Ok, so I’m a bit of a biogeek so perhaps my list may be slightly long(er) than most; but I hope this helps.
In terms of “fitness” goals, I like to mix it up between various disciplines (like marathons and triathlons) and participating in outdoor adventures (climbing mountains, skiing across glaciers or exploring new terrains). But my ultimate goal is longevity via health-span. That means aiming for sustainable middle zones rather than indexing towards any one peak.
Here’s my stack:
Oura ring - to track my sleep. Sleep is the bedrock of health. I never miss a night of sleep measurements - especially when I’m travelling (which is a fair amount). In addition to sleep data the number I keep an eye on each day is my HrV (Heart Rate Variability) as a measure of stress and recovery.
Apple Watch - to keep a track on the time I spend in Zone 2 and Zone 5 activity each week. I like to ensure that I get at least an hour per day of movement, burning 500kcal and crossing 8000 steps. In the week >80% of my total activity needs to be zone 2.
Olanda smart scale - a six electrode smart scale that I have at home to measure body composition. As we get older (I’m hitting 4.0 next month), maintaining my muscle mass is vital. I have a routine that involves resistance training, amino acid supplementation, and hormonal balance to keep my body fat down and muscle mass up. This helps me track it.
Abbott CGM patch - as an Indian male, with a strong family history of diabetes, metabolic disease is a very real challenge. Covid19, and steroid treatment, made it harder for me. I’m a big fan of intermittent fasting (I prefer “Time Restricted Eating”) and use this, along with Zone 2 exercise, to create metabolic flexibility. 2 short fasts (16hrs) per week, one 24hr fast per week and one 72hr fast per half year. Using a CGM device I can keep track of my glucose control, monitor patterns of food and stress effects and keep adapting my physiology.
Metabolomic blood panel - once every six months I undergo a full list of blood testing to measure not just the usual, but the unusual. With a university lab using mass spectrometry I measure small metabolites in my blood to give me a window into mitochondrial function and stress.
Hormetic stress applications - I have a red light panel at my wife’s sports medicine clinic that I use, I have a sauna three times per week, I have a cold shower daily and have an ice tub (collapsible for easy storage) at home to get my hit of heat and cold exposure each week.
Biological Ageing - the team and I have been working on a blood test calculation to quantify biological age. I regularly play around with consumer tests also available on the market which use a saliva sample to estimate methylation clocks to see how “old” my cells are.
I’ve had my genome sequenced and am about to test my gut Microbiome to see what insights I can find from the hidden information inside of my body’s cells and the little visitors that are being carried around.
Micronutrient routine - it’s a long list that keeps changing but I take a variety of supplements, injections and medications (self medicated) that keep my cellular environment happy and energised for greater ATP production.
Mito app - small plug for the mobile app that the team and I are building which integrates with all of the above and works on creating a dashboard for me to track myself and a recommendation engine to improve the biohacks that I practice. It’s in alpha mode but it’s exciting times ahead.
I think that’s it’s.
I like to listen to podcasts to enhance my knowledge (that’s an app), read a variety of books on the subject (physical ones preferred) and finally leave my phone at home a fair amount when I’m playing with my kids, walking with my wife, hanging with my friends and enjoying nature. All of which add the most to my healthspan and life satisfaction.
I tried many things, but I am down to using only Apple Watch. I use it for activity tracking and setting alerts to stand up every hour. Sleep tracking, calorie counting, using CGM, etc, were creating anxiety and were doing more bad than good. I have stopped everything else.
I have set a straightforward goal in terms of moving, exercising, and standing every hour. It is working beautifully.
Garmin Forerunner 245: Forerunner 245 | Garmin India
I use it for all workouts. Initially got it just for tracking my cycling. I wanted something that didn’t have to be charged every day and this one gives me 3-4 days easily with a few activities recorded.
I do sync all the activities with Strava app. I don’t participate in any group events, but I see a lot of active people there within my circle. There are several local running, biking clubs who organize events almost every week on Strava, this might be helpful for beginners who needs a company.
