Technology has made leaps and bounds. As a result, it has transformed our lives and our planet forever. You are personally benefiting from the advancements in medicine, communication, and convenience from the tools and processes technology has made possible. Additionally, further advancements are happening daily, opening up more possibilities. Technology is available today to help you take control of your fitness and optimize your efforts to help you achieve your goals.
Optimized for Health
You can wear a fitness tracker to track your workouts, sleep, and other metrics such as SpO2, HRV, and ANS. You can weigh yourself on a smart scale to track your weight, body composition, and water weight. Also, you can track your blood pressure and blood glucose with smart devices. Moreover, AI is on the rise to provide guidance and advice to help optimize your health even further.
In fact, the global health and fitness market is growing. It may reach as much as $114B USD in 2028. 63% of US adults have used one of the 350K digital health apps. Most of these apps are fitness and healthy lifestyle types, but this niche keeps growing.
From expert advice and instructional videos to wearables and data, you have never had more tools available to help you take control of your health and reach your fitness goals. However, is all this optimization making us less healthy?
Optimized Or Obsessed
Regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and proper sleep are good habits of a healthy lifestyle. However, obsessing over the data can have the opposite effect. Researchers are raising concerns as fitness trackers and other health devices become more widespread.
For example, orthosomnia is an unhealthy obsession with getting perfect sleep. Unfortunately, overly relying on tech to monitor your sleep can worsen insomnia and contribute to sleep deprivation.
Moreover, you may feel bad about yourself or criticize your efforts if your numbers aren’t what you think they should be, even when those numbers are good. This could lead to compulsive actions to reach those goals or earn those badges. As a result, it could reduce your enjoyment and lead to injury or burnout.
Social media has no shortage of influencer-led and brand-sponsored tips, tricks, and hacks for better (fill in the blank). This implies that innovations continue to create an optimal way to achieve your goal. In reality, what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. Also, there is no magic pill or technique to achieve results quickly, easily, and permanently. You need to be in control of your fitness and health.
Take Control Of Your Fitness And Health
With all this tech, losing control of your fitness can be easy. Smart devices and fitness trackers can be valuable tools that provide helpful feedback to help you make well-informed decisions regarding your health and wellness. Conversely, relying on your tech can sabotage your health and fitness goals if reaching steps, milestones, or challenge goals becomes a priority.
Above all, the notion of reaching an optimal health state doesn’t exist. You are a complex being with all these biological systems that constantly change. You will never reach and maintain perfect health. In fact, the best you can do is make a lifelong endeavor to exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, and get enough sleep. As a result, you’ll achieve the best health and fitness for your biological age, thus maintaining or improving your quality of life.
Your fitness tracker is good at giving you feedback. Unfortunately, the numbers aren’t always accurate. Many factors, such as a loose strap, faulty sensor, or imperfect algorithms, can throw them off. That may sound like a letdown, but you can still use the tech for fun and guidance.
One of the best ways to take control of your fitness is to record data from your fitness tracker in your fitness journal to trend your efforts over time. If you can visualize your data, you can start to see trends such as a decrease in your resting heart rate, improved exercise performance, an increase in your average sleep time, or other factors to indicate progress toward your fitness goals. Conversely, you may see patterns indicating you should adjust your actions to keep you on track.
The Takeaway
Due to your body’s complexity and ever-changing state, there is no optimal endgame for health. Instead, strive to maintain or improve your health throughout your life with exercise, a healthy weight, and adequate sleep.
Fitness trackers and other health-related technologies can help you achieve your fitness goals. However, it can become counter-intuitive if you rely on the data more than how you feel. If you use the data to guide and track your progress, you will have all the information you need to achieve your goals and take control of your health and fitness.
FitTrend’s mission is to help you along your self-improvement journey, promote an active lifestyle, and help you achieve your goals. Our journal can help you track your workouts, weight, mood, calories, and more. Also, FitTrend allows you to connect supported gadgets to your account to make it easier for you to update your journal automatically. Create your account today and start using FitTrend for free!
Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
