- Tracking Your Daily Activity
- Tracking Steps
- Tracking Flights of Stairs Climbed
- Monitoring Walking and Running Distance
- Tracking Biking Activity
- Creating a Fitness Plan
- Achieving Health and Fitness Goals with More Apps
- Getting to Know High-Tech Canes
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Achieving Health and Fitness Goals with More Apps
If you have a smartphone, you have the means to obtain more fitness plans and exercises than you can possibly handle. Simply enter some information about yourself—including your height, weight, gender, what activities you like to do, and your current fitness level—to create a custom fitness plan. If you have little time, workouts can be flexible, as well as motivational. Imagine having a personal trainer on hand 24/7 showing you exactly what to do, who can analyze your movements using your device, and make sure you’re performing the movements correctly. How about a yoga or personal trainer app that can challenge you to help break through those plateaus? All you need is the will and space. The basement, attic, living room, or lawn will do. Read on to see some apps that can help you create a healthy lifestyle that can last a lifetime.
Get Fit with FitStar Personal Trainer
FitStar empowers you to take your fitness into your own hands and make a lasting change. If you’re already in great shape or want to take off a few pounds, this subscription service can tailor a workout especially for you that you’ll actually like following. The FitStar app makes it easy for you to access customized HD video workouts when you can’t make it to the gym and offers you the guidance you need if you don’t have a personal trainer. This program doesn’t require you to have a lot of space or an abundance of free time, and no equipment is needed. Visit fitstar.com to watch videos and learn what the program has to offer. The FitStar app is available for both Android and Apple (iOS) devices for free, but you need to pay for the subscription-based FitStar Premium to unlock the apps full potential, which includes unlimited sessions, premium programs, HD Video, and more. The following screenshots are taken on an iPhone.
The FitStar Personal Trainer app
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If you’re coming in at a moderate to high level of fitness, you might find that this program provides just the boost you’ve been looking for. If you haven’t worked out for quite some time, don’t get intimidated too quickly. FitStar has the ability to adjust and evolve to a level that can help you along the path to being the fittest version of you.
The FitStar program is dynamic and continually adjusts to your personal needs based on how you’re progressing through feedback. After each video session the app asks you questions such as, “How long did you keep up?” and “How hard was that?” so that it can assess your strengths and weaknesses. For example, the app can evolve to understand if you are stronger in your upper body or lower body. FitStar continues to gather information so that each move and repetition is adjusted to fit your level of fitness. You can also find programs for losing weight or gaining strength, and new workouts are added monthly.
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Access More Than 200 Free Fitness Workouts with Fitnet
If you have five minutes, then you have time for a Fitnet workout. The Fitnet app brings video fitness training to your Android phone and iPhone led by real, certified personal trainers, with sessions broken down into 5-minute and 7-minute workouts. Enter your fitness goals, and then receive custom workout plans and personalized guidance, which keep you accountable. Fitnet features a 7-day plan and weekly goals that keep you on track. Exercises including Yoga, Taiji, and strength and cardio workouts at various levels help to keep you motivated. Choose from a massive collection of workouts to find the perfect one for you and meet your fitness goals. New workouts are posted regularly, and the style and intensity of workout are adapted to you. The following screenshots are taken on an Android phone.
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The Fitnet app turns your mobile device’s camera into a biometric sensor that provides real-time feedback while you exercise. You can see the trainer and yourself as you work out. The app uses the webcam to analyze your synchronicity with the trainer onscreen and provides webcam scoring based on your performance.
You can find the Fitnet app in the Google Play Store and the App Store. The app is free to download and use, and there are in-app purchases, such as fitness challenges. Visit fit.net to read testimonials and learn more about the app.
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Fitnet uses your device’s camera to provide real-time biometric feedback on your performance.
