In this, the age of the smartphone, whereby the average man-on-the-street walks around with a supercomputer in his pocket, it becomes all too easy to overestimate how much we can really rely on technology to help us in achieving our goals. One area where this is abundantly clear is in the health and fitness world.
Here are some of the gizmos and gadgets cynically designed to fleece the health-conscious of their hard-earned money:
1. Smart shoes
Yeah, your shoes are smart, but what are you? As if to finally prove to the world the mindless consumerist mindset that is the curse of the 21st century, they’ve gone and developed Bluetooth-ready shoes that connect with Google maps and vibrate every time you reach a turn in your pre-programmed walking/jogging route! What’s next? Leashes that tighten around your neck when they think you’ve had enough to eat?
2. Fit Bands
It always bothers me for some reason when I see one of these things straining at the wrist of some overweight ‘power-walker’, huffing their way down the street, stopping every fifteen steps to check their ‘progress’ on it. A false sense of accomplishment obtained from your own portable cheerleader will never substitute the appreciation a healthy physique will draw, and fit bands seem to doom their masters to that sad fate.
3. Video feedback
Since it’s apparently so important that you look good while exercising, Smart TVs have been brought into existence, equipped with digital cameras so that you can see if you’re doing those jumping jacks right. Laying aside the transparent vanity that inspires the use of such a product and focusing the mind’s eye on your future, fit, self would be a whole lot more motivating in our opinion.
4. Activity and Sleep trackers
Sleep trackers, designed to count your Z’s as you’re counting sheep, purport to help their users get an ‘optimum amount of sleep’, whatever that means. The way I see it, it makes more sense simply to go with the age-old wisdom and catch a healthy six to eight hours each night and you’ll be golden.
5. Virtual Coaches
Simply put, if you need to have a 2-D meathead screaming at you from your i-phone screen to do those push-ups, you’re probably not gonna make it.
