Ok, we’re officially well into the New Year now, so tell us, what was your New Year’s resolution? If, like the rest of us, it was to get fit or lose weight, you’re probably at that point where your motivation is starting to decrease!
New Year’s resolutions tend not to always last. It’s easier said than done and it’s difficult to balance a busy work or family life around the need for getting fit and healthy.
But with some amazing techie gadgets, you may be able to refuel your motivation and get you back on track. We’ve even gone the extra mile (no pun intended) and found you some great discount codes to save you a few quid!
1) Wireless Earphones
A great way to start getting pumped ready for your workout is to get on some great music!
We would recommend wireless earphones as not only do they offer comfort but you’ll also have freedom of movement so you can really get into your workout without getting tangled up in your own headphones.
Earphones can also block out any other distractions in the gym. It can be quite off-putting and demotivating if you’re constantly distracted by others who potentially aren’t making the most of the time at the gym. The last thing you want to be doing while running on a treadmill is getting distracted listening to Susan gossip about her ex-boyfriend!
The benefit of a smartwatch is that you can connect it to your mobile phone easily, there are even some smartwatches that you don’t need to have a connection to your phone to use.
They’re easy to use and they offer a lot of features that can help progress your personal fitness. With a smartwatch, you can track your runs or hikes, keep track of your daily steps, can tell you how fast you’re going and is far more accurate than your mobile phone.
Another great feature is that your smartwatch can monitor your heart rate, your body temperature, levels of oxygen in your bloodstream and of course the calories you’re burning while you’re working out. So if you have a goal in mind, you can easily monitor your progress. For an affordable option, check out our discount codes for Lifestyle Sports who offer a range of smart watches including Garmin and Fitbit.
3) Smart Weighing Scales
If you’re on the path of attempting to lose weight and your home scales just aren’t cutting it, why don’t you take a look at some smart weighing scales?
You can keep track of more than just your weight such as measuring your BMI and muscle mass. You can also easily connect your smart weighing scale to your mobile phone so you can monitor changes to your weight and body composition and keep a track of your progress.
You’ll start to see your progress in digits and graphs which can help you visually see the results of your healthy choices from each weigh-in.
Whether you’re an avid gym-goer or a frequent runner/walker, you’ll know that having your mobile phone in your hands or pockets is often not the most convenient way to transport your phone whilst working out or exercising. You’re also likely to cause damage if you were to drop it.
Most of us now are quite attached to our mobile phone and the thought of putting it in a locker and not having it with us to track our calories burnt is just not ideal. So it may be time to purchase a phone armband.
This will free up your hands while you work up a sweat and it will also protect your phone from accidental damage. There are loads of phone armbands frequently available with our discount codes from Greaves.
5) Charging Docking Station
If you already have an electric toothbrush, then you already know how a charging dock works. It uses what’s called a resident inductive coupling between the charger and the device.
This clever little device can calculate the energy required to charge your mobile phone, smartwatch, and even your wireless earphones. All you have to do is simply place them on the dock and it will start charging your devices and will stop once both are fully charged.
A charging dock is generally 7.5 times quicker at charging your device than your average socket charger! So if you’ve been on your mobile phone all day at work (we won't tell) and are then hitting the gym, it’s handy to have a charging dock on your desk to quickly charge your devices so that you don’t have a night at the gym without keeping track of your calories and steps etc
After a good workout at the gym or a long run, remember that recovery is imperative and it will help maintain your fitness journey. A massage gun is just the tool for the job!
Not only can you just give your muscles a massage to help relieve tension and enhance performance but you can also relieve any muscle soreness and help your muscles recover faster from your workouts.
This little gadget can be an absolute lifesaver as sometimes the soreness of your muscles can make you really dread another workout, so using this after a workout can get you up and ready for the next day ready to hit the gym.
7) A Smoothie Maker
You want to lose weight and you want to be hitting the gym first thing in the morning before you go to work. But It sometimes feels like a massive rush and you are potentially skipping the most important meal of the day.
A smoothie maker could be right up your street. There is an abundance of healthy protein-filled, fibre-filled smoothy recipes online that only take a matter of minutes to put together in your smoothie maker.
You can literally throw them in whilst packing your gym bag and the joy of this is that you can take it to have on the go!
Did you know there are now smart dumbbells and kettlebells available?! Gone are the days when you have to mentally, or by paper keep track of your reps and sets. Some amazing techie people have now invented smart kettlebells and dumbbells that do the tracking for you!
Never again will you be counting and then wondering if you’ve actually done 15 or 10 reps! These wondrous pieces of equipment are Bluetooth enabled and can sync your reps and your weight to your mobile phone so you can keep the data and throw away the scrappy bits of paper.
9) Skipping Rope
Skipping ropes? Yes! Skipping rope is one of the best workouts you can do.
If you’re absolutely sick and tired of shuttle runs and endless HIIT circuits, now is the time to get back to your youth and take up skipping again. There are now skipping ropes available with magnetic sensors which can track your workouts, monitor your calories burnt and can record all your data in real-time. Specialising in boxing and MMA gear, RDX Sports offer some impressive strength training equipment such as smart skipping ropes.
So if you aren't a massive fan of the gym, this may be something that you want to order to have at home that you can do in your backyard or even indoors… as long as you clear some space and watch out for light fittings!
A slightly more costly purchase, but if you enjoy cycling then another great idea would be an exercise bike.
There are plenty on the market that are compact so if your space is limited you need not be put off. There are a lot of “smart “bikes available each of which have varying degrees of connectivity either through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or apps that can retrieve your workouts and give you a good indication of your mileage covered, calories burned, heart rate, speed, and resistance.
So if you aren’t quite ready for hitting the gym this may be a great starter for you to do at home to give you a bit of confidence before you walk through those gym doors. For an affordable option, Sports Direct is our top choice for great exercise bikes.
Hopefully, you will find something in our list of techie gadgets to help keep you on track on your journey of health and fitness. And remember, as much as it’s important to exercise, make sure you look after your body and your muscles…and don’t forget breakfast!
