Kits to help your fitness motivation

Games, gadgets and computers are often pilloried for promoting unhealthy lifestyles. Sitting in front of a computer, games console or TV for hours on end isn’t especially good for your health, but there are plenty of ways in which technology can give you a fitness boost.

Gaming, computing and even smartphone use doesn’t have to be all about sitting down and staring at a screen. In recent years there has been a deluge of fitness-related gadgets, gizmos, applications and games.

Indeed, not only can technology make exercising more fun, it can also help you keep in shape while doing something a bit different.

Growth of get-fit gadgets
A few years ago fitness technology extended little further than a grainy VHS tape with people shouting slogans in tight-fitting Lycra. Nowadays you can’t so much as change into a leotard without a fitness application, game or internet-connected treadmill wanting to offer assistance.

While fitness technology didn’t start with gaming, Nintendo’s Wii games console (around £130) did an awful lot to popularise it. For the first time, gaming wasn’t something done alone.

The Wii’s motion-sensitive controllers encouraged people to get out of their seats and be more active. Helped along by dedicated fitness titles, such as Wii Fit Plus (from £18), Nintendo found it had an enormous hit on its hands.

Inevitably, other console manufacturers wanted in on the new craze, with Sony and Microsoft respectively launching Playstation Move (controllers start from £35) and Xbox Kinect (around £130 without the console).

Not-so-fat controllers
While the Wii and Playstation Move require players to grasp dedicated controllers, the Kinect add-on for the Xbox 360 detects movements using a sensor that tracks body movements. This enables more freedom and a far wider and more varied range of movements.

But in all cases, the point of these control mechanisms is to offer new, more active ways to interact with entertainment and fitness titles. Some disguise their ‘fitness’ elements (dance games, for instance), while others (such as the aforementioned Wii Fit Plus) are marketed as proper fitness routines.

Like traditional exercise videos, many fitness games tend to revolve around a regular workout routine, but pack in many more interactive elements. They typically track progress and give feedback on how well things are going.

They can also warn if a particular exercise is being performed incorrectly: attach Nintendo’s Balance Board accessory (around £90 when bought with Wii Fit Plus), for example, and the Wii Fit Plus game can detect if a stretch or hold is being attempted correctly, based on weight distribution.

Fitness games can also give advice, encouragement and an unbiased pair of virtual eyes to help assess how well things are going.

More than fitness
Active gaming doesn’t begin and end with dedicated fitness titles, though. Sports games have long been a staple of both computer and console gaming – but the advent of motion-sensitive controls has given the genre a serious fitness fillip.

Tennis provides an excellent example of how motion controls can help a game better imitate the real world. Titles such as Virtua Tennis and EA Grand Slam Tennis, currently for the Wii only but coming soon for both Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move, use motion-sensitive console controllers as ‘pretend’ racquets, registering both subtle sleights of hand and wide, sweeping motions. So, for example, forehand and backhand strokes can be replicated as if playing actual tennis.

However, the accuracy of the motion detection on offer varies. With the Wii, for instance, a quick flick of the wrist can often be more effective in terms of winning tennis games, as the older technology in the Nintendo’s motion-sensitive controller is unable to distinguish accurately between sweeping movements and twitches of the wrist.

Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect peripheral, on the other hand, employs a camera and software that are able to detect and interpret almost any movement. This makes it less easy to ‘cheat’, because games can require the player to perform specific movements.

There are many sports games that can now be played using motion-sensitive controllers. In fact, we’d struggle to think of a sport that hasn’t now been turned into a game that can be controlled with realistic movements.

There’s an app for that
As fitness technology has increased in popularity, so has it evolved and improved. Many smartphones, for example, now include satellite-navigation (GPS) technology, accelerometers and digital compasses that enable them to track the owner’s movements. As a result, software developers have created many apps designed to act as personal fitness trainers.

Indeed, both Google’s Android Market and Apple’s App Store feature dedicated and well-stocked health-and-fitness departments, with both free and paid-for apps on offer.

A good free example is Adidas Micoach: aimed at keen runners, this uses GPS to track the smartphone owner’s location and progress, providing real-time feedback on how well a particular routine is going. At the same time, it can measure the distance of a run, the pace, the number of calories burned and the time taken.

It also links up with the Micoach website, so progress can be viewed alongside detailed information about exercise routines and analysis. If you’re interested, Micoach featured in the workshops section of our last issue.

