Exercise; we all love it, right? “No!” shouts my imaginary friend. (yes he is still hanging about like unwanted mould on cheese). “Well with the amount of gadgets, gym memberships, cycles bought and fitness APs being sold or used we should be,” I reply.

The answer is that many people do and many don’t and that hasn’t changed in millennia. What has changed is how technology is used and taken for granted.

When I was a young man the only bits of technology, or tech as the trendy say today, that I could use for running and cycling were a stopwatch, a mechanical odometer and a map. One measured distances roughly and then one had to work out approximately how long and at what speed was travelled. All pretty hit and miss and boring really. But is was simple and it worked. If one was good then these statistics were pencilled into a small note book.

Move  on 40-50 years and things have developed, and I mean developed, beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

There are step counters, heart-rate monitors, GPS and cycle computers, altitude readers and a plethora of other gadgets designed to improve fitness.

But do they work? Mmmm? Only if used correctly and if your interested in the data produced. Many rate them high up on their priority lists of needs and others just stick to the old fashioned ways or nothing at all. Oh, thats only the folk who train, exercise and try to keep a little fitter to hold back busting waist-lines and quadruple chins.

So what has changed exactly and what can one use? Loads is the simple  answer, loads.

However, its not as a confusing minefield as it appears and a few basic principles should guide you through so as not to get blown to pieces.

Question one; do you like having feedback from activities and would you want to spend money on a devise to gather that information? No? Then read no further and lead a tech free life. Yes? Please carry on.

Question two; take into account activity type, budget, desired information and where you are going to use this tech.

Question three; what to do with the data once its gathered and recorded.

So if you are just interested in basic exercise verses calorie burn the something like a Fitbit or an Up are brilliant. Wear them (normally these are bracelets but they do have broach styles), set up the Ap on a smartphone and off you go. They really can motivate one to move a bit more and it can be fun comparing and competing  with friends. They are relatively cheep at around £60-£100 and the information gathered is quite comprehensive. Its how I started.

I am a fan of cycling, jogging and walking (off games at present due to illness and injury but less of that negativity and me, me, me. Sorry) and there are Aps for them and pretty decent gadgets.

I use a Garmin cycle computer, “The Garmin 810”, ( there are a few different ones from cheepish to not cheepish £100 £400). ((Milo do a good one  too.) This measures distance speed, calories burned, heart rate, altitude temperature and direction and all this can be seen on the screen whilst cycling and it can even be used as a sat nav. All this data can be downloaded to the garmin web site and then one can see improvements. Its accurate and even has a virtual training partner so it can beast you on to bursting. (no Pain no Gain). I also use an Ap called STRAVA to download to and I use this simultaneously on my phone as  I find this  a better data source and its free and bloody good.

For jogging and walking I use the phone with strava. Its easy to use, accurate and you can see your route taken and many other stats. For a free Ap its fantastic. However, Garmin, Sunto and TomTom do some brilliant watches all with GPS and some can be used for triathlon and even golf. Again they range from around £75- £350 so find one to suit yourself.

Many of these watches and heart rate monitors will interact with machines in the gym so even there your data can be saved to relish at a later time.

“Yes , yes, yes, I will.”

Sorry imaginary friend told me not to forget to mention the Smart Watches.

The Smart Watch… These very much are subject to the type of phone one uses as most are tethered to the phone for a complete use of their functions but they are becoming more stand alone. They are very much  influenced by which camp the user falls into. Apple or Android? Your choice..I’m not getting involved in this argument as they are all competent contenders in my mind.

If you run an  Apple device then the only real option is the Apple Watch. Its brilliant and the Watch 2 will soon be with us and that is exciting for those who love it. It does a basic job of all the above with the added advantage of being a watch, receiving texts and emails and using Aps.

Android, however, have many other avenues of beauty and styles. Samsung have a quality watch as do motorola and Sony. They are a bit cheaper than Apple but fundamentally they do the same.

Pebble have served up a watch that works on both Apple and Android and it very looks cool.

For the serious trainer none of the smart watches are practical and I would suggest at present they are only good as a gimmick. Athletes should look at the Garmin, Sunto, TomTom and other dedicated sports equipment related to their game.

So what have I missed. There is a whole world I have not mentioned and the reason for that is that I haven’t used them or seen them in action but for the curious and more adventurous maybe take a look at Headphones that work as pedometers, glasses that can give one heads up information and record data, rings that can count steps and foot pods that can measure stride and force. There are golf buddies for swing and courses and tennis shot anylisers. Too much? You decide.

So from the humble stopwatch and pen and paper we have come a long way and its all thanks to acceleromters, algorithms, the lithium battery and some very, very clever geeks. Though Once again some will embrace this technology and some will run to the hills to try and avoid its pointlessness. One thing is for sure its here, it will grow and it will become part of our daily lives; if it hasn’t already.

I know I have missed out a tonne of gadgets and information but I only wanted to touch on the idea that technology can make life a bit more fun and informed and you can comment or ask me if you would like to discuss any points made or not made.

Thanks for reading and may your targets and stats be achieved. Froggy