Ok so I am a bit of a dinosaur and old school when it comes to my fitness! When I started on this journey, I used meal logging to figure out what my daily calorific intake was so I could be a bit more conscious of my food habits. Over a period of time, I pretty much got a handle on all that I was consuming and am now able to within a reasonable degree of accuracy, figure this out on a daily basis on my own. So now my focus is this:
Calorie burn - tracked earlier through Fitbit, now through apple watch
Sleep - Not tracked daily but once in a while i like to check if my sleep quality is good. I usually try and keep the same sleep cycle- 11pm to 7am- 8 hours to whatever extent possible on most days
Workouts- I love circuit training and HIIT- for this BunkerFit has some great curated workouts that I follow now and then. Also i tend to vary workouts and throw in completely insane challenges at time- 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 1000 calorie workouts every few weeks…keep me challenged by throwing in these surprise workouts that challenge my body and keeps pushing me
Last but not the least- Instagram! Where I get all the motivation I need! There are some amazing folks doing incredible things and when I feel like I’m low on charge, this is what I look up
So all in all, fairly low key dependency on tech, a high awareness of my own sense of being, and oh yes, my new toy- my standing desk which allows me to be on my feet for most of the day!
I have always tried to be a minimalist with fitness and running. Resisted buying a GPS smartwatch till about 2015 or so. Eventually bought Garmin and that was enough for a while. Currently I use Coros Pace 2 (Garmin’s competitor) and love it for it’s UI and battery life.
Among apps I use Strava, mainly due to the community angle, and Google spreadsheets for training plan or race data analysis.
Larger fitness-oriented Whatsapp groups have their own purpose, but we all need smaller micro groups as well for a more personalised community feel.
I am a member of a small Whatsapp group (5 of us) and kind of keep posting all our runs and workouts with stats, moods, misses etc.
One tech advancement I want to be commonplace is running shoes that come with a sensor to communicate the total mileage / health of the shoes as we train in those. Since many of us use multiple running shoes, it’s difficult to properly track the mileage for each pair and retire them timely.
Apple Watch for me. I like the simplicity of relying on something existing rather than bring new apps/hardware to the mix.
My primary activities are:
Workout: 2-3 hours/week
Tennis: 5-6 hours/ week
I am not maniacal with tracking but the three things I check in the midst of these hour are: Heart Rate (in-activity), Distance Run (during tennis matches) and Movement Rings completed on a daily basis. I have also been playing around with some of the tennis-specific apps on Apple Watch but not a regular user yet.
I do track 30+ markers ( more on that later ) but have also figured less is more. I test new markers because I hope one day we will have the magic pill ( or a magic algorithm for health ) apart from sheer hard work + my day job requires me to do so.
Over time I have found peace / right cadence with the following markers:
Sleep health
Glucose / Insulin control
Circadian alignment
I do these via Ultrahuman Ring Air and the Ultrahuman M1 CGM ( I also work for Ultrahuman )
Apart from this, the best supplement I’ve found it is to just lift weights 2-3x per week + stay active throughout the day. I don’t overthink food but keep an overall tab via the metabolic score. Apart from health impact ( which is obvious ), I find dopamine rush in trying out and correlating new markers.
PS: The latest tech I’m trying out is called Neurosym vagus nerve stimulator.
Being a first-time founder, I too face burnout - I go for runs, on 120 pushups everyday challenge, meditation 3x a week. Just getting better at consistency.
Fitbit Watch: Helps me track my workouts, HRV, sleep quality, RHR, and something around stress level.
Hevy: I do weight training daily and this app helps me track volume, 1 rep max, heaviest weight, workout history across all exercises. Tracking all this helps me to ensure progressive overloading.
CGM: Recently bought a Libre, figuring out if I need it or not.
I am also finding wearables that can help me continuously measure inflammation and stress levels because I suffer from an autoimmune condition.
and this one gives me 3-4 days easily with a few activities recorded.
+ my day job requires me to do so.