Oct 27 (newsonjapan.com) - Today's speed of life leaves us with little time to look after our health.
On the one hand, it would be great to go to the gym, exercise and improve your physical condition. But what if you can't because you don't have the time, money, or various contraindications?
Besides, many of us have bought a gym membership at one time or another in our lives. But often something is missing for a visit.
Then there are hundreds of mobile apps to help you keep track of your exercises at home, choose your diet, and improve your general psychological well-being.
Sleep Cycle (Health)
Surprising as it may be, many people still don't realize the importance of sleep to overall health. Many athletes, including boxing legend Muhammad Ali, pro golfer Tiger Woods and Golden State Warriors pro-basketball player Stephen Curry allot necessary time to it in their schedules. And one of the world's best footballers, Cristiano Ronaldo, even works with a sleep coach to improve his overall performance stats. News and betting outlet bookmaker-ratings.com provide a wide range of info to the sports fans interested in the Man United forward achievements.
Of course, not everyone wants to work out at the gym as much as these athletes do, but it is worth improving your sleep quality for your general health. Sleep Cycle monitors your sleep phases and various abnormalities such as snoring. Also, one of the app's unique functions is to detect the lightest sleep phase: the phone will wake the user up at a time that allows them to feel alert and rested.
MyFitnessPal (Diet / Food)
One of the most important things you can do to lose weight and stay in shape is to eat a healthy diet. Old food control methods are now obsolete and have been replaced by electronic diaries. MyFitnessPal is an excellent example of this.
It has a massive database of foods and meals (approx. four mln), counts calories for them, and looks at the food's fat, protein, and carbs content. MyFitnessPal is suitable for athletes and non-professional users alike. The app helps with menu planning and the selection of healthy recipes from your favorite foods. It also has a great community that helps to motivate you to achieve your goals. The app makes it easy to set specific goals for a set period, and your phone will be your best bet for keeping track of how well you're progressing towards them.
In general, everything connected with food is no longer stored in paper diaries, recipe books, and googled separately but in a single app.
Fooducate (Diet / Food)
On the subject of healthy eating: how often have you questioned how harmful a particular product would be for you and your family at the shop? How full of GMOs, colorings, and flavorings are they when you look at the following label on a sausage or a pack of biscuits?
Here too, new technology can help: Fooducate was created to teach people that food isn't always filled with unhealthy products. The app has a self-explanatory interface and a unique "explanations" tab, which the user can use to understand if the product he chose is good for health. If not, Fooducate will tell you why and help you find a better meal for your body next time: what ingredients to look out for, what to combine it with, and so on.
Aaptiv (Sports / Fitness)
It's hard to find a top health app that doesn't mention Aaptiv, and deservedly so. For a limited amount of money, a user gets access to many benefits that they would get in a professional gym/fitness center in the comfort of their own home. As we've already said, some people don't have enough time to go there, and some are too shy to work out in the company of strangers.
Now it's possible to train in a relaxed, familiar environment, with the equipment you have access to. Whether running, yoga, stretching, or strength training, the app prepares workout plans that suit you personally and save your progress. Aaptiv also allows you to work out in groups with other users, because it's more fun and productive!
Headspace (Mental Health / Sports)
The other side of the fitness approach, as well as the psychological one, is meditation. For simplicity and convenience, you can use Headspace, which offers many different themed meditations for all occasions.
The great thing about them is that most sessions rarely last more than a few minutes, and you can de-stress before bedtime or going to work in just a few moments.
Charity Miles (Sports / Mental Health)
For inner comfort, a person often needs not only to look good but also to feel good. Why not combine both in the most beneficial way possible?
Charity Miles motivates the user to go for a run that helps them get their body in shape while at the same time giving them the chance to choose a donation of 10 cents from private funds for every mile that they run. The app is entirely free, the sponsors make all donations, and the only thing you need to do is an exercise: walk, bike, or run the distance. Charity Miles will record the distance traveled, and your contribution will be valued and transferred to the charity. Everybody wins!
The primary trend in mobile health apps: telemedicine
Today's young people were born with a mobile phone in their hands, which is not bad. Devices are opening up many unique possibilities within the scope of our article, and telemedicine is the main one worth mentioning. There has been a boom in this industry in the pandemic, and we will now look at why.
Think back to how often you've had a health problem so minor that it wasn't worth a trip to the doctor, but your temper pushed you to go and get it checked, 'just in case. Or it was an emergency, but your doctor was out of town. Or it was a very personal problem, and going to the clinic with such a question was embarrassing. For all these situations, telemedicine is excellent: a face-to-face video consultation with a specialist doctor.
What should you look for in a health app?
When choosing an app that's right for you, look for these things:
- Easy to use. The app should be moderately simple to understand and easy to use daily. It would be easy to determine: most paid apps have a free trial when you download them, so you can get used to it and see if it's right for you. Also, read the reviews in the shop.
- It's a good fit for your purposes. Perhaps the most crucial point. Before you start exercising, define your goals: getting fit, losing weight, getting fit. Based on those decisions, choose a set of apps that are best suited for you.
- Affordable to your budget. The prices of health apps vary greatly, from free with in-app purchases to costly ones. Determine for yourself whether you need features that you might have to pay for and whether you can afford them.
