Recently I showed ABC’s Peggy Bunker some fun apps that can help you get into shape for spring. If spring ever arrives. All with the help of your ever-present smart phone. You can watch the segment here:
[You can watch this video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RcSZrnKQs4.]
Or read on for more info: Now get moving!
Lose It: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (coming soon to Android)
COST: Free
DESCRIPTION: Create a diet plan, by entering your weight, height age and sex. The app sets up a daily caloric intake to help you reach your goal at a rate you decide. You can also log in on your computer to enter info there. Add daily food, exercise Keep a digital food diary and get a total daily calorie count to help you reach your goal weight. It will also add in calories lost through exercise. Create recipes, modify exercise, even share your info with friends, though I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do that.
MORE INFO: http://loseit.com/screenshots.jsp
Cardio Trainer (Android only)
COST: Free
DESCRIPTION: If you’re an Android user, CardioTrainer is one of the most popular fitness apps currently out there for you. It’s easy to set up; enter weight, height, etc. so it can track your calories burned, and start your workouts. Like the others, it uses your phone’s GPS to map where you’ve been, but it also has a pedometer to record your progress is case you lose your GPS signal.
In addition to running, you can use CardioTrainer for biking, walking, rollerblading, and a bunch of other activities.
The app uses a built-in music player, so you have access to all your playlists while you’re exercising. In addition, there are verbal encouragements and when you’re done; you’ll get a calorie count of how much you’ve burned, along with a food example of how much that is. This morning I walked off 2 strawberries. A free calorie counter helps you keep track of your daily food intake. It also wants to share your info with friends on Facebook, an option which I quickly disabled.
Optional upgrades are a Race against Yourself mode with audio feedback and a pro trainer version.
iMapMy (iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, Android and BlackBerry)
COST: Free, upgrade to paid versions
DESCRIPTION: Apps from a company called MapMyFitness. It’s a fitness tracking application that uses the built-in GPS of your mobile device to track all of your fitness activities. Record your workout details, including duration, distance, pace, speed, elevation, calories burned, and route traveled on an interactive map. There are apps for running, riding, walking, hiking, which do cost a little. You can sync with a heart-rate monitor to save and upload your workout data to the MapMyFITNESS website.
Share the details of your fitness activities with friends and family, via email, Facebook, or Twitter. You can sign up for the free version or pay $4.99 for an ad-free version that also stores more rides and statistics.
Daily Burn (iPhone, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad)
COST: Free
DESCRIPTION: This app helps you need to manage your diet, fitness, and exercise, backed by DailyBurn: a web-based fitness community. Data from your phone is automatically synced to the website for analysis and tracking.
Especially helpful to newbies is the ability to make a training plan, complete with detailed instructions on how to properly perform a given exercise. You can tailor your plan based on your goals: weight loss, cardio training, muscle building, etc. Once you begin working out, you can track your exercises on the go, and select your favorite ones for a custom workout.
It will also track your daily caloric intake to help you meet your weight loss goals.
Use the optional (paid) food scanner to access the food database of over 350,000 foods with actual pictures, full nutrition information, and food analysis.
MORE INFO: http://dailyburn.com/apps
Fooducate (iPhone only)
COST: Free
DESCRIPTION: If you’re looking for an app that might help you shop and eat a little more healthfully, check out Fooducate. Sure, you already read food labels, but Fooducate helps you figure out what they mean, and whether or not the product is up to snuff, nutritionally.
Simply scan the product’s barcode and it will return the name, a grade and how it was reached, and how it compares to other similar products. For instance, I scanned my favorite yogurt and was pleased to find it scored a B+ and it was noted to be a good source of calcium. Under ‘alternatives’ it showed me which brands scored even higher, and why.
So when a food items claims to be “organic,” or “all-natural,” you might also learn it has excessive sugar and sodium, or controversial food colorings. The app also has a compare feature that lets you scan two products side by side. If a product doesn’t scan, you can enter the numbers manually. The company says it has over 200,000 unique food products so far.
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Have you guys done a segment on fitness games for the Wii or Kinect?
We haven’t recently, certainly time to do that one again!