Many studies prove that physical activity and nutrition are essentials to preventing and treating multiple chronic conditions and can prevent premature mortality. 

Nonetheless, more than a quarter of adults worldwide are insufficiently active and have poor eating habits. 

How do we fit physical activity into our lifestyle?

Sedentary lifestyles of modern days decrease healthspan and increase the rate of chronic diseases in our population, becoming the leading cause of morbidity and mortality and are considered at epidemic levels worldwide, making physical inactivity a leading indirect cause of death worldwide. 

When we ask people what their barriers are to working out, the most common excuses are “I don’t have the time,” ” I can’t fit it into my daily schedule.” 

 Nevertheless, fitness apps and tracking devices have been out there but were not as popular as now. People were not paying much attention to these because they did not feel accountable and engaged with these workouts. 

We were close-minded into the analogy that gym equals hard, accountable workouts. 

After all the recent events in the world, we had to change many of our paradigms and discover the convenience of having technology as our ally during isolation. Thanks to technology, some things are here to stay because they are convenient and adaptable to our new necessities and lifestyle. 

Nowadays, we are back out into “the real world.” We value our time more and realize how important physical activity is for our health and emotional management.

Nowadays, the market is full of fitness and tracking apps. Choosing the right one is a challenge, as they have inexpensive rates and there is no contract attached. People can try them and jump from one to another when they get bored of the same routines. Discovering what works best for their body movement.

The benefits of working out with these gadgets are: 

Your gym is the tip of your fingers; you can do it when you have the time, you can measure your progress and always feel comfortable and in a safe environment “free of judgment,” and you don’t need any equipment to start creating the habit.

Not only has fitness been impacted by technology, but Telemedicine also offers many advantages showing positive outcomes with in-home care. Technology keeps innovating to increase the patients’ experience for at-a-distance clinical care. Wearable biometrics and activity tracking devices help us be accountable for our health goals with continuous self-monitoring and feedback; it also connects us to a new community of people with similar interests or our health practitioners for guidance. 

Studies suggest that remote health monitoring helps patients self-manage their physical activity levels. Increase the effectiveness of chronic disease home care and may reduce acute hospital use for patients. Facilitates proactive disease management and reduces hospital admissions. 

Don’t be a spectator in your health

At our office, we offer the option of online rehabilitation sessions for our patients and provide the traditional live rehabilitation session, giving them the opportunity of their time management. We want our patients to know their biometrics; using our InBody 770 body composition and water analyzer, we give them a deeper look into what is happening in their insides. Our patients stop being spectators and become actors in their healing process through education and information. Our idea is to encourage and empower our patients to handle and be active participants in reducing their inflammations and pain by practicing good eating habits and physical activity.

Healthcare will keep evolving and, with the help of technology, will transform us into active participants in our health journey and become a decision-maker in our treatments as we are 100% engaged and accountable for our bodies inside and out. With the guidance of our health practitioners, we can alter the path we will take to recover our healthspan and extend our life as moving, functional and independent human beings. Functional Medicine gives us the tools to fix ourselves through exercising and nutrition. – Adriana Caceres, Health Coach

Bibliography

Bentley1, C. L., Powell2, L., Potter1, S., Parker3, J., Mountain1, G. A., Bartlett4, Y. K., Farwer5, J., O’Connor6, C., Burns1, J., Cresswell1, R. L., Dunn1, H. D., Hawley1, M. S., 1School of Health and Related Research, & Hawley, C. A. M. S. (n.d.). The use of a smartphone app and an activity tracker to promote physical activity in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from mhealth.jmir.org/2020/6/e16203.