Fitness Apps: Runkeeper And Dailymile

Making time for fitness isn¡¯t always as easy as beauty magazines make it out to be. Sure, there¡¯s always that CEO who uses his workout time to sort out phone calls or there¡¯s always a film actor who cycles down to shoots. But for lesser mortals, that one hour of fitness could easily become an extra hour of TV, sleep or just about anything. What keeps you from sleeping through the ¡®health¡¯ hour is motivation. Could the internet be a place you can rely on for motivation? The answer is yes. Social networking sites and mobile apps are making it easier for people to track and share their fitness goals and activities with their virtual peers.
Collective motivation seems to be working for everyone. Yours truly has dropped 1.5 kilos in two weeks with a slightly trimmed diet and exercise! So what did I do? I used a few apps on my android phone to track my physical activity and my food intake¡­ After a bit of scouting around, I realized that the following services on the internet come handy!
Runkeeper:
Availability: Web, iPhone & Android
Utility: If you have a GPS enabled phone, Runkeeper tracks the distance, speed, time and the calories burnt during your workout. The app is pretty accurate and tracks your pace as well as the climb. What works well for me on this app is that it allows me to share my activities across facebook and twitter which motivates people and encourages me to be regular (Oh the public shame of missed workouts will kick you out of bed!). They also give you cool badges for farthest distance traveled in each of the activities. Runkeeper provides basic stats of your overall activity charts.
Downside: Runkeeper works with a GPS so if your phone doesn¡¯t have a working GPS antenna, you might as well delete this app from your phone. Also, you have to manually enter details of any stationary workout (stationary bike, treadmill etc) on the web interface because the app doesn¡¯t track your activity if you¡¯re not moving. The app is highly useful if you exercise outdoors. Not highly recommended if you¡¯re a gym person.
Dailymile:
Availability: Web and Mobile Web Interface
Utility: It¡¯s social networking with a focus on fitness. You can share photos, videos and notes related to your workouts. It also allows you to import activities from Nike+ and Garmin. It gives you a chance to look at your friends¡¯ stats in addition to monitoring your own stats which is great when you¡¯re looking to be motivated. If you¡¯re competitive and leader boards give you mini-orgasms, dailymile also has one to tell you where you stand in terms of activity with respect to your friends. Be sure to add active friends though. Also, Dailymile tells you how many TVs you powered or how many donuts you¡¯ve burned through your workout. Fun, no?
There are a bunch of community activities that you can sign up for and those in the US can also win fun goodies. I wanted to be a part of the ¡®Burn Cheeseburgers¡¯ challenge. Basically you burnt calories and then treat yourself to cheeseburgers. Alas, I am not a big fan of Square One and I¡¯d hate to be back on it!
Highly recommended for indoor workouts.
Downside: There¡¯s no mobile app. You have to manually enter the distance and time into the mobile interface, which isn¡¯t too bad. However, if you don¡¯t know the distance you¡¯ve walked, this could be a bit tricky. Also, if your friends aren¡¯t actively using the service there isn¡¯t much motivation to seek!
*Image courtesy: ? Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images