Technology to Track Your Fitness

In today's world of technology you can find almost anything and everything online. You can also even download applications for your phone which will help you share life events like on Facebook and pin your favorite pictures on Pinterest to share with anyone and everyone. We use technology to do many things but rarely do we use it to help us stay healthy. I thought I would share some applications you can download on your phone to help you stay focused on your fitness goals as well as have a way to track your progress.

In today's world of technology you can find almost anything and everything online. You can also even download applications for your phone which will help you share life events like on Facebook and pin your favorite pictures on Pinterest to share with anyone and everyone. We use technology to do many things but rarely do we use it to help us stay healthy. I thought I would share some applications you can download on your phone to help you stay focused on your fitness goals as well as have a way to track your progress. 

If you are a Samsung or Droid phone user, odds are you have an application called SHealth already on you phone known. SHealth can help you track your daily steps like those fancy pedometers you see some people using. Walking '10,000 Steps' was first started in Japan to protect for the purpose of staying healthy and losing weight. Did you know that it takes about 2000 - 2500 steps to walk just 1 mile and you will burn somewhere between 250 - 600 calories? I mile is equivalent to 4 laps around a typical Track lane. To get 10,000 steps you will have to walk about 5 miles in one day which means 20 laps around the track. So to burn a typical cookie or donut you may have to walk at least a mile. If you had more than one you will probably need to walk 2 miles and that is not counting excess calories in other meals. If you had a Frappuccino later that day you will have to walk another mile or two. So is it worth it? Other great things you can do with SHealth: You can track your weight, exercise and food intake. You could also keep records of your blood sugar and blood pressure which will help you see how you are improving in these areas. If you decide to buy available accessories you will be able to track you heart rate and even your sleeping patterns. 

How about the iPhone? You can download MapMyWalk or MapMyRun may be the best free app you can use on your phone to help your health. What you can do with it: Map and track your walking routes, share and find routes others are using, track your food log and share your progress via Facebook and other social media to use it as a tool to ask your family or friends to hold you accountable for your goals to live a health life and maybe even lose some weight. 

The key here is it doesn't really matter walk type of exercise you do to stay health. What does matter is that you stay consistent and find a convenient and useful way to help track your progress. When you see results you are more likely to stay motivated and continue to do what seems to be working. Technology has made it easy for us to do many things so why not use it to stay healthy and track your fitness goals? Enjoy!

Have questions? If you have any questions you can reach me by e-mail at: damien@irondogfitness.com