I have recently been thinking about the way in which we use sports apps, technology and social media to motivate us to get out the door, (or stay indoors) to do our training sessions. I’ve also been wondering how technology might influence others who are new to exercise.
Strava is certainly a good tool to create some healthy competition among friends and with people all over the world, but when does that friendly competition turn into more? How many people have just gone out to chase those Kings and Queens of the mountain? (QOM’s/ KOM’s – the fastest person over a ‘segment’ for example a street, a hill, or even a mountain) I’m not saying that’s a bad thing but I heard some people have even gone as far as doping to get those ‘Crowns’. To be honest, that sounds a little unnecessary to me, aren’t the QOM’s and KOM’s there for some virtual fun and motivation? However apps like Strava, Run Keeper, Track my Run, are very positive. Not only can people gather motivation from seeing their friends out exercising, they offer their own challenges, giving people some accountability for their exercise. They are also a great way of monitoring improvement and finding new routes. The best part is that it is so easy, most people have smart phones with easy access to these apps and most smart watches now link with our phones offering instant access to data and stats.
‘I forgot my watch, does today’s session even count’
It’s often the running joke throughout the sporting community (excuse the unintentional pun) ‘I forgot my watch, does today’s session even count’ or how many memes have I seen that depict a cyclist fallen from their bike with the title ‘Stop my Garmin’. Some of us are really addicted to the stats and data! When you are working towards a specific goal, forgetting your watch for a training session really can feel like the end of the world. However does it really matter? You still go out and get the job done. When training alone it’s not that easy if your watch or training device plays up, you could be losing precious time taken to train around child care or work breaks, which ultimately can be frustrating and annoying – the opposite of how doing exercise should make us feel. Don’t we do sport and exercise because we love it?
I knew I had to stop using a sports watch during racing when I was competing in triathlon. I found that if I was off the pace and wanted so badly to do well yet couldn’t keep up, I would work myself into a frenzy in my head that ultimately lead me to becoming tense, getting a stitch and performing badly. I then tried in future races to control and rationalise my thinking while I was racing. I raced without a watch and use a lot more ‘feel’. This worked much better for me. I had some great races using this method. I still trained using my watch but just removed it for racing. So that was my negative from wearing my smart watch, but I definitely still love to see my data on Strava. These days I’m also able to look at the numbers on my watch, run in a group, and even if I’m not performing at my best, I can keep myself relaxed and continue training. On the flip side to that I enjoy training with just a stop watch. I also like using this watch when I’m not particularly fit – no one can see on Strava how slow I’m going! Does anyone else do this? Perhaps this is another negative of the likes of Strava, we only want people to see when we are ‘smashing it’ rather than when we are getting back to fitness or we’re ‘off the pace’ because were doing some long slow distance training, or cake stop bike rides!
So how much influence does Instagram or Facebook have on our exercise? Perhaps the motivation to go for that run is to post a stunning photo or ‘story’ or upload a well edited video from that latest adventure sports trip? I’m certainly guilty of this, I love an Instagram story. Surely this could be a positive effect of social media, it’s giving people an excuse to do exercise, right? I believe anything that motivates people to do exercise is great, but how do we recognise the signs that we may just be posting on social media just for the ‘likes’. Someone once told me that we only post to receive ‘likes’ to feel good about ourselves, it’s called the social validation feedback loop. You post, people like, you therefore feel good, you post again, and the cycle continues. After much consideration I don’t actually see the problem with this from a sporting point of view, I think if people who are new to exercise share their new ventures and gain some confidence from posting about them, then that’s great. They have new accountability from people following their progress and they are gaining self-confidence. You also never know who you might inspire through your posts, especially if they are motivational rather that negative or ‘posey’ or over the top. I think the social media posts from professional athletes can do a lot to inspire people to be their very best athletic selves. They often offer training and nutritional advice too. Athletes at the top of their game are very admirable and of course they are also very knowledgeable. The negative effect of social media is the fairly constant stream of scantily clad ‘athletes’ ‘body builders’ in posed photos, who undoubtedly work hard for their figures, but such figures are often unmaintainable long term or they are the product of a great photo shoot rather than what they look like with relaxed muscle. We often see these as the norm on the likes of Instagram and we think that’s how we should look while exercising or in our sportswear. The reality is that we’re just sweaty, red faced, no makeup trying to get a quick work out in before cooking dinner, probably forgot to shave our legs again, but wearing shorts anyway – perhaps that just me, BUT, feeling good and positive from working towards our personal goals. Surely that’s what matters. I’m lucky to have a lot of sporty and outdoorsy friends. I personally love seeing what they are up to on social media and Strava, I’m inspired by their sporting adventures, they motivate me to continue my own training and adventures.
So that’s a couple of pros and cons in my experience and opinion about sports watches, devices apps and media. Overall I think what ever gets us out the door at the moment to do some sport and exercise is great, whether you track your work outs, do them alone, post photos or keep your secret work spots to yourself it’s all fantastic. I think whatever motivates people to get out the door is great, I am always in favour of people doing sport and exercise, so I encourage anything that helps!
Happy exercising everyone!
Live Life Adventuring 