Workout & Health Apps for Your Bod/Temple

I love how Elder Holland said, "We should all be as fit as we can be -- that's good Word of Wisdom doctrine. That means eating right and exercising and helping our bodies function at their optimum strength."

President David O. Mckay once said, "Every woman should be the queen of her own body." To me, that encourages a sense of responsibility, integrity and nobility.

Here are a some of the apps, tools and resources that I find the most helpful.

• #1 Bod Pod
  

• MEASURABLE DATA: Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love measurable progress. The bod pod is a machine that measures your body fat percentage pretty accurately - much more than the caliper-clamp thingys that some fitness trainers use. I want data that I can keep track of year to year to keep myself "in check" with where I'm at. Now I imagine most people use the scale for that but for me, it's probably not in my best interest. If I gain weight and it's good muscle then that's a good thing. (Long & lean is my goal not big and bulky, though my bro has that down to an art ;)) Better than just going to a weigh-scale then, the Bod Pod gave me a good way to gauge where I'm at and ensure that I'm keeping my body composition in a good and healthy range, not too high and not too low. 
• PERSONALLY TAILORED ADVICE: The results also generate a chart based on your personal body composition that let you know how many calories to intake on days when you're sedentary, semi-active or very active. 

 Here's are two of the info charts it generates.

• WARNING- If you don't keep two things in mind, a bunch of people might be super unhappy with their results. 1) Your body needs fat, especially women. Gals, even if you're body is 25% made of fat, you're alright. 2) It's not about where you're at, but what you're doing to improve or maintain where you're at that really matters. Be progression minded rather than present-place minded.
• To find a Bod Pod near you click here. 
• If this is too intense, consider purchasing one of these body fat percentage devices. They're not as accurate, espcially if you're dehydrated when you use it, but they could give you a good metric of progress over time. 

#2 Nike Training Club App

• Do you ever want a good workout on a specific area or for a specific goal but don't know what to do and you don't want to get a personal trainer? Well, this is my fav for that. Nike Training Club App is totally free and you can select the type of workout that you would like as well as how long you would like to workout for. After that you can select a music playlist from your phone and then tap on "Begin Workout." From there an automated "trainer" will guide you in your workout, tell you what you are about to do, time you and give you small pointers on form and technique as you go. After you've finished the workout, it will even keep a record of your workout and unlock rewards, like smoothie recipes, as you reach milestones of how many minutes you've worked out. Definitely worth giving it a whirl. 

• Here's Nike's link in case you'd like more info on it http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/womens-training/apps/nike-training-club

• #3 Gym App
• What's not to love about a great workout class? Fortunately the gym I'm at has an app that keeps me posted on when classes are held along with some other nifty tools. 

• #4 Sleep Cycle
• When I first heard of this app, I was a little leery, but after testing it out I became a big fan. Sleep Cycle measures the quality of your sleep at night and wakes you up to your morning alarm at a time when you are not in "deep sleep  and would wake up happier. Long story short- you lay the phone on your bed while you are sleeping and it senses any motion, which correlates with sleep cycles. The cost of the app, $1.99. The cost of a good night's sleep, priceless. 

As far as resources and apps that help with healthy eating... I'm still looking into that one. If there are any others that you're a big fan of or would recommend looking into, I'm all ears! Pass em on!

These are just a few of the apps that I love in regards to health. If you're looking for more apps, take a look at a great article by Greatist's called 64 best health apps. 

All in all, our real goal is the highest quality lives we can live and the greatest influence we can be - being Christlike. 

Here's to living it up,

Ali

From Elder Scott and For the Strength of Youth:

"Spiritual communication can be enhanced by good health practices. Exercise, reasonable amount of sleep and good eating habits increase our capacity to receive and undersand revelation."

"Your emotional health is also important and may affect your spiritual and physical well-being. Do all you can to safeguard your physical and emotional health so that you can fulfill your divine potential..." 

photo credit: taraburner.com