Fitness Apps Review

SPORT

Which Fitness App is Best for You?

Fitness apps are undoubtedly a great help in building and tracking fitness, but where do you begin to choose which one is best for you from the plethora on offer? Billy Hipperson puts them to the test.

Nike Training Club

User interface: Out of the two apps I have been using, Nike training club is by far the easiest to use. Most workouts are downloadable so can be accessed anywhere with adequate planning. Once you have selected a workout all the exercises are listed clearly with the equipment needed. My favourite feature of this app is the audio description; there is no need to be staring down at a screen as all the exercises are thoroughly described and their purposes explained. Variety: Nike Training Club truly caters for all abilities with its wide range of workout types, intensities and durations. As daunting as it may be, choosing the right workout out of four hundred and thirty five the App developers have made it incredibly easy, this is done by filtering the target muscle groups, workout focus, equipment available and skill level required. From high intensity strength to slow restorative yoga this App has it all!

A full 52 card workout can be quite daunting

Motivation: Once you start a workout it’s quite tricky to leave it. I believe this is intentional in order to encourage seeing the workout through. NTC offers a range of fitness programmes as well as one-off workouts. Although I didn’t try any of them, I think they would be very useful for people who don’t always know what to do. As part of the activity tracking system NTC dishes out trophies for work out frequency, consistency and volume. I thought this was a really nice touch as it is great positive feedback. Overall, I give Nike training club a 5/5

Let’s WOD

Overview: Instead of a huge database of various types of workout Let’s WOD uses a deck of cards and a timer to get people fit. Each suit corresponds to a customisable exercise with each card representing the number of reps to be performed (the ten of spades is ten push ups for example). Cards are picked at random by the app and the aim is to finish the deck in as little time as possible.

User interface: the App developers for let’s WOD have gone for a minimalist approach in the layout and functions of the app, I think this was the right way to go. Creating your own workout is super easy and the app stores these workouts automatically along with all your previous times. My only issue with the app is the adverts. Variety: Let’s WOD has a small database of premade workouts with clear focuses. Although the App offers little in the way of premade workouts the possibility to create personalised workouts more than makes up for this. Coupled with a bit of research Let’s WOD provides a great starting point for beginners and allows those more advanced to push themselves. For the App to be more inclusive to beginners I would like to see an option to do a partial deck as a full 52 card workout can be quite daunting.

Motivation: Being a very simple App Let’s WOD doesn’t offer any flashy trophies to keep its users motivated, instead there is just a tracking system which is great for seeing progress but definitely doesn’t get those less self-motivated up and active.

Overall, I give Let’s WOD a 4/5