When it comes to staying motivated, there are many ways that technology can help us – from reminders to move, daily step counts, GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring to sleep quality and everything in between, technology is an effortless way to keep track of your overall activity levels, fitness and wellbeing. From smartphones to smartwatches and fitness trackers, we have access to plenty of gadgets at our fingertips that can help improve our lifestyles.
A Gentle Nudge
It goes without saying that many of us need a gentle reminder to move throughout the working day, as we become engrossed in our to do lists, time flies and we can easily forget to move or take our eyes off the screen – that’s where smartwatches and fitness trackers come in handy. With built-in reminder notifications, they can help us move more frequently throughout the day, helping to improve our overall health and maintain a better work life balance.
We love – FitBit reminders to move every hour, they really help break up the work day and help prevent unnecessary aches and pains from sitting still all day.
Tracking Your Progress
Whether you use a ‘one for all’ app or download something suited to your preferred exercise, there are plenty of tools available to help monitor your progress and track your goals. These kinds of apps are a great way to see the results of your hard work over time, as without tracking, you may not truly understand how far you’ve come. They are also useful to help us understand when the time is right to safely adjust fitness goals and set new challenges.
We love – Strava is great for running, walking and cycling, we love seeing our progress and comparing with our friends!
Getting Social
With social media in the palm of our hands, it’s a great way to communicate with others who enjoy the same physical activities – especially if you workout alone. Not only is it a great way to share tips and seek advice, but making new friends with the same hobbies will help you stay motivated. Just remember to make sure that your social media following is a positive place that’s beneficial to you, helping to inspire and encourage.
We love – Instagram is a great for finding inspiration from others, we like to follow #ukrunchat and #ukyoga to find others with the same interests. Our social media is full of motivation too…
Apps Aplenty
We can use our devices to download an app for pretty much anything we think of, making a healthy lifestyle accessible for everyone – from Couch to 5k training programmes to guided yoga videos and a whole range of fitness training apps, meaning we don’t even need to leave our homes to workout anymore… Although we recommend you do, getting outside at least once a day can do wonders for your mental health!
We love – The Couch to 5k app is incredible, it guides and supports you through the entire process while allowing you to listen to your favourite music in between.
Playlists & Podcasts
Playlists and podcasts make the perfect accompaniment to every workout. It’s been proven that music has the power to create a positive mindset, which helps to keep us motivated, so with a smartphone and a pair of headphones, you’ll be setting yourself up to smash your goals at every session. Whatever you prefer to listen to when exercising, you’ll be able to access it easily on your smartphone, creating the perfect soundtrack to help set the pace for your next workout.
We love – There’s a whole section of workout playlists and podcasts on Spotify which are organised based on your activity, making it easy to find the perfect workout soundtrack.
