I love my iPhone.  I use it more than any other electronic device, with the exception of my desktop computer and, of course, my TV.  But unlike these immobile devices, my iPhone is always with me – even at the gym.

One of the biggest advantages of the iPhone is the thousands of applications, or “apps” that are available for it.  You can find everything from quite serious educational and scientific apps to apps that are just plain silly.  Some of the apps that immediately caught my eye when I first got my iPhone were the fitness and nutritional apps.

The quality of most of these applications are phenomenal.  Most not only contain a list of fitness routines and exercises, they also include videos on how to properly perform them.  And once you’ve completed your routine, the application logs it and charts your progress.  It’s like having a personal fitness trainer with you at all times.

Pictured to the right are the 4 apps that I currently have loaded on my iPhone and use on a more-or-less regular basis (iFitness, Inflict Training, Daily Burn, and THI Personal Trainer).  Although there are hundreds of others available, let me give you my opinion of what to look for in a good fitness application.

Are Fitness Apps for You?

Absolutely!  There’s a tremendous amount of fitness and nutritional information packed into these apps and the iPhone interface makes them so incredibly easy to use.  On top of that, the cost of most of these applications runs anywhere from free to  2 or 3 bucks.  You simply can’t beat the value.

Secondly, these apps add variety to your workouts.  The hardest thing to deal with in a fitness routine is the repetition.  “Lift the weight, lower the weight.  Lift the weight, lower the weight.  OK, now the other side.  Lift the weight, lower the weight….” You know what I mean.

These apps provide an entire database of exercises for each muscle group for you to chose from.  Most apps include exercises both with, as well as without, weights in addition to exercises for the gym (using machines) as well as at home (using bodyweight).  With such a long list of different exercises to choose from, you’ll never get bored with your routine again.

A World of Fitness Information

The amount of fitness information that’s crammed into these applications could be used to create a graduate level college course!  Most apps not only supply a list of exercises, they also provide videos on how to properly perform the exercise including tips and suggestions of what to watch for.  It’s like having a personal trainer showing you the proper technique before you begin a new exercise.  These videos are always available so you can replay them anytime you want.

Some of these applications even provide a diagram of the primary and supporting muscles each exercise works so you know exactly what the exercise is targeting.  This allows you to custom-design a routine for your exact needs.

Don’t want to spend time custom-designing a routine?  Then choose from the many preloaded routines included in the apps.  You’ll find routines that range from beginner to advanced levels, cardio as well as strength training, and of course, routines that focus on weight loss.

Although none of the apps I looked at incorporated any kind of feedback monitor like a heart rate monitor or an activity sensor (except the Nike program), most apps did provide the number of calories each exercise, or routine, could be expected to burn.

There’s More to Fitness than Exercise

Yes, there’s more to fitness than just exercising all day long.  You can’t leave nutrition out of the fitness equation.  Here’s where the apps start separating themselves into two distinct groups:  Exercise only apps (like iFitness, Inflict Training, and THI Personal Training, among many others) and Nutrition only apps (like Calorie Tracker, Weightbot, Restaurant Nutrition, and many, many others).

The nutrition apps were loaded with lots of worthwhile information including vast databases of nutritional data on just about any kind of food that’s readily available.  They all allow you to track the exact (or pretty close to exact) amount of calories you eat breaking it down into the total number of fat, protein, and carbohydrate grams.  All of the nutrition apps also create graphs and charts showing your percentage of each.

Let me tell you, when you call up the nutritional data and see how many grams of fat are in that Chicken Cordon Blue you’re about to order, it really makes you stop and think – which is the whole point!  That brings up the next topic.

The Key to Success are Logs, Logs, Logs

ALL the applications, both exercise as well as nutrition apps, contained some sort of log enabling you to track your progress.  This is KEY, KEY, KEY to any fitness program.  Whether you’re tracking the number of minutes on the treadmill, number of chest presses, or total number of calories, you’ve got to keep a log.

Here’s what keeping a log does – it forces you to think about the decisions you’ve made (or about to make).  There’s no hiding.  A fitness log keeps you accountable.  If you’ve gained a pound this week instead of losing a pound, all you have to do is to check your log to see where you might have made some better food choices.  If your muscles aren’t getting as toned as you’d like, the answer is in your log.

Keeping a nutrition log forces you to think about what you’re eating.  After a while, you really hesitate eating that junk food because you know how bad it’s going to look on your log.  Keeping an exercise log makes you want to exercise just so you can fill in those huge gaps of time that have opened up in you log since the last time you exercised.  Keeping a log is the real key to success for any fitness program.

All of these applications made keeping a log easy but even if you use paper and pencil, it’s critical that you keep one.

My Overall Choice

I was a little disappointed that the nutrition apps completely ignored the importance of exercise and the exercise apps didn’t mention nutrition at all.  What I was looking for was an app that balanced both.  I found one called the Daily Burn and it’s become my favorite fitness app and is the one I use on pretty much a daily basis.

Like the other apps, this one has built-in workout routines as well as provisions for adding your own.  Adding the amount of repetitions and sets is a snap.  It then calculates how many pounds you’ve lifted as well as the number of calories you’ve (theoretically) burned.  I have found that the calorie count seems to be a little low when I compare it to my heart rate monitor but that’s minor in my opinion.  Besides, it’s doing the exercise that’s important – not how accurate the calorie count is.

What really “sold” me on this app was the nutritional section.  You can easily find and log the foods that you’ve eaten in addition to looking up the nutritional value of anything you’re considering eating.  Adding a new food to the database is also easily done.

The Daily Burn app is really designed to work with their website at www.dailyburn.com and I found that signing up for a free basic account there was well worth the effort.  Once you’ve got an online account, the iPhone app syncs your information so that you can enter your daily exercise and/or nutritional information on either.

Here’s the best part:  the Daily Burn iPhone app as well as the basic account on the website are both free.  That’s right, you can get both at no charge.  Now, there is a “Pro” account that you pay for but I’ve found that the free basic account gives me just about everything I was looking for.

Conclusion

Looking through all the fitness apps, I didn’t want something so complicated that I’d spend all my workout time playing with the software instead of exercising.  On the other hand, I also wanted something that would keep track of my nutrition goals as well.  For me, the Daily Burn seemed to fit the bill.  Of course, the Daily Burn iPhone app is not the only fitness application available so play around with several until you find one that fits your needs and once you do, use it consistently.  You’ll be fit in no time!

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy
Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

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