Your smartphone may be ruining your workout

Whenever I think of people using their phone and exercising, I think of those tiny Sandton moms who gossip with other Sandton moms whilst also walking on the treadmill. They never seem to sweat and I wonder if what they're doing is really working for them. But anyways, I'm not one to judge as I sit from the comfort of my bed with a bowl of popcorn.

Personally, I don't feel obligated to check my phone for social purposes when I am exercising. If I am using my phone, it's because I am following a workout or using a timer for those 30 second planks that I have to do in 10 second intervals (I won't go on about how weak my core is).

There are so many benefits to having a smartphone and using it to boost your physical activity. For example, they track all your steps in a day - like your own pocket pedometer - and people may choose to set daily goals about how much walking they want to do. There are also an infinite amount of health and fitness apps, where you have hundreds of workout regimes right at your fingertips. However, if you are ill-disciplined with your phone use when you work out, there are consequences.

According to this recent study, you should actually just leave your phone alone. Leave it at home, and focus on what your goals are. The study highlights how different cell phone functions, such as talking, texting, and listening to music impact postural stability. Here are some of the results:

Not taking your workout seriously could lead to serious damage. Michael Rebold, who led this study, mentions that being distracted by your cell phone could lead to "falling off the treadmill, or if you’re walking outside, falling off a curb and rolling your ankle or tearing your ACL". Then you can't exercise for a long time. And that would suck.

However, keep listening to music. I know, for me, it makes everything a little more bearable, especially when I'm running. Make yourself a workout playlist, and run to that beat, girl!