Leslie Foster, a lifelong YMCA member, reads a book on her iPad while exercising. Foster says the ease of reading on the device motivates her to work out.Personal trainers are expensive and workout buddies can flake, but for people serious about getting into shape, smart phones can provide a lifeline.
Barry Allen, a member of the Chattanooga YMCA for nearly a year, uses the free RunKeeper application to track his cardio exercises while listening to the free Pandora Radio application on his Android smart phone.
"It's nice to have everything on one device," he said. "It's a good way to keep track of how I'm doing reaching my goals."
App-assisted workouts like Allen's are increasingly becoming the norm. Lindsay Manning, fitness coordinator for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Recreation Department, said exercisers are turning to free applications and websites to show them how to exercise, set and track goals and motivate themselves to get in shape.
"Preparation is the first step to fitness," she said. "It causes you to have a goal by planning ahead."
Manning also has the RunKeeper app and uses its GPS function to track her distances. She then compares her calories burned to her daily food intake, tracked through the free DailyBurn application on her iPhone.
These apps, coupled with others demonstrating how to do exercises, are leading to a large bump in online-aided workouts.
"Not just online, but at your own home (app assistance) is becoming huge" Manning said. "Online personal trainers are becoming a new thing, as well as a lot of different online diets. You type in your food and a dietitian looks at your foods and gives you suggestions."
Technology isn't only helping the calorie counters and distance runners. Several devices are being used to make working out more fun.
Leslie Foster has been going to the Chattanooga YMCA for about three years, and this past December, she found a way to make exercising fun by reading books on her iPad.
"I wasn't reading at all before, because I hate to have to hold the book," she said.
Since December, Foster already read six books while riding the gym's stationary bike and exercising on the elliptical trainer.
"It honestly makes me look forward to working out," she said.
Rather than read, Howard High School senior Jamaal Reynolds plays video games to get in shape.
After a car accident caused the wrestler and track runner a brain injury, he's used Nintendo's Wii Fit to improve his balance and strengthen his core and leg muscles.
"I do a lot of stuff on here that's got me moving around," he said before climbing on the home video game's platform and doing some virtual hula hooping.
Reynolds' trainer Rachel Halter, an occupational therapist at Siskin Hospital for Rehabilitation for more than six years, said the Wii Fit is a great way to stay in shape, even for healthy people.
Depending on what type and difficulty of workout users want, the game has different modes to train people in different ways.
With so many games, programs and workout accessories, Manning said there's likely no end to the ways people will incorporate electronics into their workouts.
"I think it's gonna get bigger and bigger," she said.