Staying fit and healthy can be a difficult business; if you don’t have friends keeping you company, going for a long run or putting in an hour in the gym can feel lonely. It can also be hard to stay motivated if you’re going through the same routine every day; however, a new generation of tech is changing that. With innovative approaches to problem solving, it’s helping people to get more out of daily exercise, vary it more while still making the same gains, and generally have more fun.

Tracking your actions

Some of the most useful tech is very simple. Apps that count the number of steps walked in a day or the number of stairs climbed are useful for everyone from business people wary of spending too long at their desks to retirees who want to make sure they keep moving. A fitbit can track your heart rate over the course of a day so that you can exercise in irregular patterns – anything from running to the station to dancing in the kitchen while you do the dishes – and still keep track of whether or not you’re pushing your system as much overall as doctors recommend.

A helping hand with healthy eating

As well as monitoring how much exercise you’re doing, you can use phone apps to keep track of what you eat, count calories, track different food groups and nutrients, and make sure you stay properly hydrated. You can also use new kitchen gadgets to improve the way you prepare food so it is more nutritious and beneficial. Precisely timed steamers, for instance, will make vegetables taste just right without destroying nutrients the way traditional cooking methods can. A good blender (look out for the self-cleaning variety) makes it easy to prepare healthy smoothies to revive you when you return from your workout.

Expanding your workout

Why limit your workout to what you can do in the gym? Buy a good bike computer and you’ll find it just as easy to monitor how much exercise you’re getting – and what it’s doing for you – as you cycle to and from work or the local store. Take your workout to work with an app like DeskActive, which regularly prompts you with stretching exercises you can do at your desk to keep you in shape during the day, or fit a set of pedals under your desk so you can cycle as you work. Simple programs that remind you to get up and moving every now and again will help you burn off a few extra calories and keep you from getting stiff.

Dressing for success

When you’re ready for some serious exercise, you want to know that you’re getting as much out of it as possible. New technologies in clothing can help with this. Compression clothing such as the new micromodal crew sock can provide all day support and ensure healthy blood flow, and for every pair of crew socks there’s a pair of shorts or a set of knee braces that can significantly improve your performance in the gym. Garments like this are also good for supporting weakened limbs and helping you get back to your favorite exercises faster after injury. One of the key ways to prevent injury, of course, is to have the right footwear, and rapidly advancing technology is making this more supportive and comfortable than ever.

That extra push

When you’re into a good routine that’s fun to do and includes the day-to-day variety you need to stay interested - how can you find that extra little push that prompts you to test your limits? One way is to gameify it. Zombies, Run! is a great little app you can use when walking, running or cycling and listening to music from your phone. It intermittently warns you to speed up because the living dead are in pursuit, and then tracks your heartbeat to see if you’re working hard enough to get away. If this sounds a bit too much, even gentler games like Pokémon Go can help by getting you out and about and turning an ordinary hike into a real adventure.

Thanks to technologies like these, exercise is much more fun than it used to be, and is much easier to combine with other things that you enjoy in life. You’ll find it much easier to stay healthy when exercise is part of your life rather than an adjunct, and when the food that’s good for you tastes delicious. A healthy life is now more satisfying than ever.

Master Image via turinasbird.com

Tags : Healthcare