Do you perform some type of physical activity regularly, or wish that you did?
You probably know that medical experts recommend physical activity; it not only helps us feel and look better, but it can even prevent certain chronic illnesses and delay death.
Physical activity fact sheet from the World Health Organization-WHO
Ask yourself these questions :
- Did you make a new year’s resolution to exercise more?
- Has your doctor told you to increase physical activity to treat a chronic condition or to prevent one?
- Do you need to lose weight, lower your blood pressure, control your blood glucose(sugar) or cholesterol?
- Do you want to feel more fit, stronger, and energetic?
If you answered yes to any of these, and you own a smartphone, consider installing and using a fitness app.
Using a health or fitness app can
- Motivate you to be more active
- Monitor your compliance with activity
- Measure your progress, and
- Manage data that you and your doctor can use to improve your health.
Look for these features in a health/fitness app –
you may not need or want all of these, but they increase its usefulness
- Has a user-friendly interface
- Offers free trial version
- Easy to initiate
- Reliability during the activity
- Includes a goal setting option
- Offers real-time feedback
- Customizable to user
- Expert consultation available
- Incorporates behavior change techniques based on science
- Syncs with other apps and devices/computers for review and sharing
- Supports social networking
- Offers periodic summaries
Based on sales and independent reviews, here is a small sample of some of the top fitness apps available now.
They are organized by category, using the mnemonic FITNESS.
(This list contains affiliate links which may pay this blog a commission at no extra cost to you.)
Fantasy – Zombies, Run!
Run, walk or jog while completing an adventure mission
Intense Cardio – Run Tracker
Tracking and Analytics– Fitbit
tracks exercises, food intake, calorie, weight and sleep
Net weight loss– MyFitness Pal
tracks food calories intake by barcode scanner , tracks nutrients, sugar and fiber
Eating/diet – Fooducate
ranks overall nutritional value of food item and suggests alternative food choices when needed; customized to user
Sleep– Sleep Cycle
tracks sleep quality and quantity, optimizes wake-up interval
Specialized– Charity Miles
motivates more miles of walking, running, or cycling as users can earn donations to a charity of their choice for each mile travelled.
With an app and a fitness device you can overcome
some of the barriers to physical activity such as
- Lack of time
- Inconvenience
- Boredom
- Lack of motivation
- Lack of enjoyment
- Fear of injury
- Social isolation
- Lack of ability to exercise
Some reasons you may not use a fitness app or device include
- Apps require basic technical skill and knowledge to use.
- The financial resources to purchase and maintain.
- You must “actively engage” with it to benefit.
- The value of health apps to change behavior and health outcomes has not been scientifically established.
I have been using the app MapMyRide on my phone. When I’m walking or riding my bicycle, it keeps track of the distance , route and calories burned. I can manually enter activities I do when I’m not carrying my phone, like ballroom dancing. I can even enter activities like gardening, vacuuming, swimming and exercise. I like being able to look back at my workout log and see all that I’ve done the past week, month or year. It motivates me to keep it up, or step it up if I’m lagging .
If you choose to use a health app and device, set a goal for its use and periodically assess if it is helping you achieve them.
Reference for the information in this blog post-
“Smartphone Applications for Patients’ Health and Fitness”,
by John P. Higgins, MD, MBA, MPhil
The American Journal of Medicine (2016) 129, 11-19
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Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.
watercress words by Dr Aletha 