Fitness App Pros and Cons

This post will discuss pros and cons of Fitness Apps.

Fitness App Pros: 

1. Tracking Training Data: This is the single best practice that very few members or personal trainers actually do. Fitness Apps can allow users to time rest periods, track sets, reps, resistance, heart rate, etc. This data can be quickly graphed to show progress. Also, there are numerous nutrition apps that will calculate calories, gram and other useful information for users.
2. Tracking Progress: All the user needs to do is pick what assessments they want to use to track progress (weight, body fat, etc.) and enter the results. The app will automatically show graphed progress and trends. It is a simple way to see if your program is working or not. 
3. Video Demonstrations: In the past gym members had only photos from magazines or books for exercise form to bring to the gym (I never did see someone bring a TV and VCR in to the club). Now many apps include short video demonstrations to show proper exercise form.  
4. Social Support: Being part of a social group or community and its positive effects has been a hot research topic lately. Numerous studies have shown it has a positive influence to enhance fitness. Apps have the power to get you instant access and easy communication to a fitness social group.  
5. Positive Reinforcement: Many fitness apps will send “Good Job” emails or texts to users when they accomplish something positive. In today’s world fitness enthusiasts and people in general are overloaded with “Deadline” messages. When a positive message is sent it can reinforce fitness progress. 6. Learning New Technology: We can’t hide from technology and if we do we are dead. Fitness apps are a great way to new things via technology. 

Fitness App Cons: 

1. Actual Use: I find it funny that people who have really good apps with all the latest and greatest features rarely use them practically.  
2. Movement Screens: I am sure Grey Cook and Lee Burton will design a Functional Movement Screen app for gym goers to teach what movement patterns they need to work on. However, this probably should be done by a well-trained fitness professional. Once the screen is done, then the individualized exercises and stretches can be entered into an appropriate app.  
3. Exercise Form: I see many people who use apps religiously in the gym. Unfortunately there are usually two issues. First they may be performing exercises that aren’t the best for them based on their individual movement screen. Second, even if they are using the correct exercises, the form is usually awful and sometimes even dangerous. I don’t know of any apps that alert you when exercise form starts to break down.  
4. Exercise Effort: Yes, there are apps that work well with heart rate and tell users to speed up or slow down. However, when people resistance train there aren’t apps that tell you “Do two more reps!” Even on the apps that have workout timers that beep when rest is up, they don’t say “Move your ass” when you rest longer than you should while talking to friends or texting them at the gym.  
5. Poor Workout Focus: In my experience with members I know who claim to have the latest, greatest fitness app spend more time checking email, texts and looking at Facebook than working out. If you can stick to using the fitness app and/or listening to music, great. If you can’t, use a simple I-Pod and track data with pen and paper. Either way, use something to track progress. 

As you can see from above, fitness apps can a great tool to use when and if they are used properly.