Do You Remember the Television Show, The Jetsons

Most of the episodes seemed so unbelievable, like flying cars, side-walks that moved (like we have now in airports), screens that dropped down so you could talk to your boss at work while you were working from home (like Facetime, Skype and webinars) and watches that did everything but tell the time. Sound familiar? Perhaps that show was not quite as far-fetched as I once had thought. Which brings me to my next point. What will the future of wellness look like over the next couple of years? Perhaps watches and wearable technology that can track our every move and then some.

Fitness technology is a huge addition to the fitness industry’s “new normal.” It is changing at a breakneck speed like some many other areas of technology. Many people are now wearing smart watches or fitness trackers that can tell you everything from how many steps you take, cal-ories burned, to how many times you woke up in the night. The future will bring more wearable technology such as sports bras, shoes, and shirts that will measure data and then that data can be downloaded into an app designed to take the individualized information and provide the appropriate workouts. Here is what you can expect to see in 2017 with fitness technology:

» More invisible activity trackers- Wrist activity trackers will re-main extremely popular especially more appealing fashionable styles, but with that will also come a surge of trackers with sensors discreetly placed in shoes, shirts, jewelry, sports bras, and on the skin. The need for tracking activity all day, not just about exercise, will be more ap-pealing, with the opportunity for all the sources begin integrated into one database.

» Actionable plan for all that data: So we have all the data, now what? Many active people are ready for the next step. You will see fit-ness apps available that coach the user through the workouts with the individualized information. The app interprets the data into personal-ized realtime feedback you can use to improve your health.

» Drilling deeper into medical information that can be collected from the wearable devices: Blood pressure, lactate levels, ventilatory meas-urements, (Refers to the intensity of exercise above which your breath-ing becomes labored and you feel you just can’t draw in as much air as your body wants), all valuable information that can be shared with your health care provider or personal health Coach. This information can be used to design a more individualized fitness program that is safe and effective. This can help achieve individualized goals with limitations set forth by certain health conditions. I can also be used to improve performance and prevent injury or over-training.

» Greater accuracy: Activity tracker manufacturers are continually im-proving the accuracy of their products.

Activity trackers are an excellent way to self-monitor your wellness. They are here to stay at whatever level you like to use them. From as simple as counting your steps to sending all your data to an app to lat-er be viewed perhaps by your physician or health coach.

See you in the gym!