From the Pebble to the Apple Watch to Samsung Galaxy Gear, smartwatches are the talk of the town. Are you ready to jump on the bandwagon?
Wearables are great for keeping track of your health and keeping you safe as you age. These are some of my favorite wearables for seniors.
Track your steps
It is important to keep active, especially as you age. Fitness trackers like the Fitbit make exercising fun and you will love watching your step count increase.
You can set activity goals and compete with your friends to see who moves the most. The companion app helps you record what you eat and track how much you move each day. You can even wear it to bed and learn how well you sleep.
Exercise doesn’t have to be a bore. Make it fun with a fitness tracker.
Improve your posture
Remember when Mom used to remind you to sit up straight? It’s easy to slouch, but your back will hate you for it later. Posture monitors like Lumo Back will help you train to have good posture.
These devices vibrate when you slouch for too long. You can wear it around your abdomen or on your neck. That little reminder will help you take notice of how you hold yourself.
Sitting up straight will increase your core and back strength, which is key to long-term health. You will feel better and look more confident with your back straight and your head held high.
Stay safe
Medical alerts are an important part of a successful aging in place plan. You can connect to personalized help at the push of a button. Seek the newest models with fall detection technology like those from Alert1. These pendants sense if you fall and call for help.
Get moving
It’s easy to plop down in front of the computer or TV and sit there for hours. When you emerge, you feel stiff and realize you haven’t stood up in hours. And that’s dangerous. Sitting all day can increase your risk of diabetes, heart attacks, and obesity.
Activity reminders, like those in the Apple Watch, help you avoid the trap of sitting all day. Every couple of hours, you will feel a buzz from your wrist as a reminder to get up and move. Even a small bit of walking around can improve your health.
See your improvement
Want to know how effective your workouts are? Heartbeat sensors like those in the Samsung Galaxy Gear help you get a more accurate picture of your fitness. Working out makes your heart stronger. With a heartbeat sensor you can see your improvement. As you get more fit, your heart won’t have to work as hard.
Recover faster
Physical therapy is challenging. Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen has created a sweater that makes it a bit easier.
This sweater acts like a wearable physical therapist. It is woven with sensors and conductive fibers that record motion data. It tracks your progress as you go through the rehabilitation process. When you do physical therapy exercises, it makes sounds to help you do the exercises the right way.
While not yet available to consumers, the wearable physical therapy sweater is coming soon. Rehabilitation is difficult, but this new technology makes it easier. You will get better faster. And you will do it by wearing a comfortable sweater.
Wearables Are Here To Stay
With the rise of wearables we can know more about our health than even before. These gadgets will help you keep track of your progress and encourage you to stay active and healthy.
And this is only the beginning. The future is here, and it is making aging easier than ever.