Hi and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.
If you own a smartphone, you’ll know just how much of an integral part of our everyday lives they have become. For runners, they can also be an incredibly useful tool.
The built in sensors in a smartphone make it a great platform for a variety of running apps that can measure a variety of things. They can track your speed, distance travelled, calories burned and even map your route. These features get even better when paired with a run tracker or smartwatch.
However, there’s so many running apps to choose from these days that it can get a bit confusing. In this blog post I’ve put together some of the best apps on the market.
This app uses your phone’s GPS to track your running, hiking or other distance activities. Recording your pace, distance, total exercise time, calories burned and other useful metrics, it also allows you to take and tag photos on the go. You can either run your own route, or download and follow some popular routes in your area. The app will also sync with numerous other apps and services, and you’ll receive detailed reports of your tracked activity.
Strava is well known amongst runners for being a top-notch tracker. This app adds some more competitive and gamified features to the standard running tracker apps on the market. Recording your running speed, distance travelled, time and course taken, Strava combines this with leader boards, achievements and challenges. As well as providing useful metrics and tracking, the app also has a social element as you can race against your friends – perfect for when you’re lacking motivation.
Using GPS to track and map your distance, Runtastic plots your route in real time. A personal exercise diary keeps track of your running metrics, and routes can also be viewed in a Google Earth-style view. It also has a configurable dashboard with detailed graphs of your exercise information. Progress can be shared over social networks, and there are numerous training plans in this neat app.
This is definitely one for those of you who have other Adidas tracking devices. The app integrates tightly with the shoemaker’s exercise trackers, most notably the Fit Smart wristband. Once synced with the wristband, the Train & Run app tracks steps taken, calories burned and distance covered, as well as route tracking with your phone’s GPS. Post-run, you can also check out your zone training with the app’s coloured route mapping. The app comes with a variety of professionally designed training and exercise routines built for a variety of purposes, such as improving fitness or losing weight. The app also has voice coaching, and syncs well with other fitness apps and services including Strava.
Until next time,
Mohsin Salya