time statistics. A core feature is Heart Points, an activity goal developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association, which awards points for moderate and intense physical activity to encourage beneficial exercise habits. The app automatically detects certain activities, and allows users to manually log others, ensuring a comprehensive record of their daily movement.

Tracking Your Physical Activity

The app allows you to track workouts directly from your Android phone’s sensors or a Wear OS by Google smartwatch, which can utilize its heart rate sensors. As you exercise, it provides instant insights and real-time statistics for activities such as runs, walks, and bike rides, recording data like your speed, pace, and route. For continuous daily movement, your Android phone or Wear OS by Google smartwatch can automatically detect and add activities like walking, running, or biking to your activity journal. If you engage in other types of workouts, you can select them from a list, including activities such as pilates, rowing, or spinning, and the app will track the Heart Points earned. There is also an option to start a paced walking workout to help you maintain a rhythm.

Heart Points and Goal Setting

Google Fit incorporates Heart Points, an activity goal created in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Heart Association (AHA), to help improve your health. Activities that elevate your heart rate offer significant health benefits for both your heart and mind. You earn one Heart Point for each minute of moderate activity, such as increasing your pace while walking, and double points for more intense activities like running. Achieving 30 minutes of brisk walking five days a week is noted as the recommended amount of physical activity by the AHA and WHO, which is associated with reduced risk of heart disease, improved sleep, and enhanced overall mental wellbeing. The app enables you to monitor your daily progress towards both your Heart Points and Steps goals, and you can adjust these goals as needed to continue challenging yourself.

Integrating Health Data

To provide a comprehensive view of your health, the app can display information from various other fitness apps and devices. This integration allows you to consolidate your progress in one place. Examples of supported apps and devices include Lifesum, Wear OS by Google, Nike+, Runkeeper, Strava, MyFitnessPal, Basis, Sleep as Android, Withings, and Xiaomi Mi bands. Furthermore, the app can leverage Health Connect to synchronize data from your other fitness and exercise applications, which helps to streamline data input and reduce the need for manual entries.

Reviewing Your Progress

You can check your activity history at any time through the app’s journal, which offers a snapshot of your activity across Google Fit and any integrated applications. For a more detailed overview, the browse section provides access to all your health and wellness data. The app also touches on the importance of breathing as a simple method to reduce tension and relieve stress.