December 20, 2013
If you’re thinking of entering your 2014 with, at the most, a vague idea of getting fit ranging from ‘moving around more’ to ‘smashing a whole triathlon’ and haven’t the slightest inclination on how to go about organising yourself, why not turn to the multitude of apps and digital platforms that enable you to be your own coach? Gamify your fitness and even dodge the inevitable gym subscription!
Pay as you Gym lets you scan participating gyms in your area. Choose from the list of facilities and ratings and buy drop-in ‘sessions’ to use when you like without having to commit to the gym membership. Perfect for those on the road or frequent travellers with the added convenience of anywhere anytime workouts.
Among the many other more popular running apps such as Nike or MapMyRun is Runkeeper. One of the more advanced motion tracker apps for all levels of runner, recently winning notoriety for its brand new iOS7 design integration. Users can start tracking their jogging and cycling among many other activities, set fitness goals like ‘Run a marathon by April’, monitor their progress and share and discuss across Facebook and Twitter while receiving useful reminders of your next run Schedule.
Already with a strong conversational presence on Twitter and Instagram Runkeeper users can measure and track themselves against each other and join the world leader board of Runkeeper ranking! Like a lot of new sport apps Runkeeper is also able to connect with others to cross reference your health monitoring with apps like Sleep Cycle, Gympact and Lose it below.
Gamify!
An amazing new app concept that’s slowly overtaking awards-based fitness apps is the approach of ‘gamification’. Turning your workout (and normal motion) into a game.
The Walk (from the original makers of Run Zombie Run!) is a great new game that allows you to constantly clock up progression by constantly tracking your motion and compete against other gamers and friends. The more you move the more progress you make in the game, and hopefully loose a little weight on the way, right?
Motivation and psychology is the key to the more successful fitness apps. Fuelling your motivation through either making the activities fun, competitive, winning rewards but above all showing off to your social networks. The best way is to try out the apps you like the ‘feel’ of and don’t be afraid to experiment, delete or commit. If you’re unsure about getting physical at all then the Sleep Cycle app alone is worth a go to simply get a better full nights sleep.
Fitness © Luis Louro – Fotolia.com