Using Wearable Fitness Technology to Monitor Your Progress

In the ever-evolving world of fitness, staying motivated and tracking your progress is essential to achieving your health and wellness goals. Thanks to advancements in technology, we now have access to a wide array of wearable fitness devices that can help us stay on track and take our fitness journey to the next level. In this blog post, we'll delve into the exciting world of wearable fitness technology, exploring how these devices can aid you in monitoring your progress effectively.

The Rise of Wearable Fitness Technology

Wearable fitness technology, also known as fitness wearables or fitness trackers, has taken the fitness industry by storm in recent years. These devices come in various forms, including smartwatches, fitness bands, and even smart clothing. What sets them apart is their ability to collect and analyze data related to your physical activity and overall health.

Key Features of Wearable Fitness Technolog 

1. Activity Tracking: Most wearables can monitor your daily steps, distance traveled, and calories burned. This data provides a baseline for your physical activity level.

2. Heart Rate Monitoring: Many devices come equipped with heart rate sensors that allow you to track your heart rate during exercise and throughout the day.

3. Sleep Tracking: Sleep is crucial for recovery and overall health. Wearables can monitor your sleep patterns, helping you optimize your rest.

4. GPS Tracking: If you're a runner or cyclist, GPS-enabled wearables can track your routes and provide valuable data on your speed and distance.

5. Calorie Counting: These devices often estimate the number of calories you've burned based on your activity and heart rate.

The Advantages of Using Wearable Fitness Technology

1. Real-Time Data

One of the significant advantages of wearables is the ability to access real-time data. You can check your heart rate during a workout, see how many steps you've taken, and even receive notifications and reminders right on your wrist.

2. Motivation and Accountability

Wearables can serve as constant reminders to stay active. Many devices set daily activity goals and send you notifications when you're close to reaching them. This gamification aspect can boost motivation and accountability.

3. Goal Setting and Tracking

Setting and achieving fitness goals becomes more accessible with wearable technology. You can establish targets for steps, distance, calories burned, or even sleep duration, and monitor your progress over time.

4. Insights for Optimization

With the data collected by wearables, you gain valuable insights into your fitness habits. You can identify patterns, such as when you're most active during the day, and use this information to optimize your workouts and overall routine.

5. Community and Social Integration

Many wearables allow you to connect with a community of like-minded individuals. You can share your progress, compete in challenges, and even find workout buddies through these platforms.

Choosing the Right Wearable for You

The market is flooded with a variety of wearable fitness devices, so it's essential to select one that suits your specific needs and preferences. Here are some factors to consider:

- Purpose: Determine your primary fitness goals. Are you a runner, a weightlifter, or looking for an all-in-one device for overall health? Different wearables cater to different activities.

- Features: Consider the features that matter most to you. Do you want GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, or a combination of these?

- Design and Comfort: Since you'll be wearing it daily, ensure the device's design and comfort align with your lifestyle and preferences.

- Compatibility: Check if the wearable is compatible with your smartphone and the apps you prefer to use.

- Battery Life: Assess the battery life to ensure it meets your usage patterns.

Wearable fitness technology has revolutionized the way we monitor our progress on our fitness journey. These devices offer real-time data, motivation, goal setting, insights, and community engagement to help you stay on track and achieve your fitness aspirations. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or just embarking on your fitness adventure, a wearable fitness device can be your trusted companion on the path to a healthier and more active lifestyle.

It Never Gets Easier

Hard workouts suck. There’s no two ways around that. Hard workouts make you question your life choices, lead you into thinking you would rather be doing literally ANYTHING else except for what you’re doing in that moment. Like those taxes you’ve been neglecting to file…

It’s the HIIT workout that feels like it’s never going to end. That workout where the breaks don’t seem long enough and you’re counting down the minutes until you can move on with your day. Ever wondered how long a minute can last? Go do some burpees for a minute and find out. I promise, literally everything else you ever do will feel shorter than your minute of burpees.

But hey, with no challenge, you will see NO change. That much I can promise. And I don’t promise ANYTHING to my clients. Except that. Change, transformation, getting out of the mom jeans and back into that sexy little LBD that’s been accumulating dust in the back of your closet all comes from challenging yourself. It’s in those moments of questioning, of breathlessness, of SHOWING UP that change is made. I can also promise that staying in that comfort zone you’ve created for yourself hasn’t worked, you’re not seeing any change.

There’s pride in challenging yourself though. There’s pride in being able to say “hey I did that” after a tough as nails workout. There’s a sense of accomplishment in knowing that you did the hard thing. You pushed through, you prevailed and now you know you can keep going.

Here’s the thing: I’m always proud of you and I’ve never doubted your capabilities. I have this tremendously blessed position of being able to observe you and I know you can do it. I know that change you want so badly that you can taste it isn’t actually unreasonable or outside of your grasp. You just have to WANT to get uncomfortable, you have to embrace the hard workouts, you have to be willing to take that first step.

You know that even when the workout sucks and you want to quit, no one will be able to take that feeling of accomplishment once it’s over away from you. You can totally own your success as much as you can own your failure, so take your hard workouts one at a time. Take the challenges one at a time, and then over time you’ll notice, it gets easier.

I'm Not Into Organized Sports

I was NOT the kid in organized sports 🏀. 

That competitive nature was never my vibe. It’s still not. Especially not during my workout 🏋️‍♀️.

Because every person comes to the workout 🏋️‍♀️ with different capabilities as well as different limitations, I know being competitive serves NO ONE. 

Here’s my Top 3 Tips to Staying Focused on Your Goals and not what the person next to you is doing during your workout 🏋️‍♀️:

1. Applaud the person next to you instead of wishing you could do what they were just doing. They’re kick ass and so are you AND you both are doing something that is good for your bodies. Celebrate that instead of being disappointed that you can’t do what they just did.

2. Remind yourself that everyone is on a different journey. Your WHY for working out is totally different from the person next to you and so is where you’re at on your individual journeys.

3. Celebrate 🎉 ALL the victories. Even the small and seemingly mundane ones. You got off your ass and did a workout on a day you literally would’ve rather been doing anything else? That’s winning girl. That’s creating all those heathy habits that will lead you to change.