Top fitness gadgets to improve your workout

Whether you go to the gym or exercise at home, fitness gadgets can make a big difference in helping you reach your fitness goals. These devices give you instant feedback, keep you motivated, and can make your workouts much better. In this article, we'll look at some of the best fitness gadgets that can improve your gym sessions and help you live a healthier life.

Smart Watches

Fitness trackers are perhaps the most popular piece of tech among fitness enthusiasts, gym-goers, and even professional athletes. Here are just some of the ways that smart watches can improve your workouts.

• Heart Rate Monitoring: Smartwatches can check your heart rate accurately while you exercise. This helps you know how hard you're working and if you're in the right zone for burning fat and improving your heart health.

• Activity Tracking: Smartwatches can keep track of your steps, distance, and calories burned during workouts. This lets you see your progress, set goals, and make changes to your routine as needed.

• Workout Modes: Smartwatches have different settings for specific activities like running, cycling, swimming, or strength training. These modes track and analyse your performance for each activity, giving you helpful information.

• GPS Tracking: Some smartwatches have built-in GPS, so you can track your outdoor workouts accurately. It records your route, distance, and pace, which is useful for analysing and improving your performance.

• Music and Podcast Playback: Certain smartwatches can store and play music or podcasts. This means you can listen to your favourite tunes or shows without needing a separate device during your workouts.

• Real-Time Feedback and Coaching: Smartwatches give you instant feedback during your workouts, like pace alerts, distance milestones, or lap times. They can also offer coaching cues and reminders to keep you motivated.

• Workout Intensity Monitoring: Smartwatches analyse your workout data, such as heart rate and effort level, to show you how intense your training is. This helps you understand if you need to adjust the intensity or duration of your workouts.

• Sleep Tracking: Good sleep is important for recovery and overall well-being. Many smartwatches can track your sleep patterns to tell you how well and how long you slept. This information helps you make lifestyle changes to improve your sleep and your workouts.

• Notifications and Alerts: Smartwatches let you stay connected even while you exercise. You can receive notifications for messages, calls, and reminders without interrupting your workout.

• Customization and Compatibility: Smartwatches have apps that let you personalise your fitness goals and settings. They also work with other fitness apps, giving you more options and features to help you with your workouts.

Our favourite Smart Watches:

• Apple Watch Series 8

• Fitbit Versa 4

• Garmin Forerunner 255

Smart Gym Equipment

If you prefer working out at home, investing in smart gym equipment can greatly enhance your fitness routine, but you can even find some of this high-tech equipment at upmarket gyms! These machines have advanced features like built-in screens, interactive training programs, and personalised workouts to help you get the most out of your session.

Here are some examples of smart gym equipment you can use to improve your workouts:

• Smart Treadmills: These treadmills feature touchscreens with interactive training programs, virtual running routes, and personalised coaching. They can automatically adjust speed and incline based on your fitness level and workout goals.

• Connected Bikes: Smart stationary bikes offer immersive cycling experiences with interactive classes, virtual rides, and performance tracking. They provide real-time metrics like distance, resistance, and heart rate, keeping you engaged and motivated throughout your ride.

• Interactive Strength Training Equipment: Some smart strength training machines incorporate screens and sensors that guide you through proper form, track your repetitions and resistance, and suggest workout variations. They ensure that you're performing exercises correctly and efficiently.

• Rowing Machines: Smart rowing machines provide interactive workouts and metrics, allowing you to track your strokes per minute, distance, and calories burned. They often come with online communities and challenges to keep you motivated and engaged.

• Boxing Systems: Smart boxing systems use sensors and virtual trainers to guide your boxing workouts, providing real-time feedback on punch speed, power, and technique. They offer interactive training sessions and gamified experiences to make your workouts more enjoyable.

• Adjustable Weights: Dumbbell and barbell systems that automatically adjust the weight without the user needing to unload and load plates, can be hugely helpful when improving the efficiency of your workout. No need to spend time between sets, setting up your next weight. With these gadgets simply type in your desired weight, and a few seconds later you can start your exercise!

