Today, technology touches so many facets of daily life, from the very biggest aspects to those nuances we don’t even think about.
Most people now incorporate technology into their everyday routines in some form or other without so much as a second thought. Simply put, technology is everywhere and anywhere, and it’s no different in the fitness sector.
These days, you are either a tech fitness aficionado or you’re missing out on a plethora of devices and trends that could send your fitness routine--and your health--hurtling into the stratosphere.
So, let’s check out the various technologies already revolutionizing fitness.
Health & Fitness Monitoring Software
According to Orthogonal, many software solutions are available to assist individuals and healthcare professionals to monitor a user’s health status.
The ability for any user to access wearable devices to track everything from blood sugar to heart rate--as well as the distance walked or the number of exercise reps they instigate--means it’s now possible to have exponential control over all aspects of our fitness and health-related issues.
And what’s more, there’s a health app or targeted device for just about every scenario. The upswing in both medical and fitness wearables now means that vital data can be accumulated (and, if necessary, sent to appropriate others) swiftly and accurately.
Importantly, too, those wishing to improve their fitness by training can know they won’t overstep any fitness or healthcare-related boundaries when working out.
You can now show your personal trainer a screenshot of your health monitoring results generated at home on a tech device, tailoring your fitness regime around this essential knowledge.
But, not only are software and apps driving home healthcare monitoring--but they are also rapidly gaining strength within fitness centers.
Virtual software can now simulate working out in some of the most incredible locations in the world. And besides that, so many coaching, tracking, and counting apps now make fitness considerably more affordable and accessible to everyone.
The field of personal training has not missed out on this trend either.
Once in the premium category and barely affordable to the general public, personal training now comes via a plethora of apps. Virtual training has made it completely free to get an instructor to train you wherever and whenever you want.
Such apps have a clearly disruptive impact on the entire fitness industry and challenge the older models of personal training, industry-wide. At the same time, new fitness machinery with its array of integrated fitness tracking solutions is being introduced regularly in fitness centers, allowing both gym-goers and trainers to see real-time the effects of working out.
Let’s take a look at five key areas in which technology is mixing things up in the fitness sector:
Artificial Intelligence
Prevention has always been better than cure, and AI is revolutionizing the healthcare and fitness industry by telling users to make changes in order to avoid health issues that might hit them soon.
According to Healthcare Weekly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are being used to inform users of potential lifestyle-related conditions in advance.
So, a fitness app on your mobile device can now check out an Instagram picture of what you ate to estimate the calories consumed, and provide the best workout for the following day.
Initially, companies developing such apps--including Cure.Fit, HealthifyMe, and GOQiie--employed fitness experts and dieticians to check each image and make accurate conclusions manually.
However, these days, most of this grunge work is automatically done through AI systems. These companies are cleverly using tech to mimic human intelligence--mainly, that of doctors, dieticians, and fitness coaches--via their products.
AI is skilled at seeking out and unearthing data patterns, learning from a mountain of data points to show a trend or an indicator, and further improvements in sensor technology should only enhance what many people already consider a quite intimidating accuracy.
Live-Streamed Workouts
If you’re a fan of one-on-one sessions, you can now access on-demand virtual coaching in your own living room, via your own television, computer or tablet.
Of course, if you enjoy working out in a group, you still have to buy that expensive gym membership, right?
Well, no--not anymore.
Today, according to Forbes, you can access the Netflix of fitness classes. Services, including Peloto or ClassPass, are making it possible to access almost everything that you can get with a group workout, but without having to leave your home. Such virtual workout classes enable you to either stream on-demand or join a live session.
Virtual Reality Fitness
A while back, VR sounded like a fancy term designed for the tech-loving Silicon Valley guys. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, VR reality fitness is slowly making a move toward a more common fitness audience.
Things should change with the introduction of machines such as the VirZOOM, a combination of VR games and stationary bikes, as well as the Icaros flying machine--that’s VR focused on the core & upper body--to specific gyms. Expect your sessions to see more action in this regard in the near future.
There will also be an introduction of entire VR gyms. For instance, Black Box VR brought its first VR gym to life in San Francisco, CA. This comes with customized fitness headsets and unique resistance machines, promising to deliver quite the disruptive complete-body workout experience.
The upswing in VR fitness tech has been off the scale; even before you notice it, we think you’ll soon find yourself working out in your apartment in a high-tech virtual reality gym--with Mark Wahlberg (or whoever you choose) as your spinning instructor!
High-Tech Equipment
According to Men`s Health, another fairly new trend is the gym’s incorporation of high-tech equipment packing several top-end gym functions into a single piece of tech-driven kit.
With the introduction of equipment such as the Tonal with real-time tracking, live coaching, and digital weights, the era when stationary bikes were merely for cycling has long gone.
Still, we can expect to see higher price tags for equipment such as this; the Tonal, for example, tops the scale at $3,000, but that’s the all-inclusive option so there are cheaper versions. Compare this to your cumulative yearly gym membership, fitness tracker and personal trainer costs, and suddenly, $3,000 is not so bad.
Investing in such a machine will move your fitness workout from a studio to your house.
With this kind of option already available, we need to expect an increasingly data-driven fitness journey.
Summary
Technology is no longer an accessory but a necessity in our lives.
One thing’s for sure: it has completely revolutionized the fitness industry already, with so many inventions changing how we work out.
From software solutions to health and fitness AI, we should expect rapid and far-reaching, fitness-transforming changes, many of which we cannot even begin to predict today.