B Magazine: Boost your health span: Expert tips on using technology, nutrition, and exercise

From the snake oil salesman to diets ranging from the Subway Diet to the Atkins Diet to the Keto Diet, to toning shoes and more, the health industry has historically been riddled with marketing and fads that don’t necessarily help people reach their health goals. But, according to Monica Kearney, Ph.D., CSCS, Southeast Missouri State University associate professor of health — allied health, kinesiology and sport sciences, the two most recent trends — wearable technology and mobile fitness apps — are helping many people lead healthier lives, especially when used in tandem with back-to-the-basics practices such as eating nutritious foods to fuel the body’s physical and cognitive processes.

Kearney says wearable devices and exercise apps are here to stay because they help people achieve their health goals, especially when used in conjunction with basic health principles.

“Trends doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s negative or just kind of fleeting,” Kearney said. “It is the popular thing right now, but I think it’s popular [because] … people appreciate that real-time kind of tracking and feedback on [their] intensity and on what [they’re] doing. … I think it’s a trend that’s going to persist for quite some time because we know that when we track our progress, we tend to do better.”

For the past nine years, research from The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) states wearable technology has been in the top three fitness trends, securing the No. 1 spot several years in a row, including for 2024 and 2025, Kearney says. This includes technologies like smart watches that utilize triaxial accelerometry to measure movement from the x, y and z axes; heart rate monitors; and clothing with capabilities such as sweat analysis. The industry is big business: The global wearable technology market is expected to grow from $70.3 billion in 2024 to $152.82 billion by 2029 according to Markets and Markets, although other market research suggests these numbers are much higher.

Mobile fitness apps — the other major fitness trend — help a user find, do or track workouts on a mobile device. These apps can help users see their progress over time and ensure they’re working out at the appropriate intensity for maximum health benefits.

Kearney cautions users that the data they’re sharing with these apps will more than likely be used in the company’s research, so users should be conscious of the information they give to the apps. It’s also important to use apps that are based on solid research. And for someone needing more guidance than the general advice given through apps, Kearney suggests a personal trainer.

Moving well, often, and at the right intensity affects more than the body; it also largely contributes to mental health. To the extent that technology aids in this, it can be a good thing, says psychiatrist Dr. Brad Robison, MD and owner of Brad Robison, M.D. and Associates.

Robison points out the difference between lifespan and health span: Lifespan, he says, is the number of years a person lives, no matter their quality of life. The goal, however, is to lengthen the health span, or the number of years a person lives healthily and actively.

“We’ve extended life, but we haven’t necessarily extended health all that much,” Robison said.

Getting the right amount and type of exercise is one part of extending the health span; the other aspect is nutrition.

It’s important, says Cheryl Mothes, MSN, MBA, PhD and natural health nutrition counselor, to think of food as fuel for the body and mind and to eat and drink in a way that provides the right nutrients.

“So many times, people separate physical health from mental health, but our mental health is really our brain functioning, and that is a physical organ, and so it encompasses physical and mental health,” Mothes said. “We know that what drives cellular function is the fuel that it’s given. It’s the No. 1 determinant of our health … so it’s the priority because every cell in every organ, in our blood and every part of us depends on nutrients.”

Eating and exercising well, in turn, help prevent disease.

“We’re identifying new types of cancers that exercise can help prevent every couple of years,” Kearney said. “We know that there’s evidence for reduced anxiety, and using exercise as a treatment in conjunction with other treatments [can be effective] for mild to moderate depression. So, there’s a lot of cognitive and mental benefits, as well.”

Here, these experts share ways to go back to the basics by incorporating moving, eating and utilizing technology in ways that promote health:

3 practices for movement

Although it’s trendy, Monica Kearney, PhD, says wearable technology is helping people achieve their health goals. She shares tips for how to use it well:

1. Identify your goal.

Regardless of the type of technology you’re utilizing, you need to know your intention for using it, so you feel motivated to do so.

“Find your why, write down your purpose — what you want and why you want it — and then identify what’s going to make it a priority to you,” Kearney said.

