Go, Go Gadget! An Activity Tracker Guide

Basic sketches for the pedometer appear in Leonardo Da Vinci’s work from the 15th century. Fortunately, design and technology have come a long way since then. Today’s activity trackers offer far more than the counting of steps, and they’re no longer clunky, pager-like devices that you have to clip to your belt. They’re wearable technology: light, sleek, and ultra portable. But with so many options available, finding the best tracker for your needs can be tricky. To save you time reading lots of product reviews, here’s a brief guide to the best activity trackers.

For those who are on the go
If you’re always on the move balancing work, home, and travel, an added personal device is the last thing you need, right? Maybe not. Some companies have designed activity trackers to suit the needs of the busiest user. For an activity tracker you can carry without worrying that it’ll get damaged or lost, a wrist based device is your best option. The Fitbit Flex and Jawbone UP are two activity trackers that come in a sleek bracelet form. However, there are some notable differences between the two.

Fit-Pic: Yoga at Oak Street Beach

Ah summer in Chicago. Warm days and nights, clear skies, refreshing breezes, a cooling lake that's not as frigid as it usually is. And then there are the activities that happen on said lakefront at any given time. Running, cycling, inline skating, beach volleyball, swimming (OK, so that's in the water), or as tonight would have it: yoga.

Oak Street Beach, technically the Levy Restaurants' food and drink outpost any Chicagoan would recognize at the south end of that beach, was the site of this semi-sweaty session--I broke into a sweat though I don't know if everyone did--of sun salutations, stretches and asanas led by Equinox instructor Stacy Levy Mann. What's not to love about staring at Lake Michigan and having the city's skyscrapers rising up behind you while working out? I loved it-- and I can't wait to get back next week.

Surf, Sand and Yoga

How's that for a workout view?

Running on the sand feels about 10 times harder than it does on the pavement or trail. A beach boot camp seems about 10 times more difficult than it does at the gym—maybe it was all the sprinting? I can only imagine that doing yoga on the beach would be more challenging, in a good way, than it is in the studio—even if it’s a heated room and I’m dripping sweat all over my mat. You have the sand’s uneven surface that even a yoga mat can’t completely flatten out to challenge your balance. You have the sun radiating its summer heat to challenge your temperature acclimation. You have the wind’s cool breezes and the city’s humidity to mess with your body’s cooling system. You have the yoga itself to challenge your mind-body connection and any uber-tight muscles.

There will be plenty of yogis taking their practice to Chicago’s Oak Street Beach this month. Every Tuesday (except for July 2), Equinox is bringing yoga to the beach for ‘Find Your Chi,” a four-week series of exclusive yoga classes. These sweat sessions happen from 6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at Oak Street Beach Food + Drink (1001 North Lake Shore Drive), the city’s go-to beach bar that’s just steps from Lake Michigan, and are led by Equinox instructor Stacy Levy Mann.

Top 10 Songs to Sweat to: July 2013

What's blasting through your headphones this month? Whether you're running, cycling, hitting the beach, or tearing up in the gym to shed that winter layer and get more bikini ready (yeah, I'm still working on mine even if it is almost the 4th of July), you know you need some tunes to power that sweat session.

And to keep that playlist from hitting repeat more times than you'd like, Run Hundred recently unveiled its top 10 songs for July based on votes received on the site. You'll find a lot of fast beats, remixes and hits you might not be able to get enough of when you hear them on the radio. Here are this month's hits:

Selena Gomez - Slow Down - 128 BPM

Mika - Live Your Life - 104 BPM

Mike Posner - The Way It Used to Be - 128 BPM

Sean Paul - Other Side of Love - 120 BPM

Kelly Clarkson - People Like Us - 128 BPM

Emeli Sande & Kendrick Lamar - Next to Me (Remix) - 97 BPM

Calvin Harris & Florence Welch - Sweet Nothing (Tiesto Remix) - 128 BPM

Krewella - Alive (Cash Cash & Kalkutta Remix) - 129 BPM

2 Chainz & Wiz Khalifa - We Own It (Fast & Furious) - 86 BPM

Selena Gomez - Come & Get It (Dave Aude Club Remix) - 130 BPM

Want more workout songs for your playlist? Check out the free database at RunHundred.com where you can browse song selections by genre, tempo and era to find music that's best suited for your workout.

What songs are currently on your playlist that you can't stop listening to?

What's The Run Project All About?

We run to stay in shape. We run to lose weight. We run to push ourselves to our mental and physical maximums. We run raise funds for a cause. We run to support someone else or someone who can't. We all have our different reasons for running, right? And if we all had to answer a question as simple as "Why do you run?" we'd hear several different answers.

If you ask Jon Rankin, an elite runner who made the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team as an alternate in the 1500-meter run, that question, he'd likely say that he's running to save the world. He'd also probably tell you that he runs to beat his kidney disease and that running saved his life after he was diagnosed with a terminal kidney disease; that diagnosis gave his running a different purpose. Rankin and Benjamin Auerbach are co-founders of The Run Project, a company that started all because of a 2011 conversation the duo had about how running could save the world. The sport can save those who run, or runners can save others by lacing up their shoes for a charitable cause.

The Run Project is the online community for sharing those stories. As its site says, The Run Project is "home of the 60-second running story." The idea is to create one-minute videos as a way to connect runners, the charities and causes they run and fundraise for, and donors. And those videos can also serve as inspiration, help find causes worth supporting, connect runners and their stories, and aid in using running to save the world. Cool stuff, right?