Cell phone app for lifting tracking

[Deeko]

Hello hello ATHF,

I've been kicking around some ideas for various workout tracking solutions for a long time now. I started preliminary coding/database design on a website a couple of years ago that I abandoned. My latest idea is to make it into a cell phone app, with a website backend.

The theory is this....I'm lazy. I don't want to keep track of my workouts in the gym, and then go home and enter it into a website or spreadsheet. I want to do it once, right as I'm lifting (gives me something to do between sets), and have that be it.

I use Android personally - there's a few apps for this, but they all suck, really. GymBook is the best I've used, and it has a terrible interface, no cloud backend, and limited options. So I figure since bitching to the guy who wrote it to add features doesn't work, I might as well write my own. The basic things I'd want to add are customization (add your own exercises), ease of use, website syncing w/ offline usage supported, good reporting tools (some on handset, more on website).

So, with all that said....

A) Would you use such a thing?

if yes....

B) What cell phone platform do you use? Yes, iPod Touch counts in this context, if that's what you have at the gym.
C) What features would you want in such an app?
D) Assuming it did everything you wanted, would you pay for it?
E) If it became a paid app, and you were to receive a free copy, would you be willing to beta test?

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

It's a good idea. I store all my workouts on notes on my phone.

 

[brikis98]

I replied by twitter, but the 140 character limit is, er, limiting.

I've been kicking around some ideas for various workout tracking solutions for a long time now.

I think MrMatt (or was it someone else?) on this messageboard was working on something similar. You may want to work together. Hell, if you put an actual plan together, I might even join in

I use Android personally - there's a few apps for this, but they all suck, really. GymBook is the best I've used, and it has a terrible interface, no cloud backend, and limited options. So I figure since bitching to the guy who wrote it to add features doesn't work, I might as well write my own. The basic things I'd want to add are customization (add your own exercises), ease of use, website syncing w/ offline usage supported, good reporting tools (some on handset, more on website).

I haven't used them myself (since they aren't free), but here are some of the options I found while looking for a workout tracker a few months ago:

1. Beyond the Whiteboard: this is the only one I considered paying money for. It is designed for Crossfit, but since Crossfit does every type of workout/exercise under the sun, can be used for anything. Tracks fitness, body stats, diet and goals, lets you graph/analyze the data, shows rankings, and integrates with twitter & facebook. There is also a mobile site, though no phone app.

2. Daily Burn
3. FitSync
4. Logs It All

So, with all that said....

A) Would you use such a thing?

If it was free, very flexible in how workouts are entered (CF = variety), and easy to use - yes. I'd primarily use the website to enter workouts (too slow to do it on a phone), but I'd frequently use the phone to look up previous PR's and the like.

B) What cell phone platform do you use? Yes, iPod Touch counts in this context, if that's what you have at the gym.

iPhone 3GS

C) What features would you want in such an app?

* An existing database of workouts and exercises and the ability to easily create new ones.
* Ability to set goals for certain workouts/exercises
* Stats tracking and graphs so I can easily see earlier performances and trends
* Facebook & twitter integration, RSS feed
* Ability to enter a schedule of workouts to perform in the future
* Journal/notes area to jot down thoughts about the workouts

D) Assuming it did everything you wanted, would you pay for it?

A one time fee of < $10, yes. A recurring fee, no.

E) If it became a paid app, and you were to receive a free copy, would you be willing to beta test?

Sure.

 

[Deeko]

Yea MrMatt was working on something - I believe it was an access database in the end. While the basic schema might be portable, each mobile platform has its own method of data storage, as well as whatever I'd use on the server side. Where I'd really need the most help is UI - got any mobile UI experience?

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[purbeast0]

damn that is a very good idea actually and i never thought about that.

do they have any apps like this for an iphone? i have an ipod touch that i bring with me to the gym.

as far as what I would want it to have, I would want it to be somewhat setup like a tivo. by that, i mean how you could enter a 'reoccurring lift' that happens every monday, every tuesday, etc, and then have just 'one time lifts' type of day to put into a calendar.

for each workout in the day i'd like it to have a section for cardio and lifting. for lifting i'd like it to have sections to add in the muscle group you are working, which could be selected from a list. then under that, you could the user pick exercises from a list of predetermined exercises, and also have an 'other' where the user can put it in.

then under each excercise, you could enter a weight and reps value for as many sets as you do.

that is pretty much it, then obviousyl it would have to have some kind of views/charts when you want to query stuff.

nice idea though Deeko. i was going to get a laptop soon and put OSX on it so that I can start and try to develop for my ipod touch. this may be a good starting stone

 

[brikis98]

Yea MrMatt was working on something - I believe it was an access database in the end. While the basic schema might be portable, each mobile platform has its own method of data storage, as well as whatever I'd use on the server side. Where I'd really need the most help is UI - got any mobile UI experience?

Thanks for the suggestions.

I write software for a living, but haven't had a chance to get into mobile coding yet. Might be a good time for it though.

 

[Deeko]

fitsync, which brikis posted, is on at least iPhone and Android. I'd tried it before...while it does have syncing, which I like, I really don't like their interface or reporting.

 

[SearchMaster]

One other thing you might consider is integrating the app like Google Calendar does (on the iPhone at least).

It is really just a specially-formatted Safari page that feels very much like a local app but allows for access from a desktop as well. Also possibly eases the development process.

 

[Deeko]

One of the big things I want to include is offline access. Not everyone gets service at the gym - I know I get no or weak service at 2 of the gyms I go to regularly. Plus, assuming one of the platforms I write this for is iPhone, this will also allow iPod Touch users to enter their info at the gym and have it sync later when they are on wifi.