2. Use technology to track your progress.

After you know your end goal, create smaller goals that will help you step towards your overall goal. Then, utilize technology to help you chart the ways you’re moving closer to what you ultimately want.

“There are several free apps where you can track progress, you can track your resistance training workouts, put your workouts right in there and track that over time,” Kearney said. “You can also track your miles walked or time logged walking or jogging or running. So, use it as a log, but also use them as resources [such as finding an app that helps you work out in ways that motivate you, like through dance or a couch to 5K program].”

Be sure to utilize technology in conjunction with face-to-face interaction, such as having a personal trainer if you need extra support, going to a group fitness class, or having someone you work out with. This can help keep you accountable.

3. Keep setting your goal higher.

No matter where you are along the continuum to your goal, it’s important to utilize technology to help you push yourself a little farther than where you are at the moment.

“If you see that right now, [you’re] getting 5,000 steps per day, you’ve identified that, and now you can set your goal to be a little bit beyond that,” Kearney said. “Maybe for the next two weeks, [you] want to aim for 6,000 steps per day, so kind of use that data to build your goals.”

Be sure to incorporate aerobic exercise as well as resistance training into your workouts, Kearney says, utilizing technology to track your heart rate so you can be sure you’re getting the maximum benefits from movement that will help keep you healthy for decades to come.

3 Practices for Nutrition

Cheryl Mothes, PhD, says consuming foods and beverages like we did 50 years ago — eating whole foods that are predominantly plant-based — helps give us the highest amount of nutrients with the lowest calories. This helps prevent disease, maintain a healthy body weight, and have high energy and less brain fog. Here, she shares ways you can consume food and drink to accomplish this:

1. Cut out processed meats from your diet.

Not eating deli meat, hot dogs, bacon, ham and sausages dramatically reduces saturated fat, salt and carcinogen consumption.

“If you want to eat meat, eat real meat, like turkey, chicken, beef, in its natural form,” Mothes said.

2. Don’t eat cheese.

Cheese contains hyperconcentrated levels of salt, oil and saturated fat and is addictive.

“Cheese is very, very hard on our gut microbiome, and it is a compressed version of the worst part of dairy,” Mothes said.

3. Stop drinking alcohol.

Alcohol is a Class 1 breast cancer carcinogen that causes breast cancer and several other types of cancers. It also kills brain cells, is a depressant and is high in calories and financial cost, Mothes points out.

“[People] would not believe if they did that for a week, if they gave up [processed meats, cheese and alcohol], how really great they would feel, how much they would never want to go back,” Mothes says. “You could get rid of the pain in your joints, you could get rid of your headaches, you could just feel so much more energy and feel so much better.”

3 Practices for Mental Health

The practice of medicine is all about relationships, says Dr. Brad Robison. Here, he shares three free ways you can care for your mental health:

1. Make exercise a part of your regular life.

Robison says taking care of the body is good for the brain. Incorporating good sleep habits, exercise and sunshine into daily routines directly impacts the way the brain lays down neuropathways and memory pathways, as well as serotonin and dopamine pathways, which help in processing trauma.

“We are embodied beings,” Robison said. “You can’t separate body, mind and spirit, and they are intimately connected.”

2. Be in healthy relationships.

Robison says there are four types of space: dangerous space, where one has to fight to survive physically or fight for their identity to survive with their integrity intact. There is also nice space, which is passive-aggressive, in which people pretend there isn’t conflict. Then there is safe space, which is where both people feel they can be fully who they are. This can lead to sacred space, where both parties experience God’s presence with them in the space between them.

“Learn to practice creating safe space,” Robison said. “Safe space is an active relational attempt at creating safety to be present and imperfect. To be fully present, fully who I am with you, warts and all, while you’re doing the same thing.”

3. Do something that has a purpose bigger than you.

Find a way you can serve people for no other reason than to help make their lives better.

“Doing something that’s beyond you brings us to deeper levels of humility and deeper levels of interdependence on God and others,” Robison said.