Emerging Technologies In Health & Fitness

Since technology has made life so convenient, the majority of today's youth is living a sedentary life. All of our tasks, big and small, are more or less completed by machines and devices that can be found in every room of our house. Physical activity has nearly disappeared as a result of this machine-driven lifestyle, resulting in a slew of health problems including cardiovascular diseases, strokes, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and chronic illnesses like cancer. However, it would be unjust if we didn't mention the positive contributions that technology has made to the health and fitness industry while discussing the detrimental consequences it has had on our lives.

Although many 'time-saving' gadgets remove physical exertion from daily duties, there are a plethora of new technologies that have been employed to promote physical activity in both adults and children. A wide range of newly emerging technologies, ranging from basic gadgets that aid our workout routines to smart wearables that make it easier to track our fitness level and health condition by measuring our heart rates, sleep quality, and so much more, that not only help adults but also active games that use VR and motion sensors to make the young ones move their bodies while they play. Let us take a closer look at a handful of these innovations and discuss their implications on our lives.

1.    Exergaming

The concept of 'Exergaming' involves games that use smart technology to make you exercise while you play virtual games. The new way of playing digital games sitting at one place, as opposed to the older outdoor pastimes, quickly became outmoded. As numerous studies demonstrated the detrimental impact of lack of activity on young bodies' fitness levels, soon after indoor gaming became popular, it became a huge necessity to reintroduce long-forgotten physical activity into their daily routines. This is how the concept of exergaming was born.

This concept incorporates a range of categories that are driven by cameras, sensors, rhythm, and sensors, among other things. Exergaming, which entails a variety of games, could be made available to both children and adults in various forms. Because these games exist in such a wide range of styles and difficulty levels, anyone of any age or fitness level may utilize them to maintain a healthy lifestyle while having fun playing their favorite game. When discussing how exergaming keeps the body active, we must not overlook how it also promotes hand-eye coordination, cognitive performance, stress alleviation, and much more. As there are so many alternatives to pick from and because these games can be played both online and offline, it is difficult to get bored with it, and this is how the concept of exergaming rapidly became a popular choice.

2.    Mobile Applications & Wearable Devices

It's difficult to quantify the number of fitness and workout-related apps available on the internet today. No blog could possibly cover everything since the variety is so broad and the categories are so diverse. These applications can go from calculating your calorie intake at every meal to predicting your menstrual cycle; from setting workout objectives to encouraging you to reach them; from teaching you proper yoga forms to helping you understand the intricate facts about your physique. Taking things, a step further, wearable technologies such as fitness bands, activity monitors, and the like have become essential in the lives of modern individuals. These portable, hands-free wearables are useful not only to the general public, but also to athletes and fitness professionals since they allow them to measure their physical activity and nutrition habits when they are not in the gym. As time goes on, more advanced versions of these applications and devices are observed being offered in the market, which will ideally make our living more convenient without sacrificing our health.

3.    Online Coaching

In today's world, online coaching has gotten so popular that there isn't a single place on the internet where some form of coaching isn't offered. Teaching people how to make the healthiest dishes, educating them about the unknown uses of common household items, raising awareness of different dance forms around the world, conducting online Zumba, Pilates, and Circuit training classes; step-by-step procedures for getting rid of pimples or dark spots on your face, educating people about the rarely known ayurvedic remedies to common health problems; there isn't anything that can't be explained or taught online.

Even accredited institutions and universities have made the 'online-learning' option available to the majority of their students for a variety of courses and modules since it is so convenient and efficient. As previously said, today there is no platform where coaching is not practiced. Teaching takes place through mobile applications, commercial websites, professional learning platforms, and even school and college websites. This has surely been of such great use to society that, thanks to the internet, even a 10-year-old can now read the nutrition label on a jar of chocolate spread.

4.    Emerging technologies in healthcare

The healthcare sector is getting more and more efficient as medical schools, institutions, and even hospitals adopt the usage of mobile phone and computer applications to store and access data such as hospital records and medical histories. The reliability of the information has increased because every piece of material available on the internet today can be cross-verified with a number of sites and pages that provide explanation and differing perspectives on the same idea. Understanding concepts has become easier, leading in improved solutions for complicated challenges that were previously difficult to solve because knowledge was not readily available at your fingertips.

When there are so many research articles, experimental findings, and personal experiences shared on a regular basis, it becomes easier to discover new therapy techniques for the same disorders.

Further, the importance of innovation and creativity in healthcare equipment and gadgets should not be overlooked. Emerging healthcare technology ranges from ankle braces and adhesive bandages to advanced systems like robotic prosthetic limbs and remote heart failure monitoring and diagnostic equipment, all of which contribute to improving patient outcomes and public health.

Writer: Sanjana Mahadik

Keywords:

#healthandfitness #wearables #exergaming #onlinecoaching #onlinefitnesscoaching #yogaclassonline #emergingtechnologies #gadgetsforfitness #technologyinhealthcare #appsforfiyness #gamingforfitness

References:

1.   Gao, Z. and Lee, J., 2019. Emerging Technology in Promoting Physical Activity and Health: Challenges and Opportunities. [online] www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6912378/> [Accessed 1 March 2022].

2. Green, D., 2015. How will wearable activity devices impact the fitness industry. [online] acewebcontent.azureedge.net. Available at: <https://acewebcontent.azureedge.net/certifiednews/images/article/pdfs/ACE_WearableStudy.pdf> [Accessed 1 March 2022].

3.    O’Rourke, B., 2020. Fitness Technology Is Transforming the Industry in 2021 and Beyond. [online] glofox.com. Available at: <https://www.glofox.com/blog/fitness-technology-is-transforming-the-industry/#> [Accessed 2 March 2022].