Introduction
Technological
advances can be seen across the world. Just over twenty years ago, PC’s were
not even in homes. With technology’s advancements, cellular phones, tablets,
laptops, and even watches are considered small computers. When it pertains to
health, technology has affected the industry in ways that seemed unimaginable,
especially in fitness. Using Aristotle’s virtue claim, we will discuss how technology
has positively impacted fitness in three sub topics: exercise, protection, and recovery.
Exercise
Technology has
drastically changed the landscape when it pertains to exercising the body.
Before we had software trackers on mobile devices, people would rely on
different things to track exactly how much they have worked out such as
stopwatches. Even some of the
stopwatches weren’t as precise as the devices today. For example, if someone
were to run laps around a park, they would more than likely rely on signs that
display the distance of a lap. But if one were to run 5 3/43 miles, it would be
really difficult for one to exactly know how much they ran at that moment. As
time progressed, machines such as the treadmill were developed. Nowadays,
programmers have come together with fitness experts in order to create
applications that can easily track exactly how much exercise the user is
performing. With today’s technology, the exact amount of miles that people run
can be tracked through cellular phones, wristbands, and even watches.
With the ability
to find out exactly how much people can move around and exercise, it’s
important to do so while making sure that the programmers of these companies
use good morals. Parallel to many companies around the world, then number 1
goal is to make as much money as possible. To accomplish this goal, some companies are
willing to do whatever it takes, even if that includes harming the customers. In
the fitness industry, there are many “contraptions” that supposedly make you
nearly instantly lose weight if you use this brand’s machine. This and other
negatively used tactics go against the virtue claim that Aristotle explains.
The two main characteristics within his claim include character and community. In
order to make the community better, we must try to make sure that we are not we
are not gaining material items at the expense of damaging other people, which
damages the community overall.
Positive
advancements are trying to be made when it pertains to the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control
and Prevention, more than 33% of adults are considered obese. “The estimated
annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S was $147 billion in the US dollars”.
What is being done to reduce this number? In addition to lower priced gyms,
efforts from the Food and Drug Administration, and companies raising awareness
about health diseases, technology is being created to encourage more activity
targeting people who are overweight. One technology is commonly used is called
the gastric bypass surgery. In this surgery, a portion of the top part of the stomach is
sectioned off. As food moves outside of the top par of the stomach, it
“bypasses ” the bottom part, and connects to the lower part of the small
intestine. The after effects of the surgery do work. However, if exercise is
not implemented into the person’s daily activities, they will only re-gain that
weight. Being overweight tends to be
more than just a physical issue amongst people. Sometimes, getting lack of
exercise can stem from mental blocks as well. A lot of the times, people say
that they are too busy in their daily lives, or that they’ve tried to do it
before, but they failed. For these reasons, people in the US fail to exercise
as much as they should. Developers and sports psychologist have recognized this
problem. Programmers have since created apps that allow interaction between
people and trainers that can motivate them daily. One example of such an app is
Fitmo. Fitmo is an app that connects you with a trainer sets up a schedule,
suggest meal plans, and checks up on you through texts and calls. In order to
keep people from lying to their trainers, the app connects to wearable fitness
technology to track how much one exercises. Applications such as these allow
people stay motivated, making them feel like they are not alone in their
struggle of exercising consistently.
Around the world, people
use different regiments in order to keep people exercising. In Brazil, the
exercise of Capoeira is used. This is an
exercise with a mix of martial arts and dance. In Japan, there are warm up
stretches that schools, companies, and even capable elderly do called Radio
Tasio. This stretch is done through radio
airwaves and it is performed at a set time each workday. This activity is used
to unite people and promote good health. Even in China, people are walking
backwards in order to improve their posture and use muscles that aren’t used on
the regular. The treadmill is one of the main machines that the Chinese use to
perform this activity.
Protection
Protection of the
body is so important when it comes to fitness. Every year, there are stories of
athletes passing away for various reasons. Whether the cause is
dehydration, or a serious unknown
internal injury, protection will never be perfected, but it must continue to be
improved. According to Stanford Children’s Health, approximately 3.5 million
injuries occur each year. There are always stories about people getting injured
due to violent physical sports such as football or rugby. What can technology
do about it? Well, much technology is being developed to prevent injuries from
happening.
Companies that aid
in following Aristotle’s virtue reasoning tend to benefit in multiple ways.
Companies are being innovative and producing items that can really aid in the
prevention of injury. This benefits all of us as a society.
