Fitness app reflects your health goals
Such tools can be useful guides, but pick wisely, says prof
Whether you’re a long-time health nut or just resolving to shed a few holiday pounds, there are plenty of fitness apps out there vying for your attention.
The challenge is to find the right app that will help, not hinder, your health goals. “The app might be safe for everyone else. But it has to be safe for you,” says Dr. Kendall Ho.
Ho, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of B.C., has been working with Vancouver General and St. Paul’s hospitals to better incorporate health and fitness technology into patient treatment, and to help patients manage their own health better through the use of such apps.
Fitness and health apps are popular because they act as a “digital mirror,” giving individuals a snapshot of where they’re at in their specific health goals, says Ho. Apps can guide people through workouts and meditation, record dietary intake and monitor sleep cycles to let you know if you’re getting enough restful sleep.
“I think what the apps and wearables do is, for the first time, help a person to understand his or her own body,” says Ho. He notes this comes in handy when self-evaluating fitness goals, modifying behaviour to reach those goals and monitoring progress.
If you have an existing medical condition, it’s important to consult a doctor to see if the app will support your goals or if its design will push you beyond your body’s safe limits, says Ho.
Also keep in mind that if a fitness app isn’t easy to use, it’s not likely to become a regular part of your fitness routine. He recommends starting with the basics, such as an app to record nutritional intake, monitor physiological state and, if you require it, something to record your medications and prescriptions.