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

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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.

• 

  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.  I personally like the DigiFit app to record indoor workouts as you can set it to not turn on your GPS (which saves your battery).  DigiFit also exports your activities to RunKeeper and adds the activities to FitBit.
• Throw out the scale: Your weight will fluctuate a lot day to day.  Many factors, including sodium intake (water retention) and whether or not you need to use the restroom can change your weight by 2 pounds or more from one day to the next.  Seeing the numbers creep up when you actually didn’t gain fat can kill your motivation.  Plus, you’ll find that building more muscle can cause your weight to go up as well.  Instead, try out a body fat measurement device.  Although it’s not perfect, it uses a harmless electrical wave to estimate the lean mass in your body from fat.  This, too, can vary from day to day, so try to take the measurement at the same time each day (some suggest first thing in the morning after using the bathroom). As you get fit, you’ll want to focus on building lean mass and not worry so much about the number on the scale.

• 

  EveryMove integrates with a wide variety of apps and devices

  Sign-up for a workout aggregation site: I looked at EveryMove and Earndit in the past and they are great tools for not only earning discounts from online health and wellness shops, but they also serve as great activity aggregators from across many different services.  This can come in handy if you’re using a Misfit, but your friends are using a Jawbone.  Or if you record your runs in RunKeeper but record your biking in Strava.  With EveryMove, you can even enter exercises manually, so you don’t need an activity tracker to participate.  Alternatively, if you would like to send your workouts from one service to another (for example, from Strava to RunKeeper), check out tapiriik.

• 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 5 Fitness Motivational Hacks for the New Year appeared first on Technically Well.

Wearable Technology

Although it wasn’t the first smartwatch, the Apple Watch saw strong sales and has become one of the most popular wearables in 2015, bringing the idea of a mini-computer on your wrist more mainstream.  Plus, Apple, T-Mobile and AT&T have brought WiFi calling to the Apple Watch, even when your iPhone is off, making me feel like Dick Tracy every time I answer a call on my wrist.

FitBit has been making it’s way into people’s pockets and on to their wrists for the past few years, with the FitBit Surge providing some “smartwatch” technology of its own.  I’ve been seeing more and more of my friends and family getting on board with this step tracking technology over the past year, and the new “Challenges” feature of the FitBit app brings some friendly competition (and a lot of late night walking in place to snag that number 1 spot).

Bluetooth Everything

Bluetooth earbuds and speakers were also very popular in 2015, with both coming down in price significantly.  The wireless freedom of Bluetooth allows you to rock out virtually anywhere without being physically wired to your phone.  And we saw several knock offs of Beats products that still featured very good sound quality at a fraction of the cost.  Which I appreciate, because I have a bad habit of losing headphones every time I travel.

Internet of Things

Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity continues to bring more and more of our home devices online.  Smartthings released version 2 of their hub, allowing you to connect and automate a wide range of devices, including light bulbs, door locks, and even speakers.  Apple’s HomeKit API also allows us to talk to Siri, who in turn will “talk” to our lights and turn them on.  And the Amazon Echo continues to give us that “home of the future” feel as it added several new home automation integrations this year, including Wink, Smartthings, and Insteon Connect.

Streaming Music and Old Fashioned Radio

Streaming music also continued to gain popularity this year.  I resisted Spotify for the longest time because I liked to “own” my music files.   However, when I first got a taste of having my music “in the cloud” with iTunes Match a couple years ago, I was immediately hooked on the convenience of not needing to manually sync files between my computer and my iPhone.  Being able to edit a playlist on one device and have it automagically sync to all my other devices was also a huge plus.

When Apple Music was released, I quickly and effortless transitioned to it.  I did not struggle with the meta-data torture that some other users experienced, but this was likely due to my library being “cloud ready” thanks to iTunes Match.  I really enjoy discovering new music and being able to listen to (almost) any song I want, when I want.

But perhaps the most surprisingly popular feature of Apple Music is Beats 1 Radio.  Listening to the service brings back a bit of nostalgia for me.  For example, I tune into Brooke Reese’s show “Chart” almost daily to listen to the biggest hits, which in a way takes me back to listening to Casey Kasem counting down the top 40 every weekend when I was growing up.  And “Request” with Travis Mills takes me back to a time when you had to actually phone in requests to a local radio station.

Hoverboards

While they’re not quite like what we saw in Back to the Future’s interpretation of 2015, hoverboards (well, skateboards with motorized wheels) were a hot holiday gift, literally.  Recent battery explosions in some hoverboard models have left many consumers weary of this new mode of transportation.  Hopefully Mattel will release their levitating (and fireproof) model soon.

Where are we heading in 2016?

More virtual reality tech is on the horizon, with both Sony and Microsoft expected to release their VR consumer products.  And wearables will continue to expand, with the inevitable 2nd generation of the Apple Watch expected with additional health tracking and better performance.  Drones were another hot item this year (so much so that they now require registration) and hopefully Amazon will get their delivery-by-drone service off the ground in 2016.  Personally, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for self-driving cars so I can get in a few extra Zzzs in the back seat during the morning commute, and maybe live out my lifelong fantasy of fighting crime with my car (like KITT).

The post Looking Back on the Tech Trends of 2015 appeared first on Technically Well.