Wearable fitness and medical technology is huge news; being widely reported that wearable tech is easily going to be the best seller of 2016. We’ve moved beyond the “gimmick” phase and towards a quiet revolution in how people approach fitness and healthcare.
For the consumer market, fitness trackers are big business and help you track your burnt calories, heart rate, resting pulse and even some pretty trick stats like posture and time slept each night.
What’s Available Right Now?
Most devices are worn on your wrist and dovetail neatly into your smart phone, allowing you to use a range of apps to track specific things like blood pressure or daily calories burned.
This new technology is streets ahead of the rather bulky and inaccurate tech produced just a few years back; something anyone who’s had to wear a 24-hour automatic blood pressure cuff can attest to!
Thankfully, those days are behind us and todays tech is well engineered, small and amazingly accurate, perfect for the fitness revolution that’s coming.
Walking as Public Health Booster
In the “post smoking” world, sedentary lifestyles are viewed as the next big public health issue. James Peterson, a Doctor from Sussex in Southern England believes that “People have by and large ceased smoking, yet a life spent sitting at a desk and then sitting at home is quietly creating a dangerous public health disaster. Those in Generation X and Y are by far the most affected and there’s some studies showing that the younger Millennial generation are following a similar path.”
One of the ways wearable tech is looking to help this situation, is to measure the steps taken by each wearer, everyday. It’s widely known that 10,000 steps are the ideal amount for an average human to take each day.
“One of the positive things wearable tech is doing, is bringing more average people into the fitness world. By giving people accurate information on how they’re doing, those 10,000 steps become far easier to achieve and has the possibility of taking millions of people out of the sedentary lifestyle trap.” Says James.
The Social Element Is a Great Help
Most fitness apps have the ability to post to Facebook, something that’s helping bring people together both for support and guidance along the way.
Some research, including interesting results from George Clinical have also shown that having family members and friends actively interested in your long term fitness plans can help you stay motivated.
Regular Movement, Not Just Walking
This is a very helpful feature of many wearable tech devices, particularly for office workers who can quite easily sit for 4 or more hours without moving.
Wearable tech can “remind” you to move your body, even if just for 5 minutes and avoids issues related to poor posture and lack of joint movement. Current Health and Safety advice says we all need to move our bodies for a few minutes every hour or so and wearable tech can serve as a reminder to get active during the working day.
Dashboards That Easily Show Improvements
New health apps allow wearable tech to report your progress over time, allowing you to see exactly how your health is improving over time. It can also flag up any issues that might occur, particularly if you’re falling back on your plan and need to find new motivation.
Hopefully, by giving people accurate data on their fitness, wearable tech will help get more people interested in fitness, health and help them all stay motivated for the long term.
For the consumer market, fitness trackers are big business and help you track your burnt calories, heart rate, resting pulse and even some pretty trick stats like posture and time slept each night.
What’s Available Right Now?
Most devices are worn on your wrist and dovetail neatly into your smart phone, allowing you to use a range of apps to track specific things like blood pressure or daily calories burned.
This new technology is streets ahead of the rather bulky and inaccurate tech produced just a few years back; something anyone who’s had to wear a 24-hour automatic blood pressure cuff can attest to!
Thankfully, those days are behind us and todays tech is well engineered, small and amazingly accurate, perfect for the fitness revolution that’s coming.
Walking as Public Health Booster
In the “post smoking” world, sedentary lifestyles are viewed as the next big public health issue. James Peterson, a Doctor from Sussex in Southern England believes that “People have by and large ceased smoking, yet a life spent sitting at a desk and then sitting at home is quietly creating a dangerous public health disaster. Those in Generation X and Y are by far the most affected and there’s some studies showing that the younger Millennial generation are following a similar path.”
One of the ways wearable tech is looking to help this situation, is to measure the steps taken by each wearer, everyday. It’s widely known that 10,000 steps are the ideal amount for an average human to take each day.
“One of the positive things wearable tech is doing, is bringing more average people into the fitness world. By giving people accurate information on how they’re doing, those 10,000 steps become far easier to achieve and has the possibility of taking millions of people out of the sedentary lifestyle trap.” Says James.
The Social Element Is a Great Help
Most fitness apps have the ability to post to Facebook, something that’s helping bring people together both for support and guidance along the way.
Some research, including interesting results from George Clinical have also shown that having family members and friends actively interested in your long term fitness plans can help you stay motivated.
Regular Movement, Not Just Walking
This is a very helpful feature of many wearable tech devices, particularly for office workers who can quite easily sit for 4 or more hours without moving.
Wearable tech can “remind” you to move your body, even if just for 5 minutes and avoids issues related to poor posture and lack of joint movement. Current Health and Safety advice says we all need to move our bodies for a few minutes every hour or so and wearable tech can serve as a reminder to get active during the working day.
Dashboards That Easily Show Improvements
New health apps allow wearable tech to report your progress over time, allowing you to see exactly how your health is improving over time. It can also flag up any issues that might occur, particularly if you’re falling back on your plan and need to find new motivation.
Hopefully, by giving people accurate data on their fitness, wearable tech will help get more people interested in fitness, health and help them all stay motivated for the long term.