MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, MapMyRun, Nike+ — health apps are redefining the way communities can maintain healthy lifestyles. Over the past few years, health app innovation has been on a steady increase, allowing health communities all over the nation to track their health with precision.
From sleep-cycle tracking to calorie counting, there’s a health app for practically everything you would want to log. The advent of health apps has essentially made achieving your health goals easier, as they organize your health gains in a convenient and accessible format.
Nowadays, almost everybody has a smart phone. Android and Apple products have interfaces that are compatible with almost every health app everywhere, making active and health-conscious lifestyles available on a platform that the majority of the population has access to.
Essentially, with the amount of health apps available to you, there’s no reason to not be taking advantage of these tools that can help you achieve your fitness goals, no matter where you stand on the fitness scale at the moment!
With health movements such as FitPHX, a movement aimed to increase activity in the daily lives of Phoenix residents, the Phoenix area is on fire right now when it comes to health drive.
In fact, Anastasia Reynolds of Cronkite News reports that children around the valley are engaging in increased fitness through the use of “geocaching” apps. These apps essentially make getting your daily exercise fun and interactive for kids.
Health apps are especially relevant to downtown Phoenix because of the fact that it’s an urban metropolis that has many fitness options available to residents and non-residents alike.
Shannon Mulhearn, an exercise science and health promotion lecturer at the College of Health Solutions at the ASU Downtown campus, is a strong supporter of health apps.
“Fitness apps are a neat way to integrate current technology and motivate people to be physically active,” Mulhearn said. “Some of the more popular apps are the MapMyRun and MyFitnessPal. There are also more creative ones that are trying to draw in social networking. Everyone has a phone on them, so why not use them to motivate people to exercise?”
Mulhearn went on to say that downtown Phoenix is an ideal place for the app called Charity Miles, which donates money to charity organizations based on how much you walk or cycle.
“When you’re walking downtown, between classes you can raise money for charitable organizations,” Mulhearn said. “You’re motivated to help people and be physically active.”
With bike lanes, multiple gyms and healthy restaurants, downtown Phoenix is the perfect place to track your fitness progress with an app.
Gold’s Gym at Cityscape is close to the downtown ASU campus and is an excellent place to quickly run to, work out at and track your fitness progress with a health app like MyFitnessPal or MapMyRun — or any other app that suits your fancy. Seriously, if you have a gap in between classes, now that it’s cooling down, warm up by jogging over there and working out. Prices are reasonable and the fitness payoff is priceless.
Green New American Vegetarian, which is at Seventh Street and Palm Lane, is an excellent healthy restaurant that offers a variety of foods that will make using calorie-counter apps such as Fooducate or GoMeals something that you actually want to take advantage of. Green offers vegan and vegetarian options that will help you get your daily veggies in. Log your food intake without guilt!
If you don’t feel like going to the food and fitness venues mentioned above, you can also use a creative/socially interactive app called “Zombies, Run!” as you trek across the downtown area.
Zombies, Run! is essentially an app that encourages you to run longer distances and at faster rates based on the virtual zombies that are chasing you. You, along with 800,000-plus users, can participate on more than 160 “missions” that involve competing with those around you on a run that’s quite possibly the closest you may get — or rather, want to get — to a zombie apocalypse.
No matter what your health and fitness goals are and no matter where you stand on the “fitness scale,” I can guarantee that there is a health app out there that is perfect for your individual needs. Personalize a fitness and diet plan that meets your needs. You’re just an app away from taking your health regimen to the next level!
Stay healthy, my friends!
Contact the columnist at wshahid@asu.edu
