Freeware Fitness -- Five Get-Healthy Apps That Cost You Nothing!

Posted 02/18/2009 at 10:00am | by David Murphy

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It might seem like an oxymoron to the average geek: getting healthy with your PC.  Sure, you can lift your turbo-charged, water-cooled desktop as if you were doing a common bench press.  And you could probably tie the ends of the two front speakers in your 5.1 surround sound system together, creating a crude jump rope for exercising right out of your home office / basement dwelling / dorm room.  But while these fitness techniques might improve your personal health, they're not very beneficial for the longevity of your beloved computer system.

Let's fix that.

We're taking a look at fitness-themed applications in this week's freeware roundup.  And while you might roll your eyes as you head back to your local meat locker for a punching session, don't brush off the notion of computer-assisted fitness just yet.  From applications that help you map your heart rate, to nutrition guides, to a comprehensive guidebook of exercises that you can do right at (or near) your desk, this batch of freeware apps will help you transform your PC into your very own personal trainer. 

Heart Rate Monitor

What it does: The name is pretty self-explanatory, but we'll offer up this minor description as well.  This app lets you time out your heart rate, akin to what you might do at the doctor's office or with one of those fancy little $100 devices from The Sharper Image.  How does it work?  No need for electrodes or plugs here--just mash a key on your keyboard every time your heart beats.  While you could admittedly perform the same function using a stopwatch and the counting skills you learned at an early age, Heart Rate Monitor gives you a delicious little graph for your efforts!

Download it here!

BMI, Weight, and Calorie Calculator

What it does: Enter your age, height, weight, and select your fitness level.  This handy little calculator takes care of the rest, giving you a rundown of your Body Mass Index and showing you just where you fit on the too little/just fine/too much spectrum of similar people.  The program also measures exactly how many calories you need to eat on a daily basis in order to maintain your current weight -- eat less to lose weight, eat more to gain weight.  It's that simple!

Download it here!

GymGoal Lite

What it does:  GymGoal Lite is the perfect tool for the exercise newbie: it offers a range of painstaking techniques that you can use to enhance your physique.  But more than that, it does so by grouping each exercise according to what muscle it actually targets.  Once you've picked an exercise to try, the program gives you a detailed instruction list of how to actually go about working said muscle area.  And even if you can't figure it out from there, you're treated to diagrams that show you exactly what to do.  This little fitness app could not be more helpful.

Download it here!

Recipe Manager

What it does: Recipe Manager isn't the most pleasing of programs to look at.  But it does a more than adequate job of helping you track exactly the kinds of foods (and associated nutritional benefits) that you're shoveling into your body.  Select your nom-noms from the pre-populated list of foods or type in your own--you're free to enter all the nutritional requirements, as well as directions for how to make your favorite culinary creations.  It's a great tool for the calorie-conscious, although we'd love to have an application that lets you input and graph exactly what you've eaten as well...

Download it here!

EyeDefender

What it does: Eyestrain is a serious issue for those who find themselves chained to their PCs for the better part of the day.  Before you know it, hours have passed and you've barely shifted your gaze away from your desktop (or WoW raid) to take a break.  That's not healthy, especially if you're continuing the same activity day after day, week after week, year after year.  EyeDefender sits in the bottom of your taskbar and forces you take breaks at pre-set intervals by popping up photos, predefined rest patterns, and eye relaxing techniques onto your screen.  With just a short break every hour, you can increase your ocular health and prevent Computer Vision Syndrome from ever occurring.

Download it here!