10 Ways to Use Your Smartphone as a Fitness Tool

Your smart phone can be one of your greatest assets in accomplishing your fitness goals.  I learned that quite early as I began to make some serious changes to my diet and began to exercise.  Here are ten ways to get the most out of your smart phone:

1. As a music player.  Bring some lightweight headphones, wear an armband holder and voila you have your own personal jukebox.  I actually just keep it in my gym shorts pocket.  I use Spotify because for a monthly fee of $10 I can pretty much add any song that I hear to my playlist.  My wife can use the same account as well on her smart phone, as long as we're not using it at the same time.  There are even pre-programmed playlists you can tap into that have been put together for working out.  I use the one called "Running High Tempo > 140 BPM" when I jog. There's even a feature that monitors your running speed and finds music to match the beat. There are many other streaming music services, some free like Pandora or basic Spotify.  Or you can just download your personal music library to your phone to listen to. Regardless of which method you use, listening to music that inspires and motivates you can really add to your workout and make the time go by faster.
2. As a workout planner.  There are many, many workout planning apps.  For this, just search your phone's app library for "workout" and you'll see a large list.  Read the descriptions and reviews.  If there are free versions, try those out first to get a feel for the approach.  Some that I have tried and liked include Jefit, Fitness Buddy and 7 MWC.  For the past few months I have enjoyed using Fitocracy.  You can even plan your own workout in a Word or Excel document, save it as a PDF doc and open it for reference using iBooks.  Check out this list from Greatist.com and this list for healthy app ideas.
3. As an exercise reference.  If you use a workout routine that is prepared for you either by a personal trainer or one that you've found yourself, chances are that there will be exercises that you're unfamiliar with.  For example, my personal trainer had added an exercise called "Jacknife on the Ball" to my workout and hadn't had time to show me how to do it.  So I went to YouTube, typed in "Jacknife Ball" and up came several videos that showed how to do it.  And it was a killer.  Even if you're already familiar with an exercise, the videos can remind you of the proper form to use, which is really important. 
4. As a food tracking tool.  There are many different apps for this purpose, so again do a search and try some out.  But the basic idea is if you've made a plan for eating, you can use your smart phone to log the food you're eating throughout the day.  It will keep track of the calories and macronutrients in every food.  And they typically have huge databases of food already in them.  I use MyFitnessPal quite a bit, there is also FatSecret and many others.  Food journaling is an excellent way to ensure that you're keeping within the guidelines you've set for yourself.  Many of these also can track your exercise, your weight, measurements, etc.  
5. As a sleep monitor.  Your sleep quality has a huge impact on your overall health.  There are actual apps out there that, if you set your phone next close to you while you sleep, can report on how well you slept.  And they work pretty well!  One that I tried and liked is called Sleep Time.  Try it out, it's very interesting.
6. As a pedometer/activity tracker.  I have an app from Argus that monitors my daily steps taken, how many calories I've consumed, how many glasses of water I've drunk, a food log, a weight log and more.  Is it magic?  Well sometimes you need to help it, but it can use your phone's accelerometer to guess how many steps you've taken.  Some smart phones like the newer iPhones have a specific chip inside of them for even greater accuracy.  Using your phone for this purpose can be fun, but it can also drain your battery, so be careful.
7. As a heart rate monitor.  This one is somewhat magic.  On my iPhone 5 I have an app called Heart Rate that has you place your finger across the flashlight and the camera at once, and it can peer inside your skin and detect, very accurately, your heart rate.  Pretty amazing.
8. As a stop watch.  Many times I'll have an exercise in my workout routine that is to be done for a fixed amount of time, like 45 seconds.  Use a built-in stop watch app, or download one to perform this capability.  With the built-in iPhone timer, I can have it count down the seconds, and even if I'm not looking at it and am listening to music, I hear the end chime in my ears.  Pretty cool stuff.
9. As a book reader.  If you have a great book you can read while on the bicycle at the gym, or just books on health and fitness you have purchased, your smart phone is an easy and convenient way to access them.
10. As a shopping tool.  Your phone is a convenient way to order gym clothes, supplements and other health-related items.  Amazon, eBay and other shopping outlets have dedicated smartphone apps that make it easy.

There are even more ways to use your smart phone as a fitness tool.  Do some searching in your app library and on the web for further ideas.  I know that mine has become an indispensable part of my fitness routine.  How has a smart phone helped yours?

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