Fitness Software

[joeparaski]

Does anybody here use any kind of software to track their fitness? I've been researching on the net and find there's so many to choose from. Am trying a few trial versions to see what they're like, but if someone is using one that they feel does a great job, I'd like to know about it.

Joe

[bobman1235]

A bunch of decent ones for the iPhone, but I'm guessing that's not what you meant.

[cokewithvanilla]

I think the best ones are available for a device you can take with you to the gym. If I do 20 sets in a workout, there is no way I am going to remember how many reps I did each set unless I record that at the gym. Also, if you are doing prescribed rest times, these applications also have a stop watch built in... I mean if you did 8 reps 225, then 6 reps 225 after a 2 minute rest, or 8 reps 225 after a 10 minute rest... they are different... but then again if your lifting tempo is changed, none of that matters... try lifting your usual weight at 3 sec up 3 sec down and you'll probably either be using 80% weight, or doing 60% reps... nothing is really gonna calculate that for you..

You can make something on excel. What, exactly, do you want this thing to do?

[maximillian]

Xplay ranked "The biggest loser" for the Kinect pretty highly. Haven't tried it since I don't have a 360. It sounds like it would be fun but it would cost $350 for someone without the hardware. Better to just get a gym membership.

[joeparaski]

I think the best ones are available for a device you can take with you to the gym. If I do 20 sets in a workout, there is no way I am going to remember how many reps I did each set unless I record that at the gym. Also, if you are doing prescribed rest times, these applications also have a stop watch built in... I mean if you did 8 reps 225, then 6 reps 225 after a 2 minute rest, or 8 reps 225 after a 10 minute rest... they are different... but then again if your lifting tempo is changed, none of that matters... try lifting your usual weight at 3 sec up 3 sec down and you'll probably either be using 80% weight, or doing 60% reps... nothing is really gonna calculate that for you..

You can make something on excel. What, exactly, do you want this thing to do?

I'm looking at something like this... http://www.vidaone.com/vodf_win.htm check out the screen-shots. This particular software is on my short list.

Basically I'm doing cross-fit with a private trainer twice a week and the rest of the week is a mix of p90x, yoga, and spinning on my bike (at home). I just want to start logging this stuff to see how I'm progressing with real numbers. I'm also going to modify the garage and turn half of it into a gym and get one of those multi-function machines.

Joe

[cokewithvanilla]

there are a lot of programs out there for logging activities. Many of them are real cheap, since basically it is just a glorified notepad.

That software you're looking at look pretty comprehensive.. it has a lot of things that I just don't know what they do :P Basically, the general idea of exercising is simply doing more (even slightly) than you did the week before... this requires a simple notepad

Do you want something to like estimate calories burned and stuff? I am wondering what are the most important features to you. I'm downloading vidaone right now... I can't really tell what's going on from the screenshots

[cokewithvanilla]

Alright, I downloaded VidaOne and synced it with my phone. It is extremely comprehensive. I do not know how accurate it is. For example, today I did a HIT workout Chest/Tris/Abs... It will allow me to enter strength training, time, difficulty, ect... it estimates that I burned 748 calories. It lets me log my workouts, but it is difficult to do... and cannot do any more than 5 sets unless you did the same weight over each set.

I did 7 sets of bench, starting at 195 6 reps very slow 3-4 sec down, 2-3 sec up. Of course, the goal here is burn out... so I started lowering the reps, then lower the weight, then added drop sets. there is no way to log this. NOt to mention that logging is painfully slow and there are only a handful of exercises to pick from, so count on adding a lot of custom ones.

It has a pretty comprehensive diet thing... tons of food to choose from, sizes/quantities, ect. It has a gps tracking thing that does your running... average sppeed and duration/ distance... nice layout, seems to work fine.

