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By: Sheri Matthews
As athletes we’re always looking for new knowledge and ways to give ourselves the upper hand in our training, and let’s be honest: few of us have the time to track and/or analyze our workouts with any real kind of regularity or accuracy. But don’t worry. Like just about everything else these days, there’s an app that will do these things for you. Here are 10 apps that the real-life, new-age athlete needs right now.
1. Strava Free
For the social-media loving cyclist and runner, Strava lets you track your rides and runs via your iPhone, Android or dedicated GPS device, helping you to analyze and quantify your performance. Strava also brings the athlete’s community to you with virtual competitions, clubs and leaderboard tracking. Even the pros are into this app, checking in on what the competition is up to.
2. Endomondo Sports Tracker Free
Are you into running, cycling, walking, skiing, kayaking, skating, or any other sport involving movement across a distance? Endomondo.com is the place where you can automatically track all your sports data and monitor your performance over time. At Endomondo.com you meet like-minded friends, get inspired by them, challenge them, and follow their activities… all live!
3. Fitness Builder by Pump One Free for one month, then $9.99
The price may cost as much as your green juice but it’s the beet of all training apps. Compressive fitness with plans for all disciplines, and it has the largest library of images and videos. No need to read on, just try it.
4. Runtastic Free
The idea is that you can only manage what you can measure. This app automatically records elapsed time, distance, calories burned, speed and elevation, tracking everything via the onboard GPS. This app lets you analyze every step you take, compare your routes, and track your performance from a number of different angles.
5. MapMyRun Free
The No. 1 iPhone app for runners, MyMapRun provides real-time fitness tracking at your fingertips, using your Smartphone’s GPS to record every detail of your workout. Follow your route on an interactive map while logging time, distance, speed, pace, elevation and calories burned
6. Ubersence Free
Formerly known as ExceladeGreat, this app is particularly effective for coaches and trainers, along with the athlete, in that it allows for slow-motion video analysis. Teams striving for medals at the recent 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi turned to video analysis apps to help them fine-tune their performance and give them a competitive edge.
7. Garmin Fit $.99
Using your Smartphone’s GPS, this app, like a few of the others we’ve listed, tracks your movements and provides you with your current speed, distance traveled, elapsed time and calories burned. With the built-in music features, you can also select the perfect soundtrack for your workout, but the cool thing is that when your workout is done, your data is automatically updated to Garmin Connect, where you can view your route on a map, easily track your progress and share your workouts with others.
8. Health Tip of the Day Free
Motivating, educating, Health Tip of the Day offers you daily, easy-to-follow tips on how to be just a little bit healthier. The app offers you the option to schedule a daily alarm as well, so if you’re worried about checking in on your tip every day, your IOS device will remind you when there is a new one available!
9. Lose It Free
Consolidate your workout journal and food diary into one with this handy tracker. Inputting data can get tedious but the food library is extensive and includes name brands plus generic categories like fruit, coffee and chicken (broiled, oven roasted, etc…). Each food type includes accurate calorie, carb, fiber, fat, sodium and protein values, which you can track on a separate page.
10. MyWOD $1.99
If you’re looking for a simple way to log and track your XF (CrossFit) workouts, myWOD (Workout of the Day) is your app! Keep track of your records and seamlessly share your accomplishments on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, or via email. MyWOD gives you the ability to log your max weight achievements, as well as pull daily WODs directly from www.crossfit.com or your favorite box/gym’s feed.