Get the Most from Your Workout with Nike+ Training Club
The Nike+ Training Club app is a collection of more than 100 video workouts and is available to download and use for free for Android and Apple (iOS) devices. You can download only the workouts you want, customize your sessions, and choose drills that are right for your body. All workouts are led by Nike Pro athletes and designed by Nike Training Masters. Just press pause if you need to catch your breath. Audio cues, video guides, and step-by-step images help you keep in good form as you perform workouts. You can take each session on its own, but you can also participate in month-long programs to reach your fitness goals. Stream videos from your phone or tablet to your TV using Apple’s Airplay or Google’s Chromecast, or with an HDMI cable. The app is also full of drill tips, nutritional advice, and challenges. Stay motivated by sharing photos of your workout on your social networks. The following example is shown on an iPhone.
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Nike+ Training Club helps you design workouts to fit your own personal goals. No matter your fitness level, you can create a four-week program to get lean, get toned, and get strong. The Get Lean Program helps you burn fat and lose inches with high-intensity body-weight programs. The Get Toned program creates muscle definition with longer workouts and light weights. Choose the Get Strong program and use heavier weights to develop full body power without getting bulky. Simply pick a program, select a program level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced), add activities such as running, and then edit the various exercises included in that program.
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Personalize Your Workout with Sworkit
The Sworkit workout app guides you through video routines that are demonstrated by professional personal trainers. This app comes in a free Lite (scaled back) version and a paid Pro version (full featured). Try the Lite version to see how you like it. This app is great for daily circuit training, cardio and strength workouts, yoga/Pilates, and stretching. Dynamic video routines range from 5 to 60 minutes. Sworkit combines interval training with randomized exercises to maximize each video session. These circuit-training exercises do not require weights or extra equipment, help to ensure that your body doesn’t get used to a certain routine, and keep you motivated. Each exercise in the circuit training is 30 seconds long with built-in rest periods. The Sworkit app is available for both Android and Apple (iOS) devices. The following examples are shown on an Android phone.
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Dynamic videos by professional trainers, ranging from 5 to 60 minutes, keep you motivated.
Think of the Sworkit workout library like the music on an iPod or smartphone music app. Pick any of the videos and create your own exercise playlist. Modify any existing workout for a completely personalized experience. Create new challenges and insert running-in-place and push-ups between every other exercise. Download custom Sworkit workouts including low impact (no jumping), full body, beginner, intermediate, advanced full body, runner’s warm-up, office chair stretch, golfer Sworkit, and more. Select a part of the body that you want to work out by choosing from more than 20 workouts, or customize your workout. Use Sworkit to create a workout routine to fit your schedule, and then get to work.
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Maximize Your In-Home Workouts with Wello
Wello is a service uniquely tailored to you, compared to the previous prerecorded video workouts we have discussed. Wello lets you connect with a live personal trainer via two-way webcam from your living room, office, hotel room, or whatever space works best for you. You can also connect with other group members over the Wello video platform. All you need is a laptop or desktop computer with a webcam, a broadband Internet connection, and a little bit of space.
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Wello lets you connect with a live personal trainer or other group members via webcam, from your home, or on the road.
Wello offers a wide range of fitness activities including personal training, yoga, Pilates, boot camp, kettlebell workouts, Zumba, martial arts, and much more. Activities are being added every day. You can book 1-on-1 workouts for 30 or 60 minutes, or 60-minute group workouts. As of this writing, Wello offers the choice between 1-on-1 membership plans or small group membership plans, based on how many sessions a month you want to do: 4, 10, or 30. You can also choose to pay as you go for 1-on-1 or group workouts.
To learn more about what Wello has to offer, visit Wello.com. As of this writing, Wello has an iPad app that you can use, but it is still working on its Android app. The following examples are from wello.com. If you visit its site and like what you see, it’s easy to get started and connect with a live trainer online.
When you sign up, Wello helps you find the right trainer and get started with your live online workouts. You can search by schedule, price, workout type, trainer style, gender, reviews, plus more criteria to narrow the field and find what fits you. If you don’t see a class at the time you want, you can email Wello and the people there will make it happen. Just tell Wello what activity you want to do and when you would like to do it, months or minutes in advance. You can also track your workouts using the Dashboard feature. Before you sign up, visit wello.com to learn more details about operating system, browser, and hardware compatibility. The site also offers a link that you can click to test your video and audio setup so you can prep your physical space to exercise.
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Wello helps you find the right trainer or small group class that fits your needs.
