Trimmer
I love numbers and graphs. They help you visualize progress and data over time, and although I’ve gotten really good at data acquisition and analysis in regards to web sites and applications, not a bit of it was helping me in my quest to get – and stay – more fit until recently. That said, I think I’ve finally cracked the nut on this whole tech/fitness thing, at least for my own personal needs. In my earlier post ‘Trim‘, I talked about my earlier forays and stumblings at tech-enabling fitness efforts – but have now settled down to a much better, more robust solution now that covers all my primary goals. I’ll lay out what I wanted, what I had, and what I ended up with after kissing a lot of frogs.
What I wanted(!)
- GPS/Map tracking of runs/bike rides
- Track/monitor heart rate
- Track general daily activity
- Track sleep effectivity
- Track of calories burned
- Track body measurements
- Track workout and total distances/efforts
- Set goals across workouts/general fitness
- Share results & workouts with friends
- Connect with friends on Nike+
- Connect with friends on Fitbit
- Connect with friends on Runkeeper
Um, yeah. Pretty tall order for any one system to provide all that, which is why I had so much trouble early on. Using different apps/systems just wasn’t easy or working out- I generally gave up on the setup/prep if it was too convoluted. So I wanted to find one way to track my run/workout that fit in with whatever I was using to track, dashboard and monitor my biometrics and ideally share/collaborate/compete with my friends online too.
What to do?