Remember back in the day when we only had two options for taking an exercise “class”:
1) actually going to a class, 0r
2) putting in a VHS (and hoping you remembered to rewind it before you put it away! And then you had to fast-forward through all the beginning parts before you could get to the actual workout.)
Fast forward to the invention of DVD’s – no more rewinding, no more fast-forwarding, the “how to” introduction could be skipped completely. Many DVD’s also included several workout options!
Back in the early 2000’s, I fell in love with the Winsor Pilates workout (VHS) and used it so often that I had the whole workout memorized and I could watch something else on TV instead while I did it (although I might not have done each step the correct number of times).
Well, it’s been a few several years since I’ve exercised. I have long since tossed any VHS tapes, but I do have a selection of DVD’s. Mostly ab workouts, dance workouts, yoga….none of them sounded appealing. I do have a Pilates DVD but it’s not the same workout that I loved before.
I decided I wanted to give Yoga a shot. After all, my chiropractor keeps telling me I need to stretch, and relax my shoulders and upper body. It would probably do me a lot of good to do some yoga every day. And I do have a few yoga DVD’s to choose from, but I didn’t want to do a full 30-45 minute routine. I wanted something short(er) and quick(er) and I wanted to find something fast!
“Screw this!”, I thought. ” There’s an app for that! Or a YouTube video!”
I pulled out our Samsung Galaxy tablet (similar to an iPad- we love our tablet!) and pulled up YouTube and found a variety of workouts. I really like the “LivestrongWoman” videos with Tara Stiles. She offers a variety of yoga workouts and they are short, too! Perfect. Fits my needs.
And what’s even better about these “tablet” options is I can still have my regular TV program on (although I’m not watching it super closely because I’m watching the yoga girl, but still).
Or…thanks to “Smart TV’s” I can access YouTube from the TV itself- and watch a video on the big screen rather than on a tiny tablet or phone!
Back to tablets and smartphones….”There’s an app for that!”
Yep! My favorite apps so far are the “DAILY” workouts apps for Android (seen here)
There’s lots of options:
Daily Butt Workout
Daily Leg Workout
Daily Arms Workout
Daily Cardio Workout
Simply Yoga
And you can choose the amount of time you want to spend doing the exercise “program”. 5-minutes, 8-minutes, or more- and you can repeat it over and over as many times as you like.
And it’s on my phone so I can take it anywhere! Modern technology- I love it!
But wait, there’s more!
Remember pedometers? A little pager-like device that you clipped to your waistband and it counted the steps you took? Now there’s fitness bracelets (like the FitBit Flex or Nike+Fuel Band) that you can purchase for around $100, you wear it all day long (and all night, too!) and it tracks your calories burned, steps taken, even sleep patterns! It sends data to your smartphone/tablet to mark your progress.
I haven’t looked into these too seriously yet- but I hear they are a great motivator because it will indicate when you are being “inactive” and should get off your butt and DO something.
So there you have it…. with today’s technology, you can have a workout reminder on your wrist and a personal trainer on your phone/tablet and there’s an app or YouTube video for any and every kind of fitness routine/program/exercise you can imagine.
We’ve really come a long way in home fitness technology! Now there’s really NO excuse to not do something…. everyone can find 7 minutes.
Elisa's Ramblings 