In the United
States, American football is the most popular sport. With football being such a
physical activity, concussions reduction is taking precedence as the main focus
for football athletes. More protective headwear is a theme that is constantly
looked at in world of football. A company
by the name of Riddell creates football helmets. With the ever-growing concern
of concussions, Riddell has added both an attachment system and extra protection
for the sides of the helmet in order for
impact to be reduced when a player is hit in the head. In addition to football, other companies are
innovating headwear that can be worn in multiple sports. For soccer, basketball,
and any other sport in which athletes wear headbands, there is a company called
force field. Force Field has created headbands. A little larger than the
average headband, these headbands contain a polymeric layer that wraps around
the head to increase protection in crucial areas of the head that headbands can
cover. The best way to prevent a
concussion is simply wear sports equipment properly, and make sure that the
equipment fits and is worn correctly.
Concussions are
not the only injuries that occur. The three most common injuries are the ankle
sprain, the groin pull, and the hamstring strain. The best natural way to
prevent these injuries from occurring is by stretching before and after
activity. While technology is not quite there yet when it pertains to complete
prevention of these specific injuries, there are technologies that are used to
help prevent serious injury. Ankle braces nowadays use polymeric layers to
absorb energy between the joints and the braces. This absorption allows for
less wear and tear on the ankle in the long run. In addition to ankle braces,
Around the globe, sports
groups are using technology that can trace if players are overworking
themselves. One example of such is a
company by the name of Catapult. This Australian company works with over 350
professional and collegiate players. They have created a gadget half the size
of a cellular that can measure heart rates, distance traveled, player load, and
acceleration. Their goal is to have the ability to measure a player’s fatigue
so that injury can be prevented. Prevention is something that if improved upon
technologically wise, a lot less injuries can be prevented in the future.
Recovery
Once an injury
occurs to anyone, the next step in fully healing is recovery. The two main
important things that the health industry must be great at is prevention and
recovery. Recovery is extremely vital
because if it is not done properly, the body may not heal the way it’s supposed
to, or may not even completely heal at all.
Technology being
used as a recovery can have an effect ethically in both a positive and negative
light. In some instances, it is abused. For example, steroids are drugs that
most people take in order to gain a competitive advantage. While it does make a
person stronger, faster, and a better overall performer in the short run, it
violates the virtue rule. Taking steroids is wrong because it puts all of the
other people that naturally strengthen their body (through use of weights and
dieting) at a disadvantage. In addition to the disadvantage, it is also wrong
because it is banned from most sports. This is when the right vs. wrong judgment is
violated. While athletes do have the choice of whether or not to take steroids,
companies that give it to people that are knowingly misusing the drug are also
in the wrong. Pills can be addicting and bodily damaging if misused, therefore
selling those pills to unethical people just to gain profit violates the virtue
reasoning as well. With that being said, there are also positives in using technology
for recovery. This will be explained in the next paragraph.
Recovery in the US
has drastically improved over the past 30 years. Before , recovery was done
mostly done by icing joints, taking pain pills and resting. In today’s world,
through x-ray and ultra sound, an exact diagnosis of an injury can be spotted
within minutes. Right after the diagnosis, recovery treatment can begin.
Through therapy, many tools used right here in the US ensure that people are
healed properly and to the fullest extent. For sprains, knee aches, or tennis
elbow, one emerging treatment by the name of theralase is used to make a faster
recovery. Theralase is a laser and infrared treatment in which the body absorbs
the laser light, and transforms it into chemical therapy. This treatment helps
because the chemical energy received is used to jump-start the healing of
tissue in the wounded area. This treatment also decreases the amount of
inflammation because of the extra cells given through infrared. For more
serious injuries, such as a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), stem cell
research is being done to reduce recovery time by months. While this specific
process is still in it’s final stages before being released to the public,
MRI’s are being constantly done to ensure this process heals ligaments
completely.
Around the world, recovery
is similar to the ones of the past for most people. With that being said, there
is still technology that is emerging that will benefit people around the world.
In Europe, a professional soccer team by the name Manchester City uses GPS
monitors during practices and training sessions. This device measures
performance levels, and heart rate. This helps the team customize workouts that
can benefit their athletes the most without over working them. In the United Kingdom,
company named BAE Systems has teamed up
with the Paralympic Games. In addition to giving athletes training and recovery
tips, BAE also created wheels for wheelchair competitors that improve the acceleration
of the wheelchair by 20%. Technology is even being implemented for
non-athletes. Heart –rate monitors are being sold globally to aid with people
that have irregular heartbeats. During exercise, it’s easy to get caught up and
be less aware of one’s heart rate. With heart-rate monitor’s, a small alarm is
sent out warning the person when they are beginning to exercise too hard. This
invention prevents overuse of the body, and aids with the recovery after
exercise. This and other inventions have
helped the people of the world recover in a quick and effective manner.
Conclusion
In conclusion,
technology has positively affected health in three categories: exercise,
prevention, and recovery. Through the advancement and development in technology,
more and more technology is being used in sports. With many innovations being
added to the market, we as a society will learn more and more about how our
bodies work. With the new technology, we will be able to make sports as safe
and clean as we can without truly interfering with the sport. As long as people
invent products keeping Aristotle’s point of reasoning in mind, the world will
be a better place.
