There was a time when fitness technology was the exclusive preserve of elite athletes and the fabulously wealthy. But the past few years have seen an explosion in popularity of mass-market smartwear, allowing every athletically-inclined man or woman to track numerous aspects of their training, performance and general day-to-day life, obtaining valuable data to help them get in better shape and work towards achieving their fitness goals.
Leading the way are the SmartWatch 3 and Xperia™ Z3+ from Sony. The former is a SmartWatch packed with a host of useful, fitness-related tools, including a built-in accelerometer, a compass and a GPS sensor that allows you to accurately track your runs via the Lifelog app from Sony. You can even swim with it, thanks to its IP683 rating, which means it’s waterproof to a depth of 1.5m for 30 minutes.*
The Xperia™ Z3+ from Sony is a smartphone that’s similarly robust, sharing the same waterproof rating while also being dust-tight and offering an impressive battery life of up to two days.** Like the SmartWatch 3 from Sony, it helps you set and achieve training goals with Sony’s Lifelog app, while also being compatible with Android fitness apps such as the nutrition tracker iFit.
The future of fitness
According to research from YouGov, by September 2015, over six million British people will own some form of smartwear – a figure that means ownership will have more than doubled in less than a year. This supports a similar surge in popularity in America, where – according to a recent study – roughly 50% of consumers were aware of smartwear, with one in three of those either owning it already or considering buying it in some form in the near future.
With the capabilities of smartwear constantly evolving, over time you can expect fitness tech to be able to help you monitor and understand an abundance of additional metrics relating to your athletic output and daily health and wellbeing. From smartwatches that can measure the impact your fatigue levels are having on your performance to smartphones that can tell you when to work out based on your central nervous system and metabolic readiness, the next generation of smartwear won’t just provide you with data, it’ll actually help you make use of it by generating practical advise and feedback to help enhance your training and nutrition.
But you needn’t wait till then – the time to embrace smartwear and start reaping the fitness enhancing benefits is right now.
Tough at the top
Tough Mudder has established itself as the world’s premier obstacle course race
Since its inception back in 2010, Tough Mudder – the brainchild of British entrepreneurs Will Dean and Guy Livingstone – has turned into an obstacle course race phenomenon, with over 1.5 million participants competing in events around the world.
The combination of physically and mentally challenging obstacles – including the gruelling Mud Mile 2.0 and the hair-raising Electroshock Therapy – with a huge sense of fun and mud-splattered camaraderie has made Tough Mudder the foremost event of its kind, and one that provides the perfect opportunity to test and track your fitness, both in training and during the event itself.
That means having the right tech is crucial. Enter the robust SmartWatch 3 from Sony, which offers built-in GPS to chart your progress, and is even able to handle the murky depths of Sony’s Arctic Enema 2.0 – owned by Sony as the official smartphone and SmartWear sponsor. Documenting your day is equally straightforward with the Xperia™ Z3+ from Sony, a race-friendly smartphone that allows you to capture your heroic efforts on film. Bring on the mud.
You can pick up the new Xperia™ Z3+ at Carphone Warehouse now
*Usage conditions apply. More info
**Waterproof to a depth of 1.5m for 30 minutes. No sea water or salt-water pools. Abuse and improper use will invalidate warranty. More info
