Why not use technology to help you get to your fitness goals??

Are you the type of person who wants to get into shape, but doesn't really know what to do?

Are you the type of person who loves gadgets and wants to workout as optimal as you can?

Are you someone who is tired of going around the gym with a clipboard and a pencil writing everything down?

Guess what? There is a solution for all that now!

I am a long term fitness guy.  I have spent a few years in school for personal training, a few years in school learning human biology, have been a massage therapist for 10 years, and now I am finishing up my Doctors of Chiropractic degree.  I know a thing or two about how the body works.

I am someone who is always looking for things to help give me an edge, so I can work out smarter and more efficiently.  Most of the things I try, I get sick of pretty quick, but I think I have finally found a solution that takes both technology and convenience and smashes them into one unit.  This is what I have done...

How many times have you heard "work out in your target zones to get the best results." and you have thought, well what is my target zone, and how do I know when I get there?  In case you don't know what I am talking about, the target zone is how fast your heart is beating, and what type of fuel your body is using.  So you will commonly see things like "fat burning zone" or "Cardio zone."  Basically what this is referring to is what your body is using for energy (carbs, fats, or proteins) and it also relates to if you are in an aerobic (oxygen) or anaerobic (non-oxygen) mode.  If you have questions about this, let me know and I can explain it in more detail later.

So short of being on a treadmill and trying to hold the heart rate monitors that are usually broken, or stopping your workout and checking your pulse manually, what can you do? 

Well, what you do is get a bluetooth heart rate monitor!  That's right, you can now buy heart rate monitors that will send your heart rate via bluetooth straight to your smartphone!  Why is this cool?  because with certain downloadable apps, it will show you what your current heart rate is (with all the stats of the workout) it can show you the route of your run, and it can be customized to your stats ( like your fitness level, height, weight, ect.)  Then when your workout is done, you upload your workout to the server and a website logs everything for future reference.  

The best products I have found so far are:

Scosche Rhythm heart rate monitor

I have written a blogpost about this in the past.  This is a great heart rate monitor that you wear on your forearm.  It is sweat resistant, has a good battery life, and is very accurate.  This particular model also controls the volume of your phone, so if you are listening to music you can have more control without having to get your hands on your phone.

Fitness tracking apps

The next thing recommend is an app available for Iphone and Android (free) with optional upgrades ($3) that record all of your information.  The App is called Icardio by the company Digifit. The app works wonderfully, showing you all your past workouts and stats showing calories burned, calories per minute average, average mile time, route of run, and much more.  I have been using this app for the last 3 months, and it has been a huge motivator for me.  It is awesome to be able to go look at my log and see how my heart has gotten stronger and how my runs have gotten easier.

You can use most of the features for Digifit for free, but I  recommend paying the $3 for the upgrades.  Another great thing about Digifit is that they work with other health apps, so your workout information from digifit can be shared seamlessly.  (Some companies they work with are Myfitnesspal, Fitbit, Withings, ect) and they add more apps all the time.

Here are a couple pictures of what the online dashboard looks like:

This is just my first blog in a series about the ways you can use technology to help get you in shape.  Part 2 will be the addition of calorie counting apps to help you lose or gain weight.  Together these apps have helped me drop from 200 pounds to 180 in about 90 days... 

Part two should be up soon!  if you want to take a look at Digifit and the Icardio App or the Scosche Rhythm HR monitor click the links below!

Digifit, Inc.


Scosche Rhythm Strapless Pulse Monitor - Yellow