Monday, 16 November 2009

  • The Scale That Knew Too Much

     

     

    When does helpful technology go too far? Remember when  you kept your friends' phone numbers in a little black book or when people kept maps in their cars? What about the time when scales just told you your weight?

    I recently attended a Health Expo, where I sampled exotic fruit juices and the latest flavor enhanced energy bars. The Expo featured everything from healthy foods to running shoes and GPS devices, but the item that left the biggest impression on me was an electronic scale. It didn't look too fancy, but it was different from any other scale I had used. After standing on this scale for just a few seconds, it was able to tell me all sorts of things about my body, such as my BMI, my body fat percentage, my muscle weight, and how much water was inside of me. It was even able to assign a quantitative value to the chub I keep near my belly button in case aliens ever try to probe me. A few feet away, a computer processed the data and presented it to me in all sorts of colorful charts and graphs.

    It was cool, but it really got me thinking. How much is too much? People have been able to workout for years without the aid of electronic gizmos and gadgets. Why do we lay exercisers need to know exactly what percentage of our body is fat now?

    How much technology do you incorporate into your workouts? Where do you draw the line?

     

Related Posts

Comments (28)

  • gymbum20@xanga

    I love that part about aliens probing you HAHA Sounds funny. 

    I personally use quite a bit of "technology" when considering a workout for me or others. I'm a personal trainer so it's kind of a given haha. But before I knew all of this stuff I was just fine working out without knowing all these fancy formulas. 
  • Erika_Steele@xanga

    There was a time in my life where I would have loved that scale and I could have had it in my house without it determining my self worth.  I don't think most people need that kind of scale, but people who are really into fitness could benefit from it.  I remember trying to calculate my body fat percentage with calipers.
  • cherrypopstar@xanga

    woahh. where can i get one of those? seriously. :O 
  • LouLouLouie@xanga

    I think showing more than weight is good. The body fat measurement is good for people who work out to be healthy, so while they may not have lost weight they have lost fat. It helps you not to be discouraged when you've spent the week in the a gym and barely moved a pound.
  • DaRkFaiRy314@xanga

    Body fat is more important than your weight when it comes to health.
  • karmavore@ireallylikefood

    I wouldn't like to have one of these for every day, but I would love to stand on it once.
  • MissPixieGlitter@xanga

    i don't think there's anything wrong with that. but beyond weight, those readings tend to be inaccurate.
  • myrealnameisemo@xanga

     l would use it 
  • AmandaBobN@xanga

    i want one of those!!!


    otherwise you have to go on the internet to work out that kind of stuff lol
  • MochaSprinkle@xanga

    That would surely cause me to have an eating disorder... food would definitely be my enemy! :(
  • kaos_calle@xanga

    oooooh i want that!
  • hopethatitglows@xanga

    I would probably become far too obsessive about that scale...but a part of me wants one. 
  • XXskinnymetalXX@xanga

    ohhh one of those would be useful... i guess it sure beats my body fat checking system, i squeeze and prod to see wether i got tooo much lol
  • MissHollywoodStarlet@xanga

    I saw an article about a scale that does even more than that. It actually announces your weight to Facebook, Twitter, a person's web page or iPhone. It's called the WiFi Scale, or some such nonsense. Supposedly, the French company that markets is says, this is a tool to "encourage" people to stick to their healthy diet and fitness routines.


    To me that is too much. My regular scale at home does the weight, BMI and water content thing. It's more accurate than my old bathroom scale (which my small children love to play with now.) I keep hearing that it's not just what is on the scale that matters but inches and overall health and fitness, but hey, the numbers on the scale still matter to me--the average fitness enthusiast and woman. Still, I don't want to advertise what's on my scale to all of my friends and followers online.

  • Keeping__Karma@xanga

    Scales don't impress me all that much because you never can tell the muscle vs. body fat thing from a conventional one.  But then again, I just don't care that much.
  • Imnotcrazyjustinsane@xanga

    They're probably not very accurate 'cause that method of body fat measurement [the electrical impedance test] usually only gives a rough estimate.

    My scale tells me my weight, my body fat percentage, and my water weight percentage or something. I just think it's interesting, but I don't pay much attention to it.
  • MiaJoyTheWriter@xanga

    That scale is a really great invention because it tells you if you're healthy or not depending on more than just weight as a number, because there is so much more. Everyone should have one! But it's probably expensive.
  • my_secret_diary_xx@xanga

    i want that scale!
  • PenaltyLife@xanga

    sorry, i just really have to say; you don't keep a map in your car?!?!?!? what if your precious GPS actually runs out of batteries or breaks? since your reliance on that device led you to not knowing anything about the geography of the area you're in, you'd be completely fucked. lost for hours and hours.

    anyway, to me, all this technology is exciting. i want to stand on that scale!
  • Coincidentally@xanga

    dude, knowing your water weight and body fat percentage is great. It helps you know if you're actually on the right track. If you get on the scale and you weigh five pounds more than you thought you should because of all the working out you've been doing, that scale could tell you that it's because you've been gaining muscle and not because you're a failure. yeah?

    I mean, I'm not saying I would go out and buy ridiculously expensive scales, but I am saying that I hate it when different scales tell me different things. I'd like it broken down for me so I know exactly whats going on with my body.

    personal opinion, perhaps
  • Coincidentally@xanga

    @DaRkFaiRy314@xanga - yeah, yeah exactly what you said
  • SerenaDante@xanga

    I don't draw the line yet. I will draw the line at some point in the future when Wall-E type inventions are made and people become so incredibly fat and lazy because of lack of movement. But for now, no.
  • betweenrivers@xanga

    I agree with a previous comment that showing more than just weight is good. For years I was a little unhappy with my weight until I found out that I have much more muscle than most women my height, and my body is considered average to athletic, instead of grossly overweight as I would be if only weight were considered.

    I think you're right in that we don't need that every day though... that should be the scale the doctors use instead of the weight/height combo. I feel like my doctor should know how much fat or muscle I have, since it is relevant to my health!
  • XbabyK@xanga

    Different people are motivated by different things.  Sure people have been working out forever without the aid of such technology and I'm sure a lot of people will continue to do so.  Other people may find that they like having that information, for whatever reasons, and it may even encourage others to work out harder/better/smarter or to start working out.
  • Leon1017@xanga

    Keeping track of time is probably the only necessary technology for working out. 

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.