3 ways technology has made exercise easier

There is literally no excuse for not exercising in this day and age. Gone are the days where the gym is your only option for fitness. Thanks to technology, we have a whole array of things to turn to to get our butts in shape.

1. Wearable technology

FitBits, Apple Watches, TomTom watches, Garmin fitness watches, the list goes on. Wearable technology has become an increasingly popular trend in tracking fitness. Some of benefits of them, according to HealthFitnessRevolution, include personal accountability where "the only person you're competing against is yourself."

Additionally, when your personal statistics are staring at you in the face, you have no option of ignoring them, or making excuses. If you are simply tracking your steps, you will be motivated to walk more than you did the previous day. And then more the next day. Next minute, you're running every day. Research shows that using a fitness tracker is likely to increase activity levels by 30%. The downside is that a lot of them are quite expensive, but if you have a smartphone, you can still track your fitness.

Taken from fitbit.com

2. Workout apps

I am the kind of person who downloads all the latest fitness apps onto my iPhone to motivate me to exercise. Sometimes it works because the app is user-friendly and dynamic in what it offers, other times it just makes me feel better about staying in bed but still thinking about exercise. There is an enormous selection of apps out there that range from running for charity, like the Charity Miles app, to guided workouts by personal trainers, such as the Nike+ Training Club app. There are always new apps coming out, but here is a list of the 25 best fitness apps of 2017.

Taken from Random Fitness Musings

3. Online workouts

Don't feel like going to the gym? Don't feel like being around other people while you burn off your Christmas fat? There are so many workouts available online. So many of us are incredibly busy and, of course, we should make time for exercise daily, but sometimes it's trickier than that. I sometimes find, when I'm stressed and have a lot to do in a day, going to a spinning class or something is incredibly time-consuming. Not just the class itself, but I find it difficult to get straight back into work afterwards, especially if it's high intensity.

Luckily, the online world has made it easier for us busy bodies with the creation of online workouts, commonly in the form of a workout video. These workouts don't usually require any equipment and are taught by professional fitness instructors. These workouts were dubbed the best by Make Your Body Work, but there are alternatives that are not simply bodyweight, HIIT exercises. These include yoga, barre, and even ballet-inspired workouts.