Here’s what you need to know…
- Training apps are a cheap and effective way to help inexperienced trainee’s, that don’t have access to a coach, achieve their health and fitness goals.
- With over 90’000 fitness apps to choose from in the iTunes store alone, selecting the right app and figuring out how to use it can be tricky.
- Starting Strength, Keelo and Couch to 5K are all great training programs designed to help beginners transition from sedentary to active lifestyles.
Without the help of a coach, planning your workouts and organising them into a structured program that delivers results is always going to be difficult. Knowing what exercises are best for your goals, what sequence to perform them in and how many reps and sets to perform of each exercise can be confusing. Training apps can help overcome this problem by giving you access to well designed and effective programs that can be stored conveniently on your mobile phone. In addition, training apps grant you the ability to capture, record and measure objective workout data – such as load, volume and duration. Used correctly, this information can be used to evaluate your performance and improve the overall quality of your results, in effect making you your own coach. With over 90’000 fitness apps to choose from in the iTunes store alone, selecting the right app and figuring out how to use it can be tricky. In this article, I’m going to review and recommend three different training apps that both I and my clients have experienced great success with. All three have been written by expert coaches and have been validated as to their effectiveness by thousands of users that have left positive reviews online.
1.Starting Strength
With the book now in its 3rd edition, Starting Strength is an extremely popular novice weight training program that has countless testimonials to its name online. Consisting of three weekly workouts, Starting Strength focuses on achieving linear progression (increasing the weight gradually every workout) in the basic barbell exercises – the Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Press and the Power Clean. Having followed the Starting Strength method myself for over six months and experiencing incredible results, I can attest to it being one of the simplest and most efficient ways to increase whole body strength for beginners. Priced at £8.99 the Starting Strength app combines Mark Rippetoe’s famous method for getting stronger with detailed instructional videos, thorough explanations and a day to day training program that delivers results. It also includes a warm up calculator, data export capabilities and a mobile version of the famous Starting Strength book (valued at over £10.00). I recommend it without reserve.
2. Keelo
Keelo is a high-intensity workout program designed to help you improve your general fitness with short, whole body workouts that require minimal equipment. Workouts typically last between 7-20 minutes and are scalable from beginner to advanced so you can make the workouts more challenging as you move through the program. Keelo also includes free email coaching which can be really helpful for beginners that are often unsure about how to modify a program to suit their needs. Keelo is free to download and use, however, to further your training plan you need to upgrade to Keelo premium. With in depth video tutorials and over 236 workouts to choose from, Keelo is a great app for beginners that are looking to burn some calories and get fit. I would recommend it to anyone that is short of time but still wants to get a good workout in.
3. Couch to 5K
Created by the NHS Couch to 5K (C25K) is a running plan designed specifically for beginners. This progressive running and walking interval program is the perfect choice for those that are overweight, out-of-shape or that could risk getting injured if they push too hard too soon. By following the C25K program and training for 20-30 minutes, 3 times per week trainee’s can expect to be ready to run their first 5K (3.1 Miles) in just nine weeks. The app itself contains a variety of different features that enable you to track your runs using GPS, listen to your music through the in-app player and record your workouts and progress throughout the duration of the program. Most importantly, C25K allows you to share your workouts on Facebook and join the largest community of runners on active.com trainer. In the absence of a trainer, the support, motivation and accountability provided by such a community can be invaluable by reinforcing commitment to your goals. Priced at only £1.99 Couch to 5K is available to almost everyone and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to take the first step towards a fitter, healthier body.
Closing
Training apps are a cheap effective way to help inexperienced trainee’s, that don’t have access to a coach, achieve their health and fitness goals. By providing users with a structured training plan to follow, training apps eliminate a significant amount of the guesswork beginners face when first starting out with their exercise routines. This free’s them up to instead focus on what really matters – their training. So, if your current off-the-cuff training routine isn’t producing the results you’re looking for, give one of the apps recommended above a try and add some focus and direction to your workouts. You won’t be disappointed.
