Published: Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 12:01 a.m.
By Cynthia H. Craft, The Sacramento Bee
When Jon Mead, a devoted cyclist, visits a new city, he goes right to his smartphone app Strava to find the best bike routes. In Sacramento, Calif., where he works at a Fleet Feet running-gear shop, the 24-year-old uses MapmyRide to track his course in an archive.
Bethany Scribner, a runner who also works at the fitness gear retailer, likes the apps MapmyRun[3] and Livestrong[4], which tracks nutrition in a daily pie chart showing fat, protein and carbs. Saucony Run4Good[5] is a favorite, too, said Scribner, 21, because the company donates to anti-obesity programs for kids if enough runners cover enough miles.
MapMyRide, MapMyRun, Livestrong, Run4Good, MyFitnessPal[6]: They’re all part of an exploding arena of health and fitness applications for smartphones. The trend, which falls under the umbrella of Health 2.0, an international tech movement grounded in San Francisco, is proving an obsession for programmers at code-a-thons, as well as users who get hooked on tracking their workouts, calorie intake and weight loss.
Among users, a pinch of competition — a social network of friends who sign up to share fitness scores — is all you need to make this an activity as addictive as Twitter is for some and Facebook is for others.
The Pew Research Center, in a new report titled Mobile Health 2012, found smartphone owners in the vanguard, with 52 percent gathering health information on their palm-sized, micro-computers. That compares to 6 percent of owners of regular cellphones, the report said.
They are also proliferating. Click on Apple’s health and fitness apps page and you’ll find iRunner[7], Fitocracy[8], Fitter Fitness[9], Fitness Buddy[10], Fitbit[11], Fitness Pro[12], miCoach[13], Abs Workout[14], RunKeeper[15], Virtual Trainer[16] and about 250 more.
And it’s not just fitness. There’s a parallel world of apps geared to other aspects of health and wellness: iTriage[17], iFirstAidLite[18], InstantHeartRate[19], CuresA-Z[20], not to mention a host of downloadable apps such as OvulationCalendar[21] that help women track their menstrual and fertility cycles. And, yes, there are apps with tips for carrying on when that fertility cycle is spot on.
The medical community is embracing the trend, holding contests to encourage programmers to design disease-specific apps that doctors can “prescribe” to patients with heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions.
The American Medical Association has launched its own consumer weight app, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology held a contest in July for the best app to help consumers identify and reduce their risk of heart disease.
The next phase is already in the works: apps that will transform your smartphone into a regulated medical device. Think phones as electrocardiography, or ECG, machines that can detect abnormal heart rhythms and determine if a patient is having a heart attack.
Such clinical apps will not go forward without approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration. Already, U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, is working on a bill to establish a new FDA Office of Mobile Health designed to regulate health apps.
For now, most physicians are happy to see patients using simple apps to motivate them to exercise, eat well and lose weight.
MyFitnessPal[22] has emerged as one of the more popular apps in this category, allowing users to set weight loss goals then diligently chart calories consumed, calories burned and poundage.
