Our #FitStudio chat last night on Twitter was a great one. We discussed how electronics, gadgets, and gizmos make our fitness lives better and easier. Or do they?
There’s no doubt about it that gizmos can help us to focus our workouts. They can track our heart rate and how far we run; they can provide us with motivating tunes or keep us from getting lost. We can have so many wires coming off of us we look like aliens! It’s easy to become addicted to them.
I’m a big fan of heart rate monitors; they keep you honest and track your true exertion. They can be a great training tool for both beginners and advanced fitness people.
Fitness Apps
There was a lively discussion about apps. I can’t vouch for any of them, but there were rave reviews for the Couch to 5K app, Runkeeper (I keep meaning to try that one), and MyFitnessPal. I also heard there’s a GymBoss app for free which I want to try. It helps with interval / HIIT / Tabata training, and I use a real GymBoss for Spinning a lot. I do use the WeightWatchers app on my iPhone and like how it lets me record my food on the fly (and I’m always on the fly!).
Or Maybe Unplug?
I began running again recently and I’m really enjoying that I haven’t plugged anything in. I never ran listening to music in the past; in the city that’s a big no-no (traffic, muggers, etc.). Now I run with my family and it’s a lot more social to talk to people. I’ve dropped the heart rate monitor for the time being because I know I’m working hard while I get my endurance back in gear and I don’t want to get obsessed with numbers. I just want to enjoy the run.
So are you a gadget guy? Or do you preferred going unplugged? If you do train with gadgets, what are your favorite ones? Please share so we can learn about new stuff!
Cheers,
Lisa