Using Technology to Improve Health and Fitness

Although you still must do the actual hard work yourself when exercising, today there are more gadgets and devices than ever to help you lose weight and achieve your fitness goals. Below are some of the areas in which technology can help you monitor your health and fitness.

Moving

Most fitness trackers have the ability to count your steps and track your distance for the day. This can be a useful tool when setting personal fitness goals. If you are able to push yourself a little bit further than the day before, you can ensure that you are improving your workouts. Additionally, most trackers let you turn on notifications for the device to alert you when you have been idle for an extended period of time to get up and move around.

Workouts

Most gadgets and devices can also measure the calories burned during your workout as well as categorize them by type of activity. These numbers are only an estimation based on age, height, body measurements and heart rate. However, knowing this information can help you understand which types of activities burn the most calories.

Sleep

Lack of sleep can have a serious impact on your energy and ability to achieve your goals. Sleeping helps your body rest and repair to be able to perform its best the next day. Fitness trackers can shed light on your night’s rest, offering information about your sleeping patterns, the time of the night you are restless or how much deep sleep you got.

Weight

A standard scale will tell you how much you weigh, however, with today’s technology there are some scales that offer more information that you can upload to an app on your phone. Scales on the market now can calculate body measurements such as your BMI and body fat percentage. It is important to note that while some scales may be accurate, they can only give an approximation of these measurements.

Technology has proven to be useful in many aspects of life and the same is true when managing your weight and health. Although they cannot lose the actual weight for you, many devices can help you push yourself, track physical activity and ultimately reach the fitness goals you have set for yourself.

 

The staff at the Wellness Institute offers a variety of services including exercise and nutrition education. Our providers can help you increase productivity, improve general health and manage chronic conditions. We have a registered dietitian, physician and health education specialist on staff.

 

Sources:

“How smartphone apps could help you stay healthy.” Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.

https://www.kpwashingtonresearch.org/live-healthy/all-articles/live-healthy-2015/how-smartphone-apps-could-help-you-stay-healthy/

“Integrating Technology into Standard Weight Loss Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial.“ Jama Internal Medicine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684245/