Log Activity with MapMyFitness
With the MapMyFitness app, you can log more than 600 different workouts, record GPS-based activities, and connect with more than 400 devices to import and analyze all of your activities’ data. This app has one of the largest selections of activities to track, including running, cycling, walking, gym workouts, cross training, yoga, and much more. Connect your compatible device to view steps, sleep, workouts, and more in a single graph. Record GPS-based workouts and analyze detailed stats such as pace, route, distance, calories burned, and elevation. If you’re looking for one app that can handle just about anything you can do and connect to huge list of devices including Jawbone, Misfit, Fitbit, Garmin, and Withings, this may be your go-to one-stop app. Upgrade to Premium and access features like heart-rate-analysis, personal training plans, audio coaching, and Live Tracking. MapMyFitness also lets you share your progress and workouts with family and friends on social media; you can also join group challenges for activities, climb the leader board, and win prizes. MapMyFitness is available for both Android phones and the iPhone and can be downloaded for free. You can use many features for free. You need to upgrade to a paid MVP Membership to access special features, including heart rate analysis, personal training plans, and audio coaching. The following examples are shown on an iPhone.
The Map My Fitness app
Map Your Route
MapMyFitness can use the sensors in your smartphone and a fitness tracker. Using a GPS-enabled phone, MapMyFitness pinpoints your current location as soon as you select an activity such as Run, Walk, or Road Cycling, and maps your route for that particular activity. After you complete a workout, you can view a summary including distance, duration, and pace, and see your route charted on a map. You can also save a route to use it for future workouts. If you’re looking for a new route to run, MapMyFitness can help with that as well. Route Genius scans your current area and presents a list of different routes for you to choose from. Each option is also presented with the distance for each route. To narrow down your search for a new route even further, you can filter options shown in the list by distance.
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Track Your Activity
Tracking your activity with MapMyFitness is simple. Just tap Activity on the default main page to choose from more than 600 activities. At first, the Activities list is filtered to only show a few of the activities under the Recent tab. You can tap All to view a comprehensive list of what MapMyFitness has to offer. When you first switch from an activity that utilizes GPS, such as running, to one that doesn’t, such as pushups, MapMyFitness alerts you that GPS is not needed for this activity, and then prompts you to turn off GPS. You can do this within the alert message, so there is no need to leave the app. After you have picked a workout, tap Start Workout at the bottom of the screen. The Start Workout button turns into a Pause Workout button. Pause the workout when needed, and the option to finish the workout also appears. You can then view a summary of your activity data, which you can save or discard after each activity.
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Improve Your Posture with the Lumo Lift App
The Lumo Lift sensor and app is your digital posture coach and activity tracker. Slouching doesn’t only make you look bad, but can actually cause long-term damage. This imbalance in body alignment can strain ligaments and muscles and cause chronic pain in the neck, back, and hips; joint stiffness; and more ailments. The Lumo Lift sensor and app helps you improve your posture long term by reinforcing good posture habits. Here’s how it works. Clip the Lumo Lift sensor using the magnetic clasp onto your shirt, right below the collarbone. The sensor can be easily concealed. Lumo Lift tracks your posture and activities, and uses a gentle vibration to remind you to straighten your posture when you begin to slouch. Set goals for good posture hours tracked for the day. Lumo Lift also passively tracks your steps activity, and lets you set a daily step goal, track distance, and view calories burned. Lumo Lift is available for both Android phones and the iPhone. You can download the Lumo Lift app for free on the Google Play Store and the App Store. Visit lumobodytech.com to learn more and purchase the item. You can also purchase the Lumo Lift sensor on amazon.com. The following examples are shown on the iPhone.
Before you begin your goal to better posture, the Lumo Lift needs some information from you.
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Lumo Lift first needs to be calibrated so it knows what constitutes good posture. After calibration, Lumo Lift vibrates to let you know when you have deviated from your standard of good posture. Enable coach vibrations as reminders when you have remained in a slouched position for a specified amount of time. Lumo Lift recommends that this time be two minutes. After two minutes of bad posture, a gentle vibration reminds you to adjust your posture. Track your progress over time using a graph for more insight into your posture habits.
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