I love fitness gadgets, but I hate the cost (doesn't everyone). My mom and sister have the Fitbit Flex and it really pushes my mom to walk 10,000 steps a day but I am more focused on heart rate, and the Fitbit Charge is over $100, not really in my budget at the moment :-(
But I have discovered a few Apps that are FREE and WORK (two words you rarely see together). They are for Apple and Android phones, so check them out before you spend a ton of money, maybe these will work for you!
Instant Heart Rate: First off I didn't even know that a phone was capable of calculating heart rate! What you do is open the app put your finger on your camera lens and hold it there with about medium pressure. It takes about 30 seconds, which is tough if you are trying to jog but it's no different than those heart rate watches, which you have to do basically the same thing unless it is connected to a chest strap.
Heart rate monitors with the chest strap are the only ones that show you a constant bpm, so I see no difference between testing on an app or on a watch
My Fitness Pal: I used to use this app a few years ago, and totally forgot I liked it until recently! You create a profile, and input your age, weight, how active you are, and how much weight you would like to lose. It then tells you how many calories you can have as well as other nutrition information like protein intake, vitamins etc. You can also add in exercises, either by manually adding them in, which is nice when you work on machines that tell you how many calories you burned, or you can search through their list of exercises. But my favorite part of this app is the fact that it can scan food barcodes and add in all the information! It also has a search engine for foods too, which major restaurants, and generic food. The only down fall is when searching for generic foods, like bananas, about 10 different ones pop up!
So far these 2 apps are the only ones I have had a strong interaction with. I am still searching for an exercise one because the app I want to use (bodyspace by bodybuilding.com) isn't compatible with my devices currently (I'm stuck with my old phone because my new one broke)
If you have a fitness/nutrition app that you love, share it here! I would love to hear about them!
So I've been trying to lose weight, and have been going to the gym since the beginning of January, at least three times a week, with my goal being 3 times a week. I don't need to lose much weight, my clothes are just painfully tight and buying new/bigger ones is just giving in. At the gym I have been doing Zumba and other Aerobic classes, thinking that would be enough. Well I was wrong, after 2 months my clothes didn't feel any better! So it was time for a new tactic, and off to Google I went!
Searching has brought new to my new favorite fitness site Body Building.com. Yes by the name and by most of the pictures on the site, it makes it look like this is made for people who really want to bulk up and yes they do tell you how to do that. But that is not the only part of the site, there are all sorts of fitness plans and articles and it really is just awesome! They suggested the best fat burning exercise is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) especially with cardio!
High Intensity Interval Training, HIIT for short, is doing a mix of intense cardio, about 80% of your max heart rate, then slowing it down to about 40% of your max heart rate. Now what is your max heart rate? Well there are several equations to figure this out. Brian Mac's website has a fair amount and explains the % of error that is found with each one, the error % is very small.
Once your know your max heart rate, you'll need a cardio machine with the heart rate monitors on them (this is mainly what I do), buy a heart rate monitor, or they also have apps for phones! I have tried the phone apps and they surprisingly work, I didn't know that was even a thing! Defiantly try it out! The one I use is Instant Heart Rate. Most of the cardio machines I have used have an interval button, which is what I normally do, but Built Lean also has a good beginner's guide if you want to do it outside.
Now between doing HIIT Cardio, I have also been pushing myself to go 4 times a week, and after the first week of making these changes I lost 2 lbs!!!!
So try it out and see if it helps you lose weight too!
