Fitness tools that tap the power of your friends

The two were locked in a fierce month-long competition to bike at least 1,000 miles. They rode at the same time, trading small talk and stats after each ride, and urged each other on. Shaner said that because of the close competition, he doubled the number of miles he would normally have biked in a month.

The biking, sweat and pain were all real.

But the race itself was virtual. The conversations were on Twitter, the rides tracked by an iPhone app. The friend, someone Shaner had never met, lives halfway around the world in Japan.

Welcome to the new world of fitness-tracking technology.

The tech has taken off over the past few years, led by small wearable pedometers like the FitBit and Nike Fuel Band, and apps that use the GPS and accelerometers in smartphones, like RunKeeper and Endomondo, CNN informs.

On their own, these tools can be helpful for anyone trying to get into shape. They collect all manner of data, tracking workouts so people can set goals and self-monitor their progress along the way. That's an important factor in changing any behavior, according to sports psychologists.

But newer social features are turning the gadgets into even more powerful motivation tools. People are connecting with friends on the apps and embracing official and unofficial ways of swapping encouraging messages and trash talk, comparing workout stats, and using peer pressure and the need for approval to push each other to work out more and meet their goals.

People who have friends on RunKeeper, even just one, are two to three times more active than people who use the app solo, according to CEO Jason Jacobs. FitBit says its users who use the social features on FitBit also tend to be more active.

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