Another outdoor activity made better with the help of smartphone apps is geocaching. This is essentially a global outdoor treasure hunt that can be played in over 100 countries across the world. It isn’t a new game – over the past decade, we’ve covered it a few times in the pages of Computeractive – but smartphone technology has opened it up to a wider audience.

To take part, download a geocaching app – there are numerous ones available for both Apple iOS and Android handsets – and turn on the phone’s GPS function. The app will then allow you to search for nearby hidden treasures (or ‘caches’) and offer clues on how to find them.

The caches can vary from small film canisters containing tiny logbooks to large metal ammunition boxes containing small trinkets. Some geocaches are very complicated and involve solving complicated clues and riddles and even mountain climbing, while many more are pleasant walks with a diversion or two.

The medical benefit
For the companies making fitness hardware and software there is obviously a lot of money to be made, but do these sorts of applications have a positive impact on your personal fitness?

According to Dr Kate Bicknell of Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, there is a benefit to using fitness games and applications, but only if it is done sensibly and with medical guidance: “I think that many people find it hard to fit exercise into their busy lives these days. This technology makes it easier for busy people to exercise regularly.”

“Many of these games raise and sustain the pulse rate at a level that when played regularly will improve fitness and encourage weight loss, and contribute to a healthier lifestyle,” said Dr Bicknell.

Dr Bicknell warns that using fitness applications should always be done with care. When using a gym people can be supervised and given specialised, expert advice on what exercises to do. Games and smartphone applications, used without medical advice, can pose new risks or exacerbate existing medical issues.

“Some people who have existing medical conditions or musculoskeletal disorders may encounter problems as the type of exercise and movements may be unsuitable for them to carry out,” explained Dr Bicknell.

“If you went to the gym, there are trained instructors who can give advice on types of exercise for people with existing problems. If you were worried about this, however, your GP could advise on types of exercise that would be suitable and advise if the game in question was suitable on an individual basis.”

Technology is a great way to add to a boring exercise routine. It can also help people who wouldn’t normally exercise get up off the sofa and do something more active with their spare time.

As Dr Bicknell explains: “As a nation we do not do enough exercise. As technology evolves this creates new ways for people to exercise and if this helps to encourage the nation to live healthier lives, then this is a positive thing.”

Fitness on the web
So far we’ve considered fitness technology that requires a games console or fancy smartphone. However, there are plenty of ways to use existing technology to aid fitness without spending more money. Anyone with access to a web browser, for instance, can take their fill of free online fitness information. Here are just a few examples.

100 push-ups
A simple concept, but done very well. This website’s aim is to motivate visitors to achieve 100 push-ups after only six weeks. After an initial test to work out your current level of fitness, there are then specific plans for each day of each week.

The advice is easy to follow and there are also complementary sites for sit-ups, squats and other exercises – not to mention companion smartphone apps, if you really want them.

NHS Couch to 5K
The Couch to 5K plan is popular all over the world and the UK’s NHS has developed its own version of it, designed to get people from sitting on the sofa to running five kilometres (5K) in just nine weeks.

There’s a downloadable podcast for each week of the plan, starting with brisk walking and 60-second bursts of running and eventually moving on to a full 30-minute run in week nine.

The podcasts pace the listener through each run, so it’s like having your own personal trainer. They’re in MP3 format so should work on any portable music player, or just listen at home for inspiration before heading out for a run.

Bupa Health Check
The private-healthcare provider’s online tool poses various questions to gauge what it calls your ‘health age’. The tool evaluates information such as gender, age and medical history, height, weight and diet.

At the end of the survey, the website displays a health age based on the information given. There’s also advice on how to get in better shape.

Map My Run
Found a good running route and want to share it? Or maybe you are more interested in finding a new route uploaded by someone else. The Mapmyrun website collates millions of routes from locations all over the world. Just tap in your town name or postcode to view local routes uploaded by other visitors.

The Art of Manliness
A slightly more irreverent look at health and fitness, The Art of Manliness website has some interesting and amusing articles. While the tone is invariably tongue-in-cheek, there are some great articles including an in-depth look at the benefits of a standing desk and a guide to traditional archery.

Get off the sofa
Technology can make it easy to ignore the outdoors and not exercise, but it can also make exercise fun and rewarding. We’ve explored some of the many ways how technology and fitness can work together, but there are others. Technology is a great fun way to add to an exercise routine.