MY COMPUTER IS TOO COLD TO TYPE ABOUT FITNESS ON... (extra post, show and tell)

AGGHHH, like a bad keyboarding student, I have a habit of setting my wrists down on my keyboard (I'm sorry, Mrs. White), and right now my keyboard is INCREDIBLY COLD. -19 degrees, to be exact. And metal is QUITE a good conductor of heat. But I am a trooper, so troop I will.

Hmmm what to blog about today? I think I will blog about fitness. And try to make it relevant to this blog, which is supposed to be about technology.

On the docket for today:

1. My Insanity insanity
2. Exercise videos and at-home fitness
3. Neat fitness & healthy eating apps

1. MY INSANITY INSANITY

So, my best friend (Alanna) is getting married in June, aaaaand she chose me as her maid of honour. When one is in a wedding party, one often gets one's photo taken... numerous times. And these aren't just your run-of-the-mill-party-hardy-Facebook-photos that pop up on the newsfeed, get liked a couple times, maybe commented on (if you have ambitious friends who are up for more than just a lazy lurk and actually want to take advantage of Facebook's interactive features), then sink back into their photo album, never to be viewed again. These are pictures that will be cherished, and thus, on display, forever (dunh dunh dunh dunnnhhhh). 

And so I thought that maybe I should try to get in shape for said pictures. And so I started running at the BU gym, and bring veggies (gasp) to school to snack on. And then a friend of mine said that if I really want to get results, I had to do the Insanity workout with Shaun T. The program starts you off with a fitness test, wherein you are required to exert yourself by doing MAXIMUM INTERVAL TRAINING for 30 minutes, wherein you must do as many of each exercise presented by the tall, dark, and handsome (and ripped) Shaun T. If this was a pass/fail kind of test, I failed. No doubt. BUT I am not one to give up during a fight, so fight I shall. I will keep you posted, likely with funeral arrangements and a will that will divvy up custody of my cats, since I will mostly likely be on the verge of death by the end of the week. 

2. EXERCISE VIDEOS AND AT-HOME FITNESS

But, getting to the point, Insanity is an at-home workout in the format of a series of DVDs. And, it is not the first at-home workout program I have tried. I have got my ass kicked by Jillian Michaels, and I've partied (Turbo style) with Chalene Johnson. AND I have really liked it, in comparison with going to a gym (especially BUs - yep, I said it). I like it because it's private, because I don't have to leave my house in the freezing cold, and because I can pause, fast-forward, rewind, adjust the volume, and count down the minutes before my workout is done. Workout videos are both accessible, and engaging - and you don't have to wait for the guy across the gym to get the hell off the elliptical (he's not even using it right, anyways). I get to keep fit and have fun (a little Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod for you) all because of technology. And not only are fitness apps great for personal use, but I think they would be great for school use as well. I remember doing Turbo Jam until I wanted to drop during gym class in Boissevain, and actually liking it, because it was choreographed right in front of us! Fitness videos would be especially great to have on hand as a high school gym teacher in today's day and age, since much of Phys-Ed has become about getting fit on your own time, at your own rate, doing your own activity. The vids could be loaned out to students who aren't sporty, and are unsure of where to start fitness-wise. Workout videos could also be used in the conventional classroom as well! Students could take small fitness breaks between work periods, wherein they follow a brief routine (1-5 minutes long) to knock the bored out of them. Just a thought.

Now, I am picturing you as you read this, shaking your head and scoffing (or, saying, depending whether or not you are like me, and frequently talk to yourself - out loud): "Psssht Brittani. Are you really going to blog about DVDs as a revolutionary form of technology in 2014?" To that I say... kind of? It gives me a springboard from which to take a running dive (this blog entry is about athleticism, you know) off of into an exploration of some more modern technology surrounding healthy living. I have done some research on apps (since I now own both an iPhone and an iPad) , and here is what I have come up with:

3. FIVE NEAT FITNESS & HEALTHY EATING APPS

• Endomondo Sports Tracker
• This relatively cheap app for smartphones has a built-in GPS tracker that will track the duration, distance, and speed at which you perform your desired athletic endeavour (from ballet to boxing) and the enable you to share this information (though, God knows why anyone would want to) with your social network.
• FitBit :)
• This app does basically the same thing as Endomondo, but it also allows you to log the foods you eat so that you are able to count calories. Fun.
• Sworkit pro
• This is basically an inventory of popular, yet effective exercises that can be pieced together (like a fitness playlist) according to target outcomes of an individual's workout. The app visually shows the exercise, counts down the time you should be doing it for, then moves on to the next exercise. Comprehensive and simple.
• My Fitness Pal
• Out of all the fitness apps I have tried thus far, this is my personal favourite. It allows you to create a very holistic fitness profile for yourself, logging information about your age, height, weight, activity level of your job, average weekly workouts, and fitness goals. Using this data, the app calculates the average amount of calories you burn in a day, and the average amount of calories you should be consuming. From there, you are able to log everything you eat (it contains over 3 million foods - including brand names - and their calorie counts; in fact, you can even scan the barcodes of foods right into the app) and every exercise you do (it contains over 350 exercises to choose from). The app keeps a running total of your actions against your fitness goals in the form of a graph, so it is easy to track your progress. Best of all, it's free.
• Zombies, Run!
• I haven't actually tried this app yet, since it costs money, and I am cheap. But in addition to sounding undead, it also sounds unreal. Zombies, Run! is a fitness game (a concept that sounds contradictorily awesome) written by an award-winning novelist, in which you, as the runner, become the main character in the game. It is your job to escape, and then eventually defeat, the zombies and complete missions that are outlined to you by some sweet British guys via your ear buds. It seems highly engaging, entertaining, and motivating. Once I am done Insanity, I will be sure to give this a try!




Well, that's all (for now) folks! If you're looking for a way to warm up in this wretched weather, give one of these apps a bit of a go. Then feel free to comment about your findings on this bloggety blog!

         Bye byeeeeeee :)