If you’re putting in the effort to maintain a daily workout routine, it’s only natural that you would want to get the absolute most you can out of it. To do that, it’s extremely helpful to have a way to track your vitals, see the impact your workout is having on you, and have a way to keep up with your fitness goals. Fortunately, wearable smart tech makes it possible to do all that and more, so let’s take a look at a few of its most useful functions.
Tracking Steps
Most wearable devices, smartwatches, and fitness trackers include a pedometer as one of their most basic features, so you can count on it being included no matter which one you end up buying. If you’re just trying to be more active in general rather than dedicating yourself to a full-on workout routine, a pedometer is an invaluable tool for doing so. Just set a specific target for your daily number of steps and go about your day as normal, going on walks, jogs, or runs regularly to make sure you hit that goal. Once you’ve reached the end of the day, you can see if you met, exceeded, or fell short of your goal, and adjust your plan from there until you’re living the perfect active lifestyle.
Monitoring Total Workout Time
Most experts agree that in order to see tangible results and growth from cardio workouts, you need to engage in your workout for between 15-30 minutes. Rather than carry around a separate workout timer or stopwatch, you can easily integrate it into that one convenient piece of wearable tech on your wrist. From there, all you have to do is get to your workout and let your wearable tech take care of the rest.
Using Interval Timers
When doing intense physical activities like cardio, you may prefer to do several intervals of different exercises, like alternating between running and power-walking. Keeping track of these intervals with a regular timer can be a hassle, but many smart fitness tracking devices include features that allow you to create custom intervals for each of your different exercises. When the interval on one exercise reaches its end, a sound or vibration signal will play to tell you to switch exercises, continuing until the end of your workout.
Easy Music Management
For many people, having a great playlist is an absolute essential to making it through their daily workout routine, but carrying your phone in your hand or strapping it to your arm is inconvenient and often requires you to break stride if you want to make any adjustments to your tunes. A smartwatch, in addition to all the other functions of a wearable fitness tracker, can sync up with your phone and wireless earbuds to give you a seamless experience that makes for easy and convenient changes to the volume, track, or playlist you’re listening to.
Monitoring Heart Rate
Heart rate and blood pressure are great indicators of your general health, which is why most, if not all wearable fitness trackers include a pulse monitor. If you’re unsure whether or not your heart rate is healthy, there are a few basic guidelines you can look at. Generally, people have a resting heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute, with a lower rate typically indicating a healthier, more efficient heart.
As for your active heart rate, aim to keep it between 50-85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate can be found by subtracting your age from 220. For example, the average 30-year-old would have a maximum heart rate of 190 beats per minute. Exceeding for an extended period of time can increase your risk of heart issues, so be sure to stay safe and keep track of your pulse!
Keeping Track of Your Goals
Of course, the most important part of any great fitness routine is your ability to set and achieve goals. Fortunately, smart technology can even help you with that! If you have goals for a certain number of steps or amount of active time per day, keep those in mind, and have your smart device track them. Then, at the end of each day, write down your results, and at the end of each week, see how well you did on your goals. From there, you can tweak and adjust your daily routine to best accommodate your workouts and ultimately, reach the goal of a better, healthier you.
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