Fitness in the 21st Century :: It's Strapped to Your Arm

The latest and greatest way to work out isn't about what's on your feet, whether or not your music is the best while you sweat away, or even about how many reps you do in a session, it's about your overall health and well-being.

How much you work out and how much you sleep are all a part of health and happiness and staying motivated, when you just don't want to do what is best for numero uno.

Now there's a way to keep track of all those things and more.

These handy little devices not only keep track, they give you little nudges and remind you to step it up or sleep it out.

Sort of a nanny for hire, and it just sits on your wrist.

THE RAGE MONTHLY'S TOP FOUR:

THE BASIS PEAK

Not sure how your body is performing? Well, this is the ultimate gadget for you. Not only does this handy tracker keep tabs on your workouts and performance by monitoring your heart rate, as well as perspiration and skin temperature, it automatically identifies and follows your body movements. It intelligently notices when exercise has begun, be it walking, running or biking by tracking heart rate in real time, counting steps and/or estimated calories burned.

Equipped with a pedometer, heart rate monitor and galvanic skin response sensors, it continually tracks activities as well as sleep patterns, collecting the data to provide habit-coaching feedback, offering daily achievement-style goals and tailoring them to keep you motivated.

Waterproof and rugged, with a Gorilla Glass LCD touch screen that allows you to swipe left and right for different data points, the Basic Peak is stylish and �ber-cool. It also supports push notifications for incoming texts and phone calls. All you need to do is charge it up, enter your personal data and wirelessly sync with your iPhone or Android phone app and let the games begin.

$199 Available at mybasis.com

GARMIN FORERUNNER 10

Another of the"little watches that could,"this tracker from Garmin counts your steps, calories and distance throughout the day. It monitors your heart rate and offers information on reaching your zone milestones and records your distances and cadence performance for you to review and track.

The personal records feature, Forerunner 15, even tells you when you set your new fastest mile or your longest run to date using GPS to accurately record your time, pace and distance. If you're on your butt too long, it's a built in "inactivity indicator" that motivates you to move -- just what we need -- a guilt trip attached to our wrist!

Garmin Connect and a simple connection to your Mac or PC (sadly, not smartphones), allows you to upload activities, so you can see your run on a map, get more details on each mile, see a daily summary of your activities and share it with friends. Waterproof, rechargeable and designed well, it's simple and fun to use and has an optional heart rate monitor.

$140 Available at amazon.com

MIO FUSE

PC Magazine put this one in its top ten. It's an all-day activity tracker with a red LED dot matrix display that shows the time, with an optical heart rate monitor for workouts and training.

With a two-pronged watch-style closure on a soft silicone band, this little puppy records times, steps, distance covered and calories burned, plus continuous heart rate and heart rate zones reached, during workouts. It also tracks pace during runs making the Mio an excellent tracker that is perfect for runners and cyclists. Great for swimmers as well, because it's fully waterproof.

Sadly, this one does not track sleep or take your resting heart rate, but for the price... it's a steal. Coolest feature? The Mio Fuse has a vibration alert, the band buzzes when your heart rate changes zones, allowing you to get a good idea of your training zone, even when you can't see the band. Bluetooth smart (4.0) and ANT+ transmission capable with mobile apps and other sport devices.

$149 Available at mioglobal.com

FITBIT CHARGE

This all-day tracker accurately follows your movements, tracking stats like steps taken, stairs climbed, distance traveled, calories burned and total active minutes. This one also tracks your sleep as well, has a silent alarm and comes with a tiny USB syncing device that automatically transfers your Fitbit data to your online account via most smartphones and whenever you're near a Mac or Windows computer.

A couple downsides; it does not have an optical heart rate monitor that can take readings through your skin and though the Charge does have caller ID, it doesn't offer incoming text messages or other notifications from your phone.

$129 Fitbit Charge and many other selections are available at fitbit.com