It has a lot of stuff ,certainly more than anything that I have used. Syncing with my laptop is done over wifi and is painless. If you want something that does everything, this certainly does. It isn't perfect, but it does do a lot of things... Idk if it's worth $50... I would recommend trying it for a week or two before buying it. At any rate, it's better than anything I've used (not that that says much, my experience has all been strictly iphone apps)... so that's probably all I can really say :P


edit: to get more than 5 sets, you can simply add the exercise again. I didn't think this was possible because when I did, it brought up my old info... maybe it simply remembers you last input... but it will let you put the same exercise as many times as you want. Still, there is nothing I can find that will let me indicate a drop set compound, or super...there is a notepad there though, you could type it in.

[RuSsMaN]

Fitness. What a horrible idea.

[joeparaski]

Alright, I downloaded VidaOne and synced it with my phone. It is extremely comprehensive. I do not know how accurate it is. For example, today I did a HIT workout Chest/Tris/Abs... It will allow me to enter strength training, time, difficulty, ect... it estimates that I burned 748 calories. It lets me log my workouts, but it is difficult to do... and cannot do any more than 5 sets unless you did the same weight over each set.

I did 7 sets of bench, starting at 195 6 reps very slow 3-4 sec down, 2-3 sec up. Of course, the goal here is burn out... so I started lowering the reps, then lower the weight, then added drop sets. there is no way to log this. NOt to mention that logging is painfully slow and there are only a handful of exercises to pick from, so count on adding a lot of custom ones.

It has a pretty comprehensive diet thing... tons of food to choose from, sizes/quantities, ect. It has a gps tracking thing that does your running... average sppeed and duration/ distance... nice layout, seems to work fine.

It has a lot of stuff ,certainly more than anything that I have used. Syncing with my laptop is done over wifi and is painless. If you want something that does everything, this certainly does. It isn't perfect, but it does do a lot of things... Idk if it's worth $50... I would recommend trying it for a week or two before buying it. At any rate, it's better than anything I've used (not that that says much, my experience has all been strictly iphone apps)... so that's probably all I can really say :P


edit: to get more than 5 sets, you can simply add the exercise again. I didn't think this was possible because when I did, it brought up my old info... maybe it simply remembers you last input... but it will let you put the same exercise as many times as you want. Still, there is nothing I can find that will let me indicate a drop set compound, or super...there is a notepad there though, you could type it in.

That's excellent, thank you for the mini-review, it is very helpful. I don't think the price is too bad for what it give. Of course I may be overdoing it, which is typical of me, but I'm sure I'll find some balance somewhere.

Thanks again.

Joe

Joe

[steveinaz]

Dammit, I thought this was about software that replaced exercise.

[edbert]

My wife and I have used the free version of online software on www.livestrong.com and it helps you to keep track of fitness stuff and diet stuff as well. I like the create your loops feature which will help you plan out routes to bike or run in your area, save them and track when you run them and how long it takes. It is simple enough to figure out and then there is a more advanced pay version if you were to need more detail. It's free so check it out and I think there is an iPhone/iPod app that ties to it as well.

[cokewithvanilla]

Dammit, I thought this was about software that replaced exercise.

like a virtual AbTronic ?! Imagine the results you could achieve

[inspiredsports]

I don't know the specifics, but my (barely overweight) sister (and her husband too) have both lost quite a bit of weight since Christmas using their newly acquired Wii and associated software. I guess that's too proprietary for a general answer, but I want to mention it has been quite successful (as well as entertaining) for them.

[tonyb]

Tracking your fitness ?? Any 50 buck hooker can do that....AND it's fun to use.

[joeparaski]

My wife and I have used the free version of online software on www.livestrong.com and it helps you to keep track of fitness stuff and diet stuff as well. I like the create your loops feature which will help you plan out routes to bike or run in your area, save them and track when you run them and how long it takes. It is simple enough to figure out and then there is a more advanced pay version if you were to need more detail. It's free so check it out and I think there is an iPhone/iPod app that ties to it as well.

Thanks for the link...checking it out now.

Joe