5 Best Bits Of Fitness Tech To Level Up Your Workout
“All the gear, no idea”, heard that before? The technological data-centric world we live in has completely revolutionised fitness and health - even a smartphone contains more health and fitness information than many Olympians would’ve had fifty years ago. From wearables to applications, here’s some health and fitness technology and gadgets to elevate your exercise routine.
Fitness tech is all about optimisation and levelling up. It’s not essential, but it can be huge for improving workouts, managing injuries, and generally showing you where you can improve your wellbeing. With that in mind, we’ve decided to round-up some of the best gadgets and applications out there, to help you knock a few seconds off that PB or elevate your sleep routine.
Granted this is more of an all-rounder smart gadget than a dedicated piece of fitness tech, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in the gains department. While this and the less “ultra” models all feature sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, and a myriad ways of connecting to apps; the ultra model does go a few steps further.
Coming in titanium as standard, it’s very durable and a little larger, which is less fiddly if you’re wearing gloves. There’s a built-in siren for emergencies as well as fall detection, international emergency-calling via satellite and twice the charge of the Apple Watch 10. It’s also good for recreational scuba diving at 40m, plus a whole lot more. There’s more features than many will use in a lifetime of exploration and fitness, but if you want something that can support you through a whole lot of doing, here it is.
Hyperice is a technology-driven company aiming to “help everyone on earth move and live better”. Big goals, but why not. For over a decade they’ve been pushing the boundaries of at-home recovery and wellness, and their acquisition of Normatec was a huge step for this. The Normatec range is used by fitness fanatics everywhere, both hobbyist and elite; Erling Haaland is even an investor in the business.
The latest in their series is not the cheapest piece of recovery kit, but it’s certainly among the most acclaimed. Ultimately, the device uses air compression to mimic how muscles pump, which quickens lactic acid removal and lymphatic drainage while also reducing inflammation – it’s a very very good massage, if you want to keep it really simple. The latest features enhanced customisation through the app, with refined and more intuitive technology. It’s lighter too.
There’s a lot of wearables out there, but Whoop has made a name for itself as a wearable that sticks to tracking the scientifically-backed data and aims to present it as intuitively as possible. Recovery-focussed, the focal points are sleep and strain. The recovery is given in a handy single measurement, a percentage score. The device goes beyond measuring, it also provides coaching – recommendations on how to improve your wellbeing based on the data.
According to their website “66% of members with a goal to improve their recovery saw higher average recovery scores” when using the device. There’s the opportunity to use the device as specifically or generally as you want by logging behaviours and lifestyle markers from caffeine consumption to parenting.
Endorsed by the likes of Sha’Carri Richardson, Beth Mead and Virgil van Dijk, Whoop is a device that can be used by all levels of athlete as a wellness companion. You can wear it as a wristband which allows you to go about your day with little interruption.
Tech doesn’t have to mean dealing with more screens. This innovation from Adidas was born in a biometrics lab, but it’s all about helping people to move as efficiently as possible. Perhaps more efficiently than ever before.
The thinking is that when we move, generally, our muscles often misalign from their most efficient path – and so they set out to control and support the paths our muscles work best within, making our movements as efficient as possible. Years on, they’ve managed to put this technology into shorts, leggings, tops and sports bras, and have called it RHEON™. If you’re looking for marginal gains, or just need some new training gear and want it to work for you, not against you, this new range is one to consider.
This is also brought to you by the Hyperice team. If you don’t know the importance of sleep for health and fitness goals by now, well, let’s tell you: sleep is as important as exercise and diet. Okay? Good. Eight Sleep wraps around your current mattress but also completely transforms it into some sort of hyper-tech Bruce Wayne style sleep lab.
What you get is a cover which is sort of like a fitted sheet, but warms up as far as 43 degrees and cools down to 13 degrees depending on what your body needs (and yes if you share a bed you can both have different temperatures). It also contains sensors which monitor heart and breathing rates. Also in the box, and currently exclusive to the Pod 4 Ultra, you’ll find a base which goes under your mattress to help with body positions, and mitigates snoring. Finally there’s the hub, which contains water for cooling the bed along with the techy stuff which adjusts the bed for you in real time. It’s small enough to fit near the bed without too much issue.
