The Future of Fitness

At the Perform Better's Meeting of the Minds Seminar in Phoenix, Arizona this past weekend, the main topics presented revolved around one thing: The Future of Fitness.  Not only did every presenter do a great job in highlighting the fitness of years' past, but each one took a long look into their crystal ball and forecasted their predictions for what we might see in the next 10+ years. 

View from above the resort (on a mountainside)

For this article, I am going to highlight some of the technology that will be making our life easier to track, monitor and control different factors that we were previously unaware of.  Here we go:

#1 Zeo Sleep Manager:  Previously, it took thousands of dollars to monitor your sleep overnight at some crazy sleep lab.  Now, for under $200, the Zeo Sleep Manager connects wirelessly to your laptop or mobile device and analyzes your sleep patterns (monitors lifestyle patterns, sleep stages, and more).  www.myzeo.com/sleep

#2 Know your Genetic Limitations: Previously, genetic tests and metabolic testing was a complicated and often limited practice.  Now?  The website 23andme takes the craziness out of the equation and simplifies, and the website says 'Gain insight into your traits, from baldness to muscle performance. Discover risk factors for 97 diseases. Know your predicted response to drugs, from blood thinners to coffee. And uncover your ancestral origins.'  I'm in!

#3 Simplify Goal Setting and Establish Habits:  Kicking old habits to the curb and starting new ones used to be like pulling teeth.  Now, with this amazing app available on Itunes, (Available here), you can track, monitor and establish new habits with a daily tracking and monitoring system that even shows up in your calendar.  You can even schedule things every 3 days, weekly, or even monthly.  Bottom line?  Great app that has huge ramifications for establishing new eating habits, exercise patterns, etc. 

#4 Sportably:  One of my favorite discoveries this weekend, Sportably is a 21st century way to track everything from weight lifted to resting heart rate, stresses outside the training routine, quality of sleep, mindset and nutrition quality.  Website: Sportably

#5 Meal Snap: Wonder how many calories are on your plate?  Using its intense caloric database and estimating system, Meal Snap is an iPhone app that allows you to take pictures of your meal and then analyze the caloric details of the meal. 

#6 No Brown Days:  Wayne Cotton, a respected financial advisor and marketing expert, has established a very cool system to track productivity and keep momentum from accomplishments moving you forward.  Use his roadmap and 90 day wonder to re-establish control over your time, and avoid the brown days!  No Brown Days is something you can implement immediately and start to feel the effects of more free time after organizing your life.

#7 Fitocracy:  Want to keep 'score' of how intense your workouts are?  And compare them to others and check the intensity level based on others' comparable workouts?  Then Fitocracy is a perfect way to keep score, turn fitness into a game, and compete against friends and co-workers.  Check it out!

More to come on the highlights of this amazing Perform Better-run event.  Loved it!

-Coach Kev