Your health is important and today’s technology makes it easier to stay on top of it.
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I love technology, you love technology, hey even the Dali Lama is on Twitter! If you’re not reading this on a computer, you are probably reading it on a phone or tablet. Technology can have its downside in regards to making us more anti-social and dependent on it, but when it comes to your health and fitness, you should embrace it.
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This can give you a very accurate heart rate measurement.
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With the addition of the HealthKit app for iPhone and the new Apple Watch, it is becoming easier than ever to track and enhance our fitness and health.
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Here are eight of the best apps that will help you in your health and fitness goals:
This app uses the high-end sensors that are in your camera and flash that can detect your pulse in your finger. This can give you a very accurate heart rate measurement. Keeping tabs on your heart rate is important to see where your body is at, and this app will store your information and categorize it such as if you just finished a workout. I recommend taking it first thing when you wake up to find your true resting heart rate. If your heart rate is consistent and then you notice it going two-three beats higher it can be an indicator that you are getting a bit run down. This can lead to possible injury and illness.
Fitness Buddy is like having a personal trainer in your pocket. This app provides hundreds of exercises with pictures and instructions. It also combines exercises into specific workouts that cater to different goals. There are sport-specific workouts along with specific muscle building programs, ab exercise programs, you name it! It won’t replace a real life trainer, but it’s a great quick reference.
3. HealthyOut Healthy Meal Finder
This app can be a lifesaver if you spend a lot of time traveling or on the road and need to keep on top of your diet and nutrition. Whatever your dietary preferences this app helps you find the best restaurants that cater to them. If you want a vegan place or somewhere that has gluten free dishes this app is your quick ticket to find them. You can filter the searches by cuisine, ingredients and even type of dish.
4. Fooducate
I will keep the nutrition theme going here with one of the coolest apps out there. Fooducate scans a product’s barcode and gives you a breakdown of the ingredients and contents. The app then provides you with a rating of A to D on the products nutritional value and if it is something you should steer toward or not. It saves you the trouble of going through every product’s ingredients and minimally processed foods with real ingredients will score higher. It’s like having a nutritionist right there shopping with you, but doesn’t make condescending remarks when you pick up the Cheetos.
5. CycleNav
Biking is my favorite form of cardio. You can go for miles and miles without causing damage to your joints if you suffer from that. Living in larger cities can make it a bit more challenging, and CycleNav helps you make the best of that. It is like a GPS for bikes as it finds you the most bike friendly routes and helps you avoid congestion and traffic.
6. Sleep Cycle
Your great training and attention to nutrition can all be for naught if you neglect your sleep. A lack of sleep puts the body under tremendous stress that over the long term can lead to a multitude of problems. Sleep Cycle analyzes your sleeping patterns and tracks the best points for you to wake naturally. It uses your information to create a specific wake up alarm to wake you in the lightest phase of sleep in the morning. Sleep apps are some of the most popular out there as they also can provide natural soundtracks to help you wind down and relax each night.
7. Hot5 Fitness
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A little investment in your health will go a long way.
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Another great fitness specific app that has high level trainers providing step-by-step workouts. This app provides videos for specific workouts like core and abs. You can even do full 45 minute yoga sessions. One of the best parts? No WiFi needed! I can save all that date for more YouTube cat videos.
8. F.lux
Personally, I find this is one of the most valuable apps and it comes back to the sleep and electronics issues. More information is now being revealed about the danger of blue light which emits from our screens. This blue light disrupts natural circadian rhythms and can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. F.lux works with the sun rising and setting cycles and creates a more natural reddish glow to your computer screen to eliminate those disruptive blue lights. This is an app I use all the time especially from 10 pm onward when I do a lot of my work.
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So there you go–eight great apps that will lend a hand to your health and fitness pursuits. A lot of these are free, and some have paid options, but a little investment in your health will go a long way.
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Photo: Flickr/ Daniel Go