13 gadgets & bits of technology that improve your health & fitness
Nov 23, 2022
Living a healthy, fit, AWESOME life is helped by useful gadgets, and its good to know of companies that are making awesome products, apps and technology that can help us get data to use to determine the changes we should make to get better results.
This blog is a list of everything I personally use, like, or just recommend given the scenario it should be used in. All links I give you will be directly to the website so if you choose to purchase it, awesome, crack on. I’ll also tell you if I personally use it currently, have done in the past, or have experimented with it and recommend it.
I’ve been at this health & fitness game for 18 years now, so hopefully being a lifelong guinea pig for all this stuff I can pass on the useful bits I like and endorse.
Here we go, let’s start with some basics that help you live a healthy life…
Tupperware
Sounds basic and straight forward, but an awesome range of Tupperware helps no end to store healthy food and keep you right. Most buy 99p tubs from budget stores, and while that is great, I don’t recommend it, the seals don’t last all that long, they warp out of shape in a dishwasher, and are often harder to clean as they are poorly designed. I also find they scratch easier which then overtime is easily stained and harbours food smells. Plus glass is better for food storage, and evidence is building for plastic leeching into our food, so choose glass. I use and rate these: Tupperware set
Water bottle / shaker
It’s essential, carrying about the fluids you need to stay at your best. I’d personally recommend a metal bottle that you can store both hot and cold fluids in, that is also insulated. That way whatever you put in it will stay at the temperature you want it to, and will always taste good cause its metal and no fluids ever stain metal as a material. Depending on how you organise yourself and how much you drink, and if you travel about a fair bit, I would get 2 as a minimum, if I’m out for the day I’ll often take Awesome Power mixed in one and filtered water in the other. Plus metal also keeps your fluids fresh, and is the most durable water bottle you can get. And when it is dead, it can be recycled. Winning. I love these so much we made them over at Awesome Supplements, check them out on the product page here: Awesome Shaker
Also consider a protein shaker and tubs that you might want to carry supplements in.
Water Filter System
There are LOTS on the market, but this is the one that I use. It’s not that pretty but it sits quietly doing its job out in my utility room which is away from any directly sunlight (Important to minimise bacterial growth in water that sits) and close to a tap for refilling. For me it produces the best water and is very cheap over time. Yes there is an expense up front, but it’s totally worth it, you only have to replace the filter once per year and the rocks every 2 years, so works out around £80-120 every 2 years, which is really good (unless you feel the water quality change over time, which means you might be drinking more than the average and need to replace it sooner). It’s not a plumed in system (not many have good remineralisation if plumed in, this system sits in the mineral tray getting the minerals from the rocks), so that makes it cheaper in comparison to some. But importantly it filters the water through different volcanic rocks then it remineralises it in a mineral rock tray. Honestly, such good water, love it.
Training shoes
Both of my training shoes are from Inov8. I have their FastLift Olympic lifting shoes which I wear for squatting, Olympic lifting and similar leg training: Mens lifting shoes
And for general gym work, lifting, moving, running, whatever, I use their F-lite - General training shoes
Have a look and see what suits you, big fan of the fit and lightweight nature of their shoes.
Everyday (barefoot) shoes
I LOVE vivobarefoot shoes because I want to move and be as natural as possible, there are cheaper brands which i haven’t tried, so feel free to shop around for barefoot shoes, but I have 5 pairs of their shoes and love them. Vivabarefoot shoes
Supplements
There’s only one place for supplements: Awesome supplements
This is the brand of supplements that I passionately created back in 2016 because I was fed up of all the bold claims, over hyped products and under-dosing that was rife in the fitness industry. Awesome Supplements prides itself on the highest quality products that I’m personally happy to consume and thus sell to others, being honest with you on what you might need and why, all products are plant based, all packaging is recyclable or compostable, and we plant a tree for every product you buy. Oh, and everything we do tastes awesome, and we’ve now won 8 awards.
Audio learning
I like 3 mediums, the obvious which is podcasts, and I would like to think you’re already tuned into mine (which has now ended, but there are 685 shows you can listen back to): Ben Coomber Radio
I like Audible for audio learning, simple and if you buy the 3 book bundles it's nice and cost effective:
Sign up to Audible: Sign up here
I’m also listening to a lot of Blinks, from a company called Blinkist. They take a book and distil the key learnings down into 7-10 two minute blinks, I like it and enables me to power learn in small chunks, which suits me for where I’m at currently and my learning aims:
Sign up to Blinkist: https://blinkist.o6eiov.net/gB0eg
MyFitnessPal
Probably the most well-known calorie tracking app, I also like Chronometer for better micronutrient data. I don’t use either personally as I like things to keep things simpler for myself, and I have a lot of knowledge on the calories of foods, so I can have an accurate more freestyled approach. I explain more in my blog HERE on how I track my food.
And
Oura ring / sleep tracking
I have an Oura ring and do rate it, I know a lot of people like their Whoop band and these two products go head to head. I got an Oura ring so i could be more in tune with how well I recover with my sleep as my hormones (I’m on TRT) can throw things off with how I feel, kids can wake me in the night, and I can wake myself with a busy mind, so the Oura ring helps me regulate my training frequency. I also like it to anticipate when i’m getting ill so I don’t train hard when I’m about to get ill and reduce the chance of getting iller for longer. Here’s a link for £50 off: Oura ring
Earphones
I personally use Apple Earbuds, they stay in, have good sound, and are perfect for me as a business owner with travel, talking on the phone, learning on audio etc. They’ve also got great battery life and all round I’m a big fan. I’ve had two pairs now, first pair lasted 2-3 years before I got another pair, and that wasn’t because they broke, the sound quality and punch just started to drop off around the 2-3 year mark. Worth the investment for me.
Sleep and your bed
I think your sleep environment is and should be a key focal point for optimisation. One of my big purchases when I bought my house was an amazing bed. We went around all the bedding shops, gave them a full test run and ultimately decided on what we liked, and put down the cash. I think it was about a £1000 mattress, but I feel it was a very worthy investment as I spend a 1/3 of my life in it. Ours is a pocket sprung mattress with a thin topper, about 1 inch. Find what you like, invest, and get some super comfy sheets and pillows to accompany it as well as black out blinds – especially if you live in the city.
Travel cup
I hate getting coffee in a cup that I know might go into landfill, it haunts me. I’m a big recycler and just don’t get not putting stuff in the recycling when it can be recycled, the thought of how much waste we put in landfill is mind boggling. I’m often taking things home or picking up rubbish on a walk just so I can put it into recycling when I’m home. Anyway, rant over. Get a nice coffee/keep cup and carry it around, plus you get discount at most coffee shops for getting your coffee in it and not using their cups, that again might go into landfill. Make sure its metal inside, tastes better.
Kitchen scales
Know what you’re eating with a quick weigh. I keep it in a draw where I prep my food so I can quickly whip it out, measure, take a note, job done. This is a cheap/effective one from Amazon: Kitchen scales
I hope that helps and you see a few things that you think could benefit your health, fitness and performance. If you feel I’ve missed anything or want my opinion on anything, drop me a message on social media and I’ll reply and add it to this list, which I’m sure will be ever evolving.
