1. Use An Activity Tracker

Even if Santa did not bring you a new fitness gadget this holiday season, you can find many great deals on items like Apple Watches and FitBits.

There is something extremely motivating to me as I see those rings close or step counts go up. You can also set target goals with your Apple Watch friends or FitBit friends for some healthy competition!

2. Workout at Home

Even before the global pandemic, I found that working out at home really helped me stick to my goals. On cold winter mornings, I had a hard time motivating myself to get in my freezing car to drive to the gym only to find that someone beat me to the equipment I wanted to use.

Thankfully, there are plenty of options available for working out at home. Services like Apple Fitness+, Daily Burn, FitOn, and Beachbody OnDemand make it easy to get a great workout with minimal equipment.

There are also free workouts available on YouTube! Here are some to get you started:

• HASfit
• POPSUGAR Fitness
• BeFIT

3. Find Some Great Workout Music

Don’t yet have a playlist of your favorite workout music? Or are you simply looking for new music to motivate you? Check out these free streaming stations to get some motivation for your workout sessions!

• Pandora: Pop Fitness
• Pandora: Workout Hits
• Pandora: Alternative Endurance Training
• iHeart Radio: Club Jam Hits
• iHeart Radio: 24 Hour Cardio Mix
• iHeart Radio: Rock Workout Radio

Looking for workout headphones?

Here are a few of my favorites:

9.3

SoundPEATS Air3 Wireless Earbuds Mini Bluetooth V5.2 Earphones with Qualcomm QCC3040 and aptX-Adaptive, 4-Mic and CVC 8.0 Noise Cancellation, TrueWireless Mirroring Tech, in-Ear Detection, Game Mode

What’s New with the SOUNDPEATS Air3 compared to the TrueAir2? If you’re like me and you previously purchased the …

Buy It Now

Read full review

9.1

Plantronics – Backbeat FIT 3150 True Wireless Sport Headphones – Black

Design and Fit One of the things I like most about these headphones is the open design of the tips on the earbuds. …

$149.99 Buy It Now

Read full review

9.1

Soundcore by Anker, Soundcore Sport X10 True Wireless Bluetooth 5.2 Workout Headphones, Rotatable Ear Hooks, Deep Bass, IPX7 Waterproof, Sweatproof, 32H Play, Fast Charge, Sport Earbuds, Gym, Running

If you’ve tried working out with AirPods and had trouble with them staying in your ear, check out the Soundcore Sport …

$69.99 $79.99 Buy It Now

Read full review

4. Burn Calories Watching Netflix

No one likes staring at a wall while doing cardio indoors in the winter. Bring your tablet, prop it up on the elliptical or treadmill, and start binging on some of Netflix’s hits like Stranger Things, The Queen’s Gambit, Black Mirror, Ozark, and many more.

These movies and shows will suck you in and before you know it, you will have burned a ton of calories watching TV. If your gym has new touchscreen-enabled equipment, you may be able to log in to your Netflix right on on the machine.

Of course, you’re not limited to Netflix. If you have Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, or even a cable package that allows streaming your DVR content remotely, you’re sure to be entertained while the calories burn away.

With the right tracker, games, music, and entertainment, you’re ready to tackle your new year’s fitness goals!

Sparkler photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

The post 4 Fitness Motivation Hacks for the New Year 2023 appeared first on Technically Well.

• 

  Fitbit has several different models to choose from

  Use an activity tracker: Whether it’s a FitBit, Jawbone Up, Garmin, Misfit, Apple Watch or some other type of activity tracker, you’ll find that quantifying your daily activity to be highly motivational.  You may want to select a fitness tracker that your friends are already using so that you can link up with each other and compare stats.  Or check the website of your device for groups and communities to participate in.  For example, FitBit has plenty of groups to choose from.

• Consider a heart rate monitor as well: For me, seeing that I only earned a couple hundred steps from an hour-long P90X sweat fest was very un-motivating.  While activity trackers are good at recording walking and running, they’re not always good at recording weight training exercises.  Heart rate monitors such as those built-in to the FitBit Charge HR or the Apple Watch can give you a better idea of your calorie burn, but they’re not perfect as wrist-based heart rate monitors can give low readings during weight-bearing activities.  Strap on a chest bluetooth heart rate monitor (for iPhone and some Androids phones) while you pump iron to get a better estimate of your calorie burn.
• Stream music stations designed to motivate you:  Regardless if you prefer Pandora, iHeartRadio or Apple Music, there are plenty of upbeat stations to help power you through your workouts.  Grab a Bluetooth speaker or headphones and you are all set! Here are some stations to get you started:
  • Club Jams on iHeartRadio
  • Pop Fitness on Pandora
• Harness the power of social networks: Follow your favorite athletes on Twitter or join an exercise-focused photo stream on Instagram.  There are also plenty of fitness-focused pinners on Pinterest.  Receiving regular updates from other exercisers in your social streams  can do wonders for your motivation.  Like running?  Be sure to check out the #RunChat conversation on Twitter.  Or if you need a little extra motivation to start your week, check out MoveItMonday.

