Get fit and healthy in 2024
Make the most of your outdoor activities or get fit without leaving the house with Apple’s range of apps and devices aimed at keeping you in tip-top shape
Written by David Crookes
Apple makes it easy to monitor your health and fitness. The latest operating systems – watchOS 10, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 – focus on 18 different areas relating to your wellbeing, while the Health app can store more than 150 types of data. The aim is to allow everyone regardless of age, size or fitness level to work towards a healthier lifestyle. As such, there’s a strong emphasis on exercise along with motivational tools to help you achieve your goals.
Exercise of any kind is important. It aids weight management, strengthens muscles and bones and reduces the risk of major illnesses. Experts agree it gives you more energy, reduces stress and improves mood, with the UK’s Alzheimer’s Society pointing to a 28% reduction in dementia development if you regularly keep fit. By monitoring your progress and being aware of the metrics involved in leading a healthy lifestyle, you can take more control – and amass data that could prove useful to a medic.
The technology is certainly there, built into Apple gear such as the iPhone and Apple Watch, making them useful whether you’re at peak fitness, have a disability, a health condition or are recovering from illness. So let’s take an in-depth look at how the tech in Apple devices, and various apps, can make a real difference to your physical and mental health.
Ask the expert
Do you really need technology to help keep you fit and well? According to Peter Cobby, a fitness coach for London’s fashion industry and founder of Project LALA, it can be helpful. “Tech has taken the boredom out of simply looking at numbers and it’s created a more user-friendly experience,” he says.
“Positive feedback such as awards for goals attained keep users engaged and wanting to achieve more. And with motivation to exercise being one of the major challenges of any extended fitness routine, these awards make it much more likely the work will be done, and the goals reached.”
Boost health and fitness with iPhone
Find the inspiration and motivation you need
Apple’s iPhone combined with first- and third-party apps can help lead you down a path to optimal health and fitness. They can provide the necessary spur to get started and the motivation to keep going while monitoring your progress along the way.
Thanks to its built-in pedometer, your iPhone tracks your steps and distance. It can also calculate the number of flights climbed. As more data is gathered, you’ll gain a rounded view of your fitness levels. Open the Health app, tap Browse and select Mobility, for instance, and you can even check your walking speed, step length, steadiness and asymmetry.