How do we allow people to become more active but stay connected at the same time? This is a question those in the technology sector have been facing for quite some time. In general, it seems that people today want to maintain their health and fitness routines while never disconnecting from their social and business aspects of life.

What is the simplest way to solve that conundrum? Smartphones, mobile apps and wearable health gadgets. Technological advances such as these have quickly brought the fitness and communication worlds together — and the possibilities seem endless.

According to the USDA, less than 5 percent of adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day, and only 1 in 3 adults receive the recommended amount of physical activity each week. Now, combine those statistics with the trends seen in the smartphone sector. According to the Pew Research Center's information, 58 percent of American adults have a smartphone, and 29 percent of cell owners describe their cellphone as "something they can't imagine living without."

Even to a layperson, the connection is simple: Pair up smartphone technology with an active lifestyle, and we can fight one of the most important factors contributing to an epidemic of overweight and obesity in this country. Recent studies show that just monitoring your fitness can lead you to be 26 percent more active.

As with most commerce sectors, the most successful products in the technology industry address serious needs that people have. This is very much the case behind the current movement to create all types of wearable devices designed to make people healthier. Whether people want to lose weight or simply boost their performance, there is now an answer for them right at their fingertips.

According to IHS, options range from activity monitors, food pods, pedometers and other fitness and heart rate monitors to more advanced items that fit in the wearable technology category, such as smart glasses and smart watches. Monitoring everything from eating and exercise statistics to sleep patterns and emotional characteristics, wearable technology and smartphone access provide pretty much all you need to succeed in today's fitness world.

Add to those handy perks the simple fact that people can still feel like they're not missing out on what's going on in the rest of the world, all while putting in miles on the treadmill or out on the bicycle trail, and you have a product that is only going to continue to grow.

Having the ability to check Facebook and Twitter updates or catch the score of the latest playoff series, all while jamming to your custom playlist, really puts the power of multitasking back in the hands of the user — or perhaps the earbud of the user. With such devices, the list of excuses to work out has become increasingly shorter.

If you look at this trend strictly from a gym perspective, some say smartphones and connected devices have somewhat dehumanized the fitness industry. In a scene where personal trainers, group classes and workout buddies were the norm, you now find more people creating their own workout routines with the help of smartphone apps.

"People used to go to the gym to socialize or for fellowship, but these days everyone's plugged into their smartphones, to their own world," said fitness enthusiast and former triathlon trainer, Rheagen Duckett of Oklahoma City. "As someone who goes to the gym five or six days a week, sometimes a couple of times a day, I've watched the gym atmosphere go through a myriad of changes — some positive, so not so positive."

One of the changes noted is the presence of more "gym beginners." Some gyms used to be filled with gym buffs and pros, knowing exactly how many calories to burn or how much weight to gain to meet their expected goal. Now, with the ease of mobile apps and smartphone technology, exercise amateurs are starting to become more prevalent.

Having an app that can put you through an entire routine, or show you how each machine works makes the end user that much more powerful and informed. The insecurities of beginners have fallen to the side and the can-do attitude is taking over, all because of simple accessibility.

With the dizzying array of fitness trackers and health-related gadgets out there, not to mention the huge push by healthcare providers for people to be more physically fit, the fitness industry is sure to gain from smartphone technology and connected devices out there today. Where exactly these health tools are headed is hard to say, but it's easy to assume that they're heading there as fast as possible.