[1][2]
References
- ^ Strava (www.strava.com)
- ^ MapmyRide (www.mapmyride.com)
- ^ MapmyRun (www.mapmyrun.com)
- ^ Livestrong (www.livestrong.com)
- ^ Saucony Run4Good (run4good.saucony.com)
- ^ MyFitnessPal (www.myfitnesspal.com)
- ^ iRunner (www.digifit.com)
- ^ Fitocracy (www.fitocracy.com)
- ^ Fitter Fitness (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Fitness Buddy (fitnessbuddyapp.com)
- ^ Fitbit (www.fitbit.com)
- ^ Fitness Pro (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ miCoach (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Abs Workout (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ RunKeeper (runkeeper.com)
- ^ Virtual Trainer (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ iTriage (www.itriagehealth.com)
- ^ iFirstAidLite (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ InstantHeartRate (www.azumio.com)
- ^ CuresA-Z (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ OvulationCalendar (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ MyFitnessPal (www.myfitnesspal.com)
Resources:
Post-Thanksgiving Workout Tips – WETM 18 Online
Elmira, N.Y. (WETM 18) – The holiday eating season is underway and many of us are concerned about packing on the pounds. http://www.wetmtv.com/news/local/story/Post-Thanksgiving-Workout-Tips/EnoH_Rx8ok-Y-SWx656RUQ.cspx
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Early morning workouts 5 reasons to set your alarm. An early morning workout will free up your day & allow you to focus… http://www.discovergoodnutrition.com/2012/11/early-morning-workout/
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5 Ways to Feel Good While Getting Fit
Setting intentions is a powerful thing. Then when you have that shiny new gym membership in hand, you feel like nothing stands between you and your goals to get in shape once and for all. Trouble is, lack of motivation, unpreparedness and busy schedules have a way of interfering with our plans. If you find […]
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Is There An Online Site That Gives Free Workout Tips? I’m looking for a site that gives free workout tips and tips on getting abs. I don’t need a so-called “quick trick” that will supposedly get me a six-pack in 2 days. I just want tips on how to work out and what to eat to get in shape.
If you want to stay in shape, you need to adopt healthy eating habits and make exercise a part of your daily life.
How to start?
Choose exercises you enjoy according to your fitness level. Aerobics exercises move the muscles fairly continuously and strengthen the heart and lungs. Examples of such activities are brisk walking, jogging, aerobic dancing, swimming, badminton, cycling and football.
If you have not exercised for a long time or just started, start slowly and increase gradually over a period of 3 to 6 weeks.
For those who are above 35 years old, overweight, or have medical problems, you need to check with a medical doctor before you embark on an exercise programme.
Frequency or How often?
Exercise for at least 20 minutes, 3 times a week or more
Intensity and duration?
Do exercise until you perspire and breathe deeply without getting breathless. You should be able to talk or whistle while exercising.
Do warm up and stretch for at least 5 minutes before exercise. Also not to forget to cool down and stretch after exercise.
Can I Have Some Good Workout Tips? Hey could I get some good workout tips. I’m medium built but i want to be lean and fit. I also want to tone and shape my legs a lot. Please tell me if you have any good tips!
Yes,visit the following sites for fitness.You may not need a full-fledged diet right now, but you can still incorporate some slim-down strategies into your daily life.
Eat breakfast. Studies show that eating breakfast is associated with keeping weight off once you’ve lost it.
Fill up on low-cal foods. Start every meal with the items on your plate that are lowest in calories. By the time you get to the other foods, you won’t be so hungry, possibly decreasing your total intake.
Begin with soup. Starting lunch or dinner with a broth-based, vegetable-filled soup will curb hunger so you’ll be less tempted to eat higher-calorie foods.
Arrive fashionably late. Without as much time near the buffet table at parties, you’ll eat less.
Divide your lunch. Afternoon snacker? Cut your lunch in half: have part at mealtime and the other half later in the afternoon.
Swap mustard for mayo. A tablespoon of mayonnaise has 100 calories, compared with 10 calories for a tablespoon of yellow mustard.
Duration of Exercise
You may not be exercising long enough. The rule of thumb is cardio for 30 minutes, three times per week. If you really want to reach your goal, try five 45-minute cardio workouts per week. That sounds like a lot of exercise, but remember this is in order to meet your goal, not necessarily maintain it.
Can You Give Me Some Workout Tips On Buns? I have a big butt and I don’t know how to lose the waight. Can someone help me out? Can you name some workout tips that might work for me?
I suggest you eat bread buns for lunch daily. the buns will give your butt a boost in self confidence. it will then want to sit more and you will make more biscuits. dogs love biscuits. and i love dogs. i dont understand how hard it is. by the way, dont use recycle bins..use regular bins to dispose your old buns. or take then to the local park to feed to the birds. its great to give back to nature!! give back! NOW!i demand you leave at once. you are breaking and entering!!
Any Good Workout Tips For Men? I need workout tips that I can use at home and that works.
