American companies are turning to technology to give incentives to employees to encourage them to adopt healthier lifestyles, that is: eat right and exercise.
Because Fitbits have become popular, the tracking device has been adopted to provide discounts and freebies on health insurance packages to employees who walk the extra mile for a healthier lifestyle.
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Companies benefit from a healthier workforce and the devices are a means to track activity and pass on the savings to employees.
However, media outlet CBS reports that there are individuals who have found a way around the system and have devised ways and means to make themselves look healthier on the computer than they actually are.
An individual who asked not to be identified told the publication that putting the Fitbit in a sock and letting it spin for an hour and a half on a no heat setting will get you 11,000 steps on your tracker.
A power drill is also a good tool for getting those steps on your Fitbit. Some have tried attaching it to a stationary bicycle and spinning the wheel.
Woody the dog wore his human’s Fitbit for a day and logged 2,500 proxy steps.
However, Dr James Morgan said that when employees resort to these techniques and skip on actual physical activity, “they’re really just cheating themselves.”
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