Apps

December 6, 2019

No one loves sit-ups.

If they say they do, they’re lying to you. I mean, you can get some valuable fitness outcomes from slapping your face into your crotch over and over again, I guess, but if sit-ups didn’t lead to six-pack abs, no sane person would ever do one twice.

Or whatever. Suit yourself. But I hate sit-ups. I have a little app on my phone that let’s me progress towards being able to do a million sit-ups and sometimes I even remember to use it. I also have an app for push-ups. And a few weeks ago I signed up for that whole Peloton app things so I can make my iPad yell at me about pedalling faster on my spin bike while I listen to mediocre EDM. Yay, apps. Feel the love.

Last time I seriously tried to get in shape for a marathon (as in not half-ass like literally last time I ran a marathon, to which I’ll defer to a later post for explanation, but last time I actually tried) the whole app thing wasn’t a thing. I recorded workouts in spreadsheets and kept track of runs with my garmin. But apps? 

Now I have apps.

Not that I know if it will matter at all, but I’m going into this one full app-mode. Apps up. App-a-licious. Notificatation-driven-to-win-it. (Well, finish. Let’s start there.) And the apps are gonna be the answer to my cross-training dilemma. That’s the plan, at least.

Let’s inventory.

Peloton. Jumping in with both feet on this one. I’ve been trialing the subscription app for a couple weeks, online spin and strength classes, and I think I’m going to attempt to round out my training schedule plan with at least two 30 minute spins twice per week. It may mean some early morning rides, or squeezing in on Saturday morning, but this is my new plan to help prop up the burgeoning virtual spandex industry… and low impact my cardio buzzwords.

Runtastic. Makes those situp, pushup, squat apps I alluded to a few dozen words ago. I used them a few months ago. Even paid for the pro versions. So, dammit, they are going to get used again. I will do a million situps if it kills me. Or I’ll stop shortly before that point. This isn’t about the abs. As a mid-40s dad, I don’t require abs for much beyond looking less tubby in family photos. But my core strength is going to be an issue if I don’t sort out some way to balance out the whole middle strength quandary.

Strava. Nothing new here for me. I’ve been on Strava for years, but I thought I’d list it to cope with my obsessive list-making completionist mindset. I’ll be tracking everything and putting it in this social media platform for health wonks (of which I am clearly a card carrying member, he insists lovingly.) Progress shall be tracked and kudos shall be had. 

Now if only my phone was waterproof, I could start swimming too.