What is the added value of a fitness app, specifically in the context of its use in a gym?
Fitsociety app
Since we launched the Fitsociety app, we have received many responses regarding its use. We are very pleased with the many positive responses and even happier with suggestions for improvements. In the meantime, we have gone through numerous updates and thousands of downloads, and more and more coaches are using the app for their services. So, we are a bit proud of what we have achieved.
However, there was one criticism that no update could address.
This criticism concerns not the app itself, but the use of an app in the gym in general.
In this article, I want to address the ‘why’ and ‘for whom’. What is the added value of using a fitness app in general and Fitsociety in particular? For whom does the app add value, and for whom would it only mean distraction?
In short; an app like ours is valuable for anyone who wants to plan, structure, and track their training and/or nutrition. The app is a tool to make it as easy as possible to create schedules and measure results. If you don’t see the value in planning training and nutrition or tracking results, then you will see little benefit in using the app.
Routine or Progression?
Fitness apps come in various degrees and forms. Here, I am focusing on apps that offer training schedules and the ability to record your training. I will not delve into tracking nutrition as we are discussing its use in the gym. I will address this separately since it may be the greatest benefit of the app for many.
Why an app? You use these kinds of apps in the gym mainly for two reasons:
- Knowing what to do
- Recording what you have done
Planning Training
Perhaps you are someone who never uses training schedules. There’s nothing wrong with that. You understand the basic principles of training splits and/or full-body workouts. You grasp the importance of recovery and the various training methods for different purposes. Or at least the method for your purpose. Then you are also capable of devising your training schedule for the day when you enter the gym.
That’s usually how I do it myself. A routine with built-in variation so you know the basics are correct without falling into repetition. You know, remembering the ‘show numbers’ of your max and ‘feeling out’ the weight and reps for the day. That works fine in my case. At least to maintain weight and the same level of strength. In other words, it’s enough to achieve my goal. Provided, of course, my nutrition also meets the requirements.
That could mean I’m very lucky with genetics, or my standards are quite low. You don’t need a lift if you’re already on the right floor. If that’s different in your case and you’re not satisfied with your current results from ‘freestyle training’, then you need to make a change somewhere. Structuring your training can be an important step in that process. Think ahead about your goals, consider which schedules align with them over the long term, and document them so you can stick to them.
The app helps by showing you over 1,000 exercises and providing an easy way to create and structure personal schedules with them.
Tracking Training
But again, if you’ve been training for years, you may already have a whole database of exercises in your head and can come up with varied schedules. Maybe you remember everything or use a reminder on paper. That can all work fine. What you’re going to do may already be determined. Remembering what you actually did, however, is another extra column or variable in your mental Excel sheet.
Tracking your training results allows you to further plan increasing resistance. You have a good insight into your training capacity and therefore know what adjustments you can make in your training next. Besides obtaining data for planning, documenting and being able to view your results itself is already a great motivational tool. You’re no longer training casually like an amateur soccer player who occasionally kicks a ball around with friends. By planning and tracking like a professional, you take your own goals much more seriously. You’re constantly aware of where you are and where you want to go.
Why our app?
One app is not the same as another, of course. There are many fitness apps, and in many cases, you may wonder what the added value is. Many apps offer a very specific functionality, making them interesting only for a specific target group under certain circumstances.
The benefits described above apply only to planning and tracking apps that provide the ability to create training and nutrition schedules and track their execution. This rules out the majority of all apps.
In developing the app, we asked the simple question: “What do you need to easily determine your nutritional needs, create a corresponding diet, create training schedules, and measure your results? Although we continue to develop, we are already at a point where we believe we have succeeded in this. Currently, I don’t know any other app that offers all these functions and works so seamlessly.
Coaching
Finally, the coaching aspect must be mentioned. You can work entirely independently with the app. But you can also enlist a coach. Thanks to the app, firstly, you can easily choose a coach from the clear overview of coaches working through the app. This coach doesn’t need to send you schedules in Excel or PDF; they are all provided in the app. The coach also doesn’t need to waste time on standard calculations that can be performed by software. This leaves more time for the important matters: advice and communication. Not via WhatsApp or Messenger, but through the chat function in the app, so you have all your information under one roof.
Coaches can actively monitor your training by reviewing your entered results and actively advising on increasing intensity and frequency.