Our Favourite Smart Gym Equipment:

• Corner Boxing Tracker

• NordicTrack Smart Rower

• BrainGain 40kg Adjustable Dumbbells

Smart Water Bottles

Staying hydrated during workouts is crucial for maintaining optimal performance. Smart water bottles can help you track your daily water intake and remind you to drink at regular intervals. Some advanced models even monitor your hydration levels and provide personalised recommendations for fluid consumption based on your activity level and sweat rate.

Our Favourite Smart Water Bottles:

• Hidrate Spark Pro

• Gatorade Smart GX Bottle

• REBO Smart Water Bottle

Bio Trackers

If you're looking to build muscle mass and increase strength, high-tech trackers could be a great option to improve your workouts. These devices measure your strength levels, track your progress, and provide insights into your muscle development. By analysing the data, you can adjust your training regimen accordingly and target specific muscle groups for more effective workouts.

Here are some examples of tracking devices that could help you reach your workout goals:

• Smart Scales: Smart scales not only measure body weight but also provide additional metrics such as body fat percentage, muscle mass, and bone density. These scales use bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to estimate muscle mass and provide insights into changes in your body over time.

• Wearable Performance Trackers: Some wearable devices, like armbands or vests, can measure and provide data on fitness levels based on physical effort and fatigue during exercise.

• Blood Oxygen Monitors: Oxygen monitors, often used by athletes and fitness enthusiasts, measure the oxygen saturation levels in muscles during exercise. By tracking these levels, you can assess muscle endurance and fatigue, optimising your training and recovery strategies.

• Handheld Grip Strength & ROM Tester: Handheld dynamometers are portable devices used to measure grip strength, which is a good indicator of overall upper body strength. These devices can track changes in grip strength over time, as well as range of movement testing for your joints, helping you monitor improvements in muscle strength and ROM.

Our favourite Bio Trackers:

• Withings Digital Smart Bathroom Scale

• Smart One Oxi - Blood Oxygen Monitors

• STATSport APEX Athlete Series Fitness Tracker

• VALD Health Dynamo Handheld Strength and ROM Tester

Fitness Apps

In addition to fitness gadgets, there is a wide range of fitness apps available for smartphones and smartwatches. These apps offer workout routines, tracking features, personalised training plans and calorie/food tracking capabilities. They provide comprehensive health and fitness insights, helping you stay on track and achieve your desired fitness goals.

Our Favourite Fitness Apps:

• Strong - Perfect for tracking and planning unique workouts

• Nike Training Club - Perfect for preset workout routines

• MyFitnessPal - Perfect for meal and calorie tracking

Recovery Tech

Recovery is an essential part of any fitness routine, as it allows your body to repair and rebuild after intense workouts. Wearable tech for recovery, such as compression sleeves, massage guns, and recovery boots, can help speed up the recovery process. These devices apply pressure, vibrations, or compression to targeted areas, promoting blood flow, reducing muscle soreness, and enhancing overall recovery.

Our Favourite Recovery Tech:

• Foam Rollers

• Pulsio Air Massage Gun

• Myo Master Leg Compression Boots

Virtual Reality Fitness Classes

These online virtual reality fitness classes have become increasingly popular, offering the convenience of exercising at home while receiving guidance from professional trainers in a fully immersive VR world.

Many gadgets, such as smart TVs, tablets, and streaming devices, allow you to access a variety of fitness classes run by personal trainers, including yoga, HIIT, full body workouts, and more. But there's nothing quite feeling like you are in the gym with them!

VR classes provide structured workouts in a virtual gym environment fro the comfort of your own home and the class leaders help keep you motivated regardless of your goal, whether it's to lose weight or improve your cardio fitness.

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So, whether you're jumping rope or lifting weights, there are plenty of different gadgets out there that can hugely improve your workouts, from smart watches to recovery tech.

Let us know if we missed any of your favourite gadgets over on Instagram!