Eat healthy. consume a little more protein (meat) than usual. Work out helps but working out is about your body fat percentage. Eating healthy is the main thing, then work out. Two strengths when combined, result in that figure your looking for. When you work out don’t do the same routine work out everyday. alternate between 3 days and do different things each of the three days. like Monday do crunches, Tuesday sit ups, Wednesday go for a run. then Thursday go back to crunches. You can do more than one thing a day certainly but don’t do the exact same workout everyday. Your body gets use to it. Mix things up. Eat a healthy breakfast. Eggs, bacon, milk, orange juice. that sort of thing. Just combine eating healthy with work out and you should see results in the first few days.
What Are Some Good Workout Tips That Will Help Me Get Into Shape Quick? Im 22 5’6″ and weigh 178lbs. im sick of being fat and repulsed when i look in the mirror at my body. i just would like to know some great workout tips to help me get fit and lose about 40 lbs in 2 months
Well the best way to lose weight is to run everyday morning and night or after for hour and of course you wont be able to run the whole 1 hour as your not in shape yet so try to run for 30 minutes or more if you can and then walk for like 10 minutes and then run until you get to an hour and if your finally able to run the whole 1 hour start running for 2 hours
also start weight lifting as well as muscle burns fat so just get normal 15 lb or lighter if its to heavy and do curls dumbbell presses etc and most important of all do free weights such as push ups and if your unable to do allot of push ups do like 10 rest 10 seconds 10 rest 10 rest until you get to 100 or 200 if you can also get a bar and try to do pull ups front wards and you probably wont be able to so try really hard and go to the top and go down slowly, and you will have to do ab workouts like crunches and raise your legs
and do a quick warm up and and stretch before you lift and also with running do a quick warm up run like 10 minutes then stretch and start your 1 hour run
the other most important key fact to weight loss is a big change in your diet which mean more calories out then in so no to any fast food for the rest of your life unless you want be fat the rest of your life, don’t eat any junk foods high in fat like donuts and stuff like that because if your going to be burning like 1000 calories and then eating 3000 calories you wont be losing fat but instead just gaining fat and the only difference will be you will be gaining 10 lbs everyday instead of 5 lbs
what you should eat is salad fruit vegetables yogurt eat meat but not one in a kfc bucket a kind that homemade eat eggs also good in protein
follow these steps and i guarantee you of you being fit
Does Anyone Have Any Good “at Home” Workout Tips To Tone Stomach, Thighs And Butt? I’m not overweight or anything, I would just like to have a body that is more toned and healthy looking. I just need some workout tips that i can do at home in order to get rid of the fat; and tone my belly, thighs and ass. I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH DIETING, JUST EXERCISE. Thank-you 🙂
I know this sounds vague, but just use youtube. it’s awesome because you don’t have to buy an expensive dvd or anything and because you can specify exactly what you want to tone. You can search like “inner thigh workout” then choose from a bunch. Same with butt and stomach. There are some great variations. But, don’t expect perfect results from just working out. How you look is mainly due to your diet. Exercise just aids in that and tones you.
Good luck
How Do I Get A Body Like This? Any Workout Tips? I wanna get a body like hayden panattieres from the kohls candies ad. Or a body like Miley Cyrus for that matter. I carry lotsa weight around my middle waist, upper arms, thighs and calves, back, and neck. pretty much everywhere! any workout tips for a teen who totally wants a flat stomach and cute body?
Try counting calories. 2400 is the maximum a person should usually intake per day (and I say usually because there are special occasions like birthdays and weddings where it’s kind of hard to stay under 2400 calories), and eventually (I say eventually because your diet probably gives you 4000-5000 calories right now, that’s what mine was) if you want to lose weight faster stay between 2000-2200 calories. Of course, if you’re diet includes fast food and Starbucks, 2400 is fine. Go to http://www.calorieking.com and look up calorie content of foods you eat, or you can buy their book, which might be handier. Combined with exercise, this is a great way to lose weight and isn’t risky like diet pills or miracle diets.