Fitness and Technology

Technology has benefitted our lives in so many ways. We use it to communicate, entertain ourselves, and stay connected with loved ones. But what about keeping track of our fitness?

With the recent release of smartwatches and fitness trackers, it has become easier than ever to monitor our health and fitness progress. Here are some things to consider when choosing a device -

1 - What type of activity do you want to track?

This is the first step in choosing the right device. There are different types of smartwatches designed for different activities such as running, swimming, cycling, and even circuit training. Once you know which type of activity you’d like to track, you can find a watch or tracker that best suits your needs.

2 - What features are important to you?

Fitness trackers and smartwatches have become increasingly popular as ways to keep track of one's fitness progress. These devices can report how many steps are taken, the time spent on different exercises, and even heart rate data. Devices like the Apple Watch and Fitbit Blaze also have built-in health tracking features that can help users monitor their physical activity levels and overall health.

Overall, fitness trackers are a great way to keep on top of your physical health while also enjoying the convenience of having all this information at your fingertips. The fitness tracker has become a popular accessory for many people. Many people use fitness trackers to help them stay healthy and fit. Fitness trackers have been around for a few years, but they have become even more popular in recent years because of the growth of smartwatches.

Smartwatches are devices that are used to control your smartphone and other devices. They are often larger than traditional watches, and they often have screens that are smaller than the screens on smartphones. This means that they can be used to check email, read messages, and see notifications from apps. Because they can be used to control your phone, many people buy smartwatches as add-ons to their smartphones.

For most of my life, I never wore jewellery or a watch. Mainly because I was either training martial arts, kettlebells or weightlifting most of the time. A few years back I did get a Fitbit Ionic and it has served me well ever since. There is enough noise already and so the last thing I wanted was another device with notifications and lots of stuff I would never use, or already had on my phone. The Ionic is great as it does the following –

Sleep

Heart rate

Activity – several

Steps

Calories

Water intake

Timer

Stopwatch

It also has a 5GB drive for music and if you put it in bike mode when sprinting it will show your acceleration curve and also top speed. Pretty good considering you would need light gates and a timer for that level of data. Not perfect, but better than no data for sure.

At the lower end, I got a standard one for my son from Amazon for about £30. He never used it and so the wife does for jogging and circuits. The fact you can connect most of them to Strava to check your effort and matched times is a great way to see how you are progressing.

The main thing to understand with a fitness tracker or smartwatch is that any data unless completely unreliable is much better than no data at all. You are not left guessing you know exactly how much you drink, your number of steps your quality of sleep and then once you have that data you know where you are, where the issues are and where you can make progress.

While your smartwatch certainly doesn't replace a gym, coach, or personal trainer, it gives you so much more than you would have if you did not use one. The reason they are so effective is because you can see progress on a weekly and monthly basis from your daily activities. This helps with goal setting such as weight management, hydration, activity levels, setting regular sleep and wake cycles and even when to recover.

In fact, one of the most beneficial uses I've personally found for a fitness tracker or smartwatch is an indication of readiness to exercise based on recovery and heart rate. For example, if your resting heart rate is say 50 beats per minute and all of a sudden it's gone up to 55 or maybe even 60 that could indicate one of two things. You are either ill or an illness is approaching and you are at the early stages of that, or what's more than likely happening is you haven't fully recovered from previous activities. So, if my heart rate does fluctuate to that extent, I would always look at going very easy or actually having a day off because the off is as important as the on with your journey and recovery is where the progress takes shape.

I think the big question to ask yourself is the relevancy. Will this make my life easier, or will it make it harder? Now you have to consider that there may well be a learning phase because you've got the technology, you've got the apps, and you may have to input some of the data yourself. You may create a spreadsheet to track progress, but the big thing for me when considering this is what do I gain from doing it and what do I miss out on or lose from not doing it. Then sit with which direction is pulling you more. If I'm being good to myself what choice do I make? Not an easy choice, or a convenient choice, or a lazy choice, but the real choice based on meeting your needs and doing what you know is right for you, your health and your progress.

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