Technological Age of Health and Fitness

It’s that time of the year again where we start cosying up to warm and comforting food under the blankets, in front of the television – a great defense mechanism against the cold.

But come summer, as we peel away the various layers of clothes, we discover the hidden terrors caused by our unhealthy winter lifestyles. Well, some may argue that during this economic crisis and with medical aid schemes withdrawing from funding gyms, that there might not be enough money to go to one.

Having said that, it’s 2018, and even exercise is updated to suit this technological era we live in, and just like there’s one for everything else, apps are also designed nowadays to encourage fitness and a healthy lifestyle.

As the ads bombard my Instagram timeline, I decided to try out one such app, Freeletics. As the name has fooled me, I downloaded the app – for free – just to discover that costs do come in if you actually want to receive a workout plan. While my first attempt at finding a suitable app to fit my lifestyle was a failure, I have continued the search and these are some of the apps that have caught my attention:

This app I saw on a friend’s phone who thoroughly enjoyed it due to the ease and non-stressful methods of exercising.

Home Workouts is a free app with daily workout routines for all your muscle groups. With just less than 15 minutes a day, you can build body shape and keep fit at home without having to go to the gym. No equipment or coach required, all exercises can be performed with just your body weight at home.

The app targets bodybuilding, strength training, home workouts for both men and women with more than 100 exercises and has features such as detailed video and animation guides, records daily training progress automatically, a weight chart to control your weight and a much needed reminder to workout every day.

This one is for the runners. If you gaze out of your window, longing to run free but not knowing how to start, this app is for you.

The free eight-week programme gives users three workouts per week that get you ready to take on any marathon you wish to defeat.

The app has different training plans which include running for beginners, the C25K programme at cool running, C25K treadmill version and pooch to 5k for the company of your dog. This app is available for Android and iOS.

This might not be full throttle fitness, but sleep is essential to a healthy body and mind, if it is done right. This app will help you get your patterns down.

This app combines the natural gifts of cat naps, complete with a timer that only goes up to 30 minutes, soothing sounds to help you sleep, and an alarm that gently wakes you up. This app is free on iOS.

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