Tracking Health, Fitness, and Training

Over the past few months I had been working out on my own in the house. Plus occasionally I had taken personal training lessons from an accomplished trainer in Chennai. Besides I had been tracking food intake and the like to stay healthy during this #COVID19 situation. A few takeaways from these experiences.

• There are lots of self-serve training videos on YouTube. Having access to worldwide collection means there are all types of varieties available including: yoga, strength training, kickboxing, pilates, aerobics, dancercize, etc.
• Great set of trainers offer video and podcast tutorials – several are free (perhaps ad supported) and paid for services.
• Sensor based tracking is harder; I used to use Xbox Fitness which is now discontinued. So there is no direct feedback.
• Apple Watch tracks personal statistics including heartbeat, steps, calories (using its own magic algorithm), etc.
• There are 1000s of personal training and fitness apps on the phone (I use iOS).
• There are a variety of online services with and without tracking, with community, etc.
• Of course there 1000s of books on personal training and fitness too.

Despite all these the most fundamental aspects required are: Discipline and Repeat Practice. Being part of a community helps too. If the community consists of members (like friends or family) we already know that is even better.

So here are some good practices that work for me:

• Discipline – workout at least 30-minutes every day if not 60-minutes
• Be part of a 2-3 personal fitness groups (1:1, group, etc). I have a weekly session with a personal trainer – Arun from Chennai, we connect over zoom sessions and do the training. Plus I just joined the group training on Adimurai run by Seattle Tamil Art of Rhythms Kazhaikulu.
• Monitor food intake – eat healthy food on a timely basis.
• Take at least 2+ liters of water per day.
• Support others who are trainnig.
• Get support; my wife is a great supporter and that helps.
• Repeat and repeat.

There is a wishlist I have for better training and tracking though. This includes easy way to monitor progress. Sedentary work styles do not help much. Years of sit-down-and-work on computers means, that muscles need more work to wake them up. There is an easy way to monitor heart rate – the apple watch does a quick measure and displays yet. (Perhaps it should urge me on a continuous basis.) There is no way to measure the oxygen level or sweat level, which is often an indication of I have a healthier workout. There are no easy ways to measure muscle strength.

Continuing to build the practice on a daily basis at a consistent time also means better food and sleep cycle. This means I can sleep well which rests the muscles and prepares them for another good day of practice and life.