We live slap bang in the middle of the digital era, and as a result, more and more of the different elements of our lives are being outsourced to the digital realm.
Whereas we once would have needed visit shops and insurance companies in person in order to make a purchase — we can today visit the right websites and buy a motor trade insurance policy in minutes, or arrange for our groceries to be dropped off at our front door.
But the effects of the digital revolution don’t just relate to the services and goods we buy, however. The abundance of apps and web-based services of all sorts means we can now address more personal issues in our everyday lives, in a more streamlined manner than ever before.
Here is a look at some apps that can help you to improve your physical and emotional fitness.
CogniFit
CogniFit is a real “brain training” app and web service, which uses various games and puzzles to train different areas of cognitive performance, measures your score at these tests, and then adjusts your training program accordingly.
While some other brain training services such as Luminosity have caught flack in the past for apparently not being very effective, CogniFit is one of a number of such services that have been experimentally demonstrated to have some benefit.
The principle behind how such a service as CogniFit might work is pretty straightforward. Recent findings in neuroscience have shown that the brain can adapt, grow, and change it’s neuronal connections throughout life, in response to various stimuli.
In his book, “The Brain That Changes Itself”, Norman Doidge points out a number of remarkable anecdotes connected to this phenomenon; from people apparently curing themselves of serious neurological disorders using the right forms of “training”, to people enhancing their performance in one or another area of their lives by doing the same.
Fitbit Coach
Fitbit is one of the premium purveyors of “smart, wearable” fitness trackers in the world, with one of the best overall reputations for performance, reliability, customer support, and so on.
Fitbit Coach is an app which works with, or without the basic Fitbit wearable devices, in order to create customisable bodyweight workout plans for you, with a variety of different areas of focus and intensity levels.
Fitbit Coach allows you to identify workouts as too easy, just right, or too hard, which will affect the scaling process going forward. The results of your workouts will also be recorded on the app, and can be synced with the basic Fitbit app if you have a Fitbit device. You never know, using this app may even persuade you to take up a career in fitness, where these gym instructor courses would come in handy.
Strides
Strides is a simple and intuitive app designed to help you to track your habits and maintain the right daily rituals that correspond with success and fulfilment in life.
To use Strides, you first create an account, and then setup habits or activities that you want to track. You then identify whether these things are positive or negative, and finally begin logging how successful you’ve been in performing (or avoiding) the tasks.
Habit is destiny, so tools like Strides can have a disproportionate impact on your quality of life.