The website should be able to do everything the app can, and (time permitting) there will be a mobile version of the website as well.

 

[purbeast0]

bumping a kind of old thread...

Deeko did you ever get anywhere with this?

i have recently started learning some iphone development on my own and am about 1/3 through a beginners book on it, and so far i'm really liking the development interface and how it all works. i am possibly going to try and make a lifting log app for my own personal uses then see if i can make it work for a general purpose afterwards. i kind of have an idea of the interface I would do for it, but i still need to learn more first.

i probably won't start development on it for at least a month because i want to finish this book before i start any real projects, and then i have another idea that I want to do first as well.

 

[shocksyde]

It's a good idea. I store all my workouts on notes on my phone.

Same here. An app would be groovy.

 

[Kev]

I have iFitness on my iphone and it is by far the best app I have. They constantly released updates for it. Best $1.99 I ever spent. I don't think you will be able to compete with it.

 

[Kev]

http://medicalprod.com/ifitness.html

I can't believe noone has mentioned this yet!

My favorite features:

* Setting custom routines
* Adding custom exercises
* Results tracking
* 180sec & 60sec timers, which vibrate when the rest period is up
* Weight tracking

The rest is just gravy

 

[SearchMaster]

That's a darned nice looking app. I'll give it a shot - thanks!

 

[Deeko]

bumping a kind of old thread...

Deeko did you ever get anywhere with this?

i have recently started learning some iphone development on my own and am about 1/3 through a beginners book on it, and so far i'm really liking the development interface and how it all works. i am possibly going to try and make a lifting log app for my own personal uses then see if i can make it work for a general purpose afterwards. i kind of have an idea of the interface I would do for it, but i still need to learn more first.

i probably won't start development on it for at least a month because i want to finish this book before i start any real projects, and then i have another idea that I want to do first as well.

I have the database design done, and got started on the UI for an Android version. Got a bit sidetracked so I haven't made much progress on it since then, but I have started at least.

I have iFitness on my iphone and it is by far the best app I have. They constantly released updates for it. Best $1.99 I ever spent. I don't think you will be able to compete with it.

It looks nice, but it doesn't do everything I'd want - and it appears it is not cross platform anyway.

 

[Kev]

What other features would you want? You can email yourself a spreadsheet to backup the data. There is no cloud backend though.

 

[Deeko]

The cloud backend and web interface are the biggest things that set apart what I'm doing compared to what already exists. For example - entering workouts on your phone in the gym, having them automatically synced with the server side, and then going home and viewing stats/charts from the website. Or the opposite - entering the workout on the website, and having them synced down to the phone.

 

[purbeast0]

damn Kev, i'm going to have to check out that iFitness on my iPod, it looks pretty nice from that lil demo video they show on the site.

after seeing that don't know if i will even bother writing my own type of app, because it seems to have what i was looking for, and a lot more.

 

[purbeast0]

well i gotta give iFitness a huge meh.

i grabbed it yesterday before i lifted and went to add my chest/tricep stuff in there.

it didn't even have decline bench press for chest (it did have 'decline close grip' which is different).

it didnt have any of my tricep exercises - close grip bench, skull crushers, double dumbell kickbacks.

and i also hate how it lumps 'arms' into one category and doesn't split it up into triceps, biceps, forearms, and on top of that, it has shoulder and chest exercises listed in there as well.

i mean i know i can add them myself as well, but it seems to have a lot of shit that i don't even care about or want in my list. i will have to look at it a litlte more when i get a chance though.

 

[polarmystery]

I actually tried to do the same thing (on the Android phone). The only thing that I couldn't deal with is having to actually enter the lifts on my phone while I'm working. Maybe make an app that recognized speech with your gym app so you could just say the workout, it recorded the exercise, and then tell it reps and weight.

Using my fingers on the phone is kind of annoying to me, especially at the gym for some reason.

 

[Kev]

well i gotta give iFitness a huge meh.

i grabbed it yesterday before i lifted and went to add my chest/tricep stuff in there.

it didn't even have decline bench press for chest (it did have 'decline close grip' which is different).

it didnt have any of my tricep exercises - close grip bench, skull crushers, double dumbell kickbacks.

and i also hate how it lumps 'arms' into one category and doesn't split it up into triceps, biceps, forearms, and on top of that, it has shoulder and chest exercises listed in there as well.

i mean i know i can add them myself as well, but it seems to have a lot of shit that i don't even care about or want in my list. i will have to look at it a litlte more when i get a chance though.

Yeah that was one of my only issues with it as well. I've had to add a few custom exercises myself. Did you set up a custom workout? Once you get the custom workouts actually set up it's a breeze. Now I need apple to add multitasking so I can listen to pandora and use ifitness at the same time.

 

[Deeko]

Yeah that was one of my only issues with it as well. I've had to add a few custom exercises myself. Did you set up a custom workout? Once you get the custom workouts actually set up it's a breeze. Now I need apple to add multitasking so I can listen to pandora and use ifitness at the same time.

I hope you have a 3GS.

 

[Deeko]

Believe it or not...I haven't forgotten about this.

You're just going to have to get Windows Phone 7 to use it

 

[brikis98]

Ha, nice. Curious how this comes out.

How are you liking Windows Phone 7?

 

[Deeko]

Ha, nice. Curious how this comes out.

How are you liking Windows Phone 7?

I've only gotten to play with the device a little...haven't gotten a developer device (yet). Its nice though. The OS is very smooth & very responsive.

As far as developing with it goes, it has its ups and downs. I am comfortable in C# and Silverlight, which is a big plus. The SDK has some quirks, seems to lack some features I would find useful, but all in all isn't bad to use.