As technology advances, the way that we live is in a constant flux. The devices we use that allow us to continue exploring and the technology is helping to shape the future of humankind. The way that we work out is no exception to these changes. Fitness technology has evolved over the course of time. It continues to do so as regular technological growth and continues to spread to areas such as health and fitness.

This evolution has a long history. The modern-day interest in incorporating exercise into daily routines is rooted in the sedentary work of the average human. As we shifted from the Industrial Age to the Age of Information, the work has been taken by the majority of people suddenly involved little to no physical exertion.

Home Weight-Pulley Machines

Home weight-pulley machines are the most prevalent forms of home workout equipment to improve physical activity. These machines are easy to use with the convenience of having the equipment in your home.

Weight-Pulley Machines are still widely used in home fitness setups. Although the wall mount design has transitioned into a freestanding machine. This machines offers intense workouts for isolated muscles and added safety benefit of the weights. You are less likely to injure yourself while using machines instead of free weights. This tradeoff does come with pitfalls, though, such as isolating individual muscles and leaving others out of the exercise routine.

Fitness Technology using Videos and Audio

Audio workout sessions are where guided exercises deliver energetic music to keep up your adrenaline. Adding video VHS tapes and DVDs workout routines helped people visualize what the pose and show workouts should actually look like. Fitness technology encouraged proper form as well as gave a focal point and provided a closer personal trainer experience than listening to guided exercises.

Watching an instructor with a number of backup trainers brought the fitness class experience to your home. These types of video classes have continued to be popular, with many attesting to their worth. Popular video courses such as P90X and Insanity have risen in the last few years and allow people to forego bulky exercise equipment in order to do most of the work using just the body and the occasional resistance band.

Wearable Technology and Activity Trackers

The recent trend of wearable technology seems almost ubiquitous. From FitBits to Apple Watches, wearable tech and fitness technology are permeating society.

Wearable technology is for fitness and a large majority are geared toward tracking your daily activity. Some wearable technologies are standalone products that simply strap around your wrist like a normal wristwatch.

Most smartphones include activity trackers in their default operating system programs, such as Apple’s Health app or Samsung Health. Technologies are used in different ways to monitor your activity such as through the movement of a built-in gyroscope in most smartphones and LEDs on FitBits.

The light-sensitive diodes are able to detect the amount of blood flowing through the wearer’s wrist. When your heart beats, the light absorption is greater, while between beats, it is less.

Other Fitness Technology Used

The advent of the smartwatch is not the only recent notable change in fitness technology. Runners and weightlifters both enjoy the benefit of music to their ears while doing their workout. The portability of headphones has further increased with the rise of Bluetooth technology with a simple arm sleeve for your phone. Many apps on your phone become a running coach that occasionally pause your workout jams to help and encourage you.

Fitness technologies can help you keep track of your activities providing clear identification of problem areas and address those areas in which you are performing well. Simply counting steps with a pedometer is a thing of the past. These applications can track your daily step count as data and provide your own exercise goals.

Other Advancements in Home Gym Equipment

The ability to take your tech with you isn’t the only advancement in fitness technology worth mentioning. The realm of the at-home gym is also beginning to change as well as products such as the Peloton Tread. This is a high-tech treadmill with a price tag to reflect the sentiment.

While having a television screen in front of exercise equipment is certainly no revelation, the membership program that is available with the Peloton Tread is the real show-stealer. It provides you with equipment-specific workouts without the repetition of watching the same workout routine videos week after week.

The most surreal of all of the new ways to exercise is the incorporation of fitness into virtual reality. For example, Black Box gyms offer 30-minute full-body workouts in a virtual setting. This effectively turns your workout into a competitive game with others who are also training.

Forging Your Own Path to Fitness Technology

Fitness technology is changing the way that we exercise. That much is undeniable but the ways in which it offers benefits beyond just a mere satisfying workout, these advancements teach you how to exercise better. When you exercise better, you can exercise for longer, avoid injuries, and enjoy your workouts more overall.

Evolving fitness technology at your disposal helps you become better at working out and developing a solid goal for your exercise routine. Fitness technology has not only changed the way we exercise but can also change the way we feel about exercising.