Want to track your workouts? 5 smart fitness gadgets for your gym bag

Earlier, people would go to the gym, sweat it out and come back home, that was it. But that is no longer enough. How far you ran, how fast your heart is beating, how much sleep you got at night and how much rest your body needs, all of this has now become important. If you are a fitness enthusiast, here are five gadgets that tell you not just about calories but also whether your body has recovered.

For those who love running, the Garmin Forerunner 165 watch is excellent. It has a large 1.2 inch AMOLED display and runs for as long as 11 days on a single charge. The watch tracks stamina, distance run and heart rate. It also has a feature called HRV, which tells you on waking up how much rest your body needs after the previous day's exercise. This means you do not end up straining your body by overdoing exercise.

For those who do not like wearing a large watch on their wrist, or who find it uncomfortable due to sweat or weight, the Ultrahuman Ring AIR is a useful option. It weighs just 2.4 grams and is made of the titanium metal used in fighter jets. Worn on the finger, it tracks sleep quality, body temperature and heart rate, and also gives a score for how much the body has recovered.

Almost everyone has experienced body soreness the day after an intense workout. For this, there is the Hyperice Hypervolt Go 2, a small massage gun. It has a powerful 40 watt motor and 3 speed settings. The best part is that it makes no noise at all, running quietly thanks to QuietGlide technology. Applying it for just 2 minutes on sore muscles increases blood flow and reduces pain. Having such a gun in your gym bag means you do not have to depend on anyone else for a massage.

For those who exercise but forget to drink water, there is a smart bottle like HidrateSpark. This bottle connects to your phone via Bluetooth and, based on your age, weight and how much you exercise, sets a target for how much water you should drink through the day. When it is time to drink water, the base of the bottle lights up, so there is no chance of forgetting.

Just standing on a weighing scale to check your weight is now an old idea. New smart scales like those from Withings use BIA technology, sending a small current through the feet to show on your phone how much fat, how much muscle and what BMI your body has. Losing weight alone does not mean you are fit, these scales show what is happening inside the body. To truly stay fit, exercise alone is not enough, understanding your body is just as important.