Gamify your training routine!

Hey everyone, Eva here!

How are your New Year's resolutions going? To be honest, I lost track of mine after a few weeks already. But if you feel the same, rest assured that you are not alone! According to a survey conducted by Forbes in 2023, the average time people stick to their resolutions is 3.74 months. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Then let me summarize this: Every twentieth interviewee made it until half of the year. And only about 1% reported being on track after 12 months.

And did you know that according to their statistics, 48% of the 1000 questioned U.S. citizens mentioned improving their fitness as their highest goal? Wouldn’t it be cool if your unidice could help you endure a bit longer on your way to your next fitness level? No matter if you’d consider yourself a professional athlete or more of a crisp ‘n’ casual couch potato, the unidice will revolutionize your training routine. But let’s continue step by step. Firstly, a short intro especially for all the couch potatoes like me:

Before you begin: Assess your fitness level. Especially if you are not accustomed to regular or very intense training sessions, it's important to analyse your overall fitness level. To determine the type of workout your body needs, try these three exercises and record your results:

Planking

This exercise is testing your core strength. In total, it’ll only take you 3 minutes, so if you finished reading this paragraph, why not just try it out right away? Place the unidice on the ground in front of you, start the stopwatch on it, and follow these steps:

1. Get into a plank position (forearms resting on the ground) and hold for 60 seconds.

2. Lift your left arm for 15 seconds.

3. Repeat with your right arm.

4. Return your arms to the ground. Lift your right leg for 15 seconds.

5. Repeat with your other leg.

6. Return to the base plank position and then lift both the right arm and left leg simultaneously. Hold for 15 seconds.

7. Repeat with your other leg and arm.

8. Return to the initial plank position and hold for 30 seconds.
   

If you managed to complete this exercise, you have good core strength! If you couldn’t finish it or found it challenging, consider incorporating regular core strength training into your workout routine.

Push-Ups

This exercise will test the strength and endurance of your upper body muscles. Despite not engaging all your muscle groups, it remains a great method to assess your overall fitness. If you’re struggling with push-ups in general, consider using a modified technique, such as kneeling instead of using your feet, or elevating your upper body to a higher point, such as the edge of your sofa. Also, don’t forget to do a warmup before this exercise. Stretch your muscles, do 30 jumping jacks, shake it out and then you're ready to begin. Now, add a twist to this exercise with your unidice! Place it in front of you and tap the screen whenever you lower your upper body to record a repetition. Continue this exercise until your arms fatigue and document your results to compare them with the table and track your progress on your fitness journey. Keep in mind that the these are just estimations collected from this sports&science article but comparing them to other resources they all land on quite similar numbers. Also,they always vary between sexes, as male physiology often differs in weight and muscle proportions from female physiology.

For women

For men

Modified push-ups

The Cooper Test

The Cooper test, invented by Dr. Ken Cooper in 1968, aims to measure your aerobic fitness. After a warm-up and stretching, you are supposed to run for 12 minutes straight and measure the distance covered. After completing this exercise, simply plug your tracked distance into one of these formulas to calculate your maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max):

• For kilometers: (22.351 x kilometers) - 11.288 = VO2 max

• For miles: (35.97 x miles) - 11.2 = VO2 max

Additionally, compare your distance to the reference table provided below:

For women

For men

You did it! Now you know where you stand, which types of training you need to incorporate more into your regular training routine and can finally start planning! Use this method of analysis to reevaluate your fitness level every few weeks or months to document your progress! In any case, I'd strongly advise seeking assistance or a general opinion from your doctor or an experienced trainer! Just bring the results of your fitness analysis and your outlined training schedule with you, and together you can evaluate if it is feasible and how you can proceed from there.

Your training with unidice

Now that you know what to do, you need to set your goals. What do you want to achieve? When do you want to achieve it? At what times are you the fittest, and on which days do you need time off? What kinds of exercises do you enjoy? Are you more of a gym type, or do you want to try out dancing classes or start a new gardening project? It's important to know that exercising isn’t only about running and weightlifting at the gym. If you don’t like going to the gym, don’t do it! Try out new things, and you’ll definitely find a training routine that suits your needs. I know it can be really challenging to get in the mood for sports in general, but this is an issue you don’t have to worry about if you use your unidice.

Picture this: You're sitting at your desk, and the unidice shows a pop-up reminding you of your training session in one hour. You finish your task and put on your sports outfit. Actually, you still feel a bit lost about what to do now, but in fact, your unidice has assembled the perfect training for you based on your fitness test. And for some extra excitement, you now just roll your digital training companion and follow the workout it shows. Finished one? Roll it again, and it’ll surprise you with a new exercise. Never get bored or held back by ineffective training routines and add some thrill to your drill!

Make sports enjoyable

Many of us find it hard or even annoying to incorporate a regular workout routine into their everyday life. But most of the time, this is simply due to a lack of excitement in advance. We need a compelling reason to get our bodies moving right now, and simply imagining ourselves in good health and shape after a few months or even years is too far away to convince our lazy minds. So obviously, we have to find a way to make the fun start right from the beginning. And this is precisely where a unidice can help. As an everyday companion for multiple applications, it seamlessly integrates into our daily routines and adds just the right amount of excitement to our life. Gamify your training and work out effectively with the unidice! Now, get off the sofa, assess your fitness level, and start your journey to an active and healthy life!

Wish you all the best!

Eva form the unidice Team