With these hacks in your arsenal, get ready to place a huge check by this year’s fitness goals come December!

The post 4 Fitness Motivational Hacks for 2017 appeared first on Technically Well.

PROs

• 3 resistance bands: This pack from Native Fitness includes 3 bands of varying resistance, and these are the nice, thick bands that are much more durable than the thin, hollow “tube bands” you’ll see included in other kits. The estimated “weights” are as follows:
  – Red: 15-25 lbs
  – Black: 50-75 lbs
  – Purple: 100-120 lbs
  These bands can go for anywhere from $15-$30 individually, so you can definitely save with this set. You also have the option of combining bands to get different “weights” as well. If you’re wondering what you would use the purple band for, it comes in handy if you’re starting out with pull-ups and need an assist. Simply wrap one and around you pull-up bar and step into the other end.
• Jump rope: If you need to get in some cardio, the included jump rope is handy for when you’re stuck in a hotel room or otherwise not able to get outside for a run.
• 4 e-Books: The seller also sends four e-Books that nicely illustrated the different movements and exercises you can do with these bands.
• No smell: I laughed when I saw the description stated that this set was “no smell”, but it is accurate. There is a light plastic smell from this set, but nothing that is overpowering or that you need to let set outside for a few days.

CONs

• No handles: With this type of resistance band, there are no handles, so you may want to wear a pair of gloves to keep them from “digging” into your hands.

Overall, this is a nice set to bring with you whenever you travel so you can get in a nice workout wherever you want.

Check out the Native Fitness Resistance Bands and Speed Jump Rope on Amazon

— Sample provided for review

The post Native Fitness Resistance Bands and Speed Jump Rope Review appeared first on Technically Well.

If Santa brought you a new FitBit device, the FitBit New Year’s Group can help you stick to your goal of being more active. Also, every Monday for six weeks starting January 6, FitBit will be launching a new weekly challenge to get your moving. These challenges will feature tips and helpful advice from Fitbit ambassadors to help you stick to the weekly goal.  You can also tweet your progress with #FitBit2014 for a chance to win a prize.

If you use a FitBit or other type of tracking device or service, you can sign up for the Fit Pursuit 2014 challenge on EveryMove.org.  Here, you can set a goal for yourself and if you meet it, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a prize of your choosing: an Xbox One, a $50 iTunes gift card, and more.

We all know that exercise is its own reward, but sometimes it’s nice to have a chance to win a little something extra as well.  Here’s to a happy and healthy 2014!

The post Using Tech to Help Stick to Those New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on Technically Well.

One of my first ventures into “fitness technology” was in college with my PDA (although there were plenty public displays of affection at college, I’m referring to a Personal Digital Assistant). I faithfully logged my foods in a calorie-counting app, striving for the perfect number of calories that promised a loss of 1 pound per week.  However, the weeks would go by and the scale would not move, which is when I found a forum post from a brilliant user that perfectly solved my plight: “your body is not a calculator”.

It’s generally accepted that carbs and protein both have 4 calories per 1 gram.  Fat has 9 calories per 1 gram.  And, if you’re curious, alcohol has about 7 calories per gram.  So the “low fat” diet craze was based on the fact that carbs have fewer calories than fat.  However, the highly processed carbs in many diet foods digested quickly leaving people unsatisfied by low fat foods that they ended up eating more empty carb calories and negating any “calorie savings”

Fats and protein play an important rule in satiety, as in making you feel full.  So healthy fats can actually help you feel like you’ve eaten something since it stays in your stomach longer than simple carbs.  Same with protein: it takes longer for your body to digest, therefore making you feel full longer.  And not all carbs are necessarily bad.  “Whole Grains” contain fiber that can help slow digestion, preventing the “sugar rush” (and crash) you get from simple carbs.

There are also many other things happening in your body that break the calorie calculator.  For example, for every 100 calories of carbs you eat, your body expends about 5-10 calories digesting it.  With fat calories, you expend even less.  But with protein, you expend about 20-30 calories to digest them.  Then there’s the whole “starvation mode” where your metabolism (and calorie burning potential) will decrease if you eat too few calories for your body’s basic needs.

So what’s the best approach?  Eat whole, natural foods from a variety of sources, so you get a nice mix of carbs (with whole grains) and fat for energy, and protein for muscle repair and satiety.  Eating a good mix of whole grain, fruits, vegetables, and proteins (from meat or plant sources, depending on your diet) will help you feel fuller, satisfied, and happy.

The post When a Calorie is not a Calorie or a Calorie appeared first on Technically Well.