Choosing and Using Fitness Gadgets

Organising my Equipment Locker - gadgets strewn down the hallway

There are a few items of exercise equipment that I use everyday.  Like many dedicated fitness fanatics, I like gadgets.  However, the usefulness of fitness gadgets depends on the sort of person you are.  You may like the thought of keeping an online exercise diary to calculate the number of calories burned in your last personal training session; or like the idea of uploading the statistics from your last run. I believe there’s a place for technology in helping regular people keep up with a fitness routine.

I have simple criteria for buying any fitness gizmo

(as opposed to a home fitness machine, set of weights, or online resource). The device should be portable and under £50, with a maximum of three buttons – which leads to the following options:

• a stopwatch or interval timer – with a countdown function and alarm, so you don’t have to keep checking your watch for how long you have left
• a basic heart rate monitor – to let you know that no, you are not dying, when your heart is pounding through your chest
• an mp3 player – with a well chosen playlist, which can do wonders for a workout: increasing intensity, encouraging you to pace exercise correctly and keep going to the end of the next song

You don’t need any of these things to get fit.

You certainly shouldn’t put off increasing your daily activity or exercise to lose weight until you’ve acquired these gadgets. They should be regarded as complimentary fitness tools for your regime – as motivational pieces of exercise equipment.