I'm looking to find a good workout companion to use on my phone.
The main feature I'm looking for is something that can guide me through my workout routine, with configurable timers built in for each exercise. I should be able to input my plan, hit a start button, and have the app alert me when to start and stop each exercise and also time rest durations.
A second important feature is a workout scheduler. This should be able to accept day-based planning instead of (or as well as) calendar-based plans. For example, I want to be able to tell it that I'm going to work my upper body on Day 1, legs on Day 2, and abs on Day 3, without necessarily having any of those days bound to a specific calendar date or day of the week.
The app must not interfere with media playback, except as necessary to notify the user that a timer has run out.
A great bonus to have would be a built-in calculator and/or suggestions for figuring out how long I should expect exercises to take which are not strictly time-based. Given an exercise type, and a performance rate, it should be able to tell me the time I need to allot to complete a certain amount of that exercise.
Cloud data sync would also be a plus. If included, I'd prefer that it leverage OneDrive or other features that do not require the use of app-specific accounts or servers.
Social networks integration is strictly optional.
In-app advertising for third-party products should be zero, or reasonably unobtrusive. I am willing to pay for an ad-free experience if the app is high quality, but also open to accepting advertising in a free app if the ads aren't horrifically annoying.
Reasonably simple workarounds that don't require app installation, or leverage apps that aren't purpose-built for workouts, are also interesting. But they should be nearly equivalent in ease of use to a dedicated app.
Solution must be compatible with Windows Phone 8/8.1. Cross-platform compatibility and/or syncing is a plus, especially for Windows 8.
Ideally, the interaction with the app would be something like this:
- Start by adding a new day to the workout plan.
- For the new exercise day, add the exercises you want to do, in the order you want to do them. Also include break periods along the way.
- For exercises you want to spend a certain time on, enter in the time.
- For distance-based exercises, enter in the distance you want to accomplish and your expected average speed.
- For exercises which use other metrics (e.g.: reps, sets, etc), enter in the time it takes you to accomplish one unit, and a multiplier. (Optionally, use a built-in timer to record this duration for you the first time.)
- For weight or machine-based exercises, you should also be able to input the weights or machine settings used as notes.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each day in your workout plan.
- When you're ready to start working out, pick which day you want to work on (or the app could auto-choose for you, based on your previous session), and hit start.
- The app tells you which exercise to start on. You hit go to confirm you're beginning that exercise, and then the timer starts.
- The app prompts you when the timer for that exercise runs out. You can confirm the stop, snooze the timer, or pause the workout sequence.
- Once you've confirmed completion of the exercise, the app goes back to step 5. This is repeated until you complete or abort the day's workout schedule.
I know the Windows Phone app marketplace isn't the best just yet, but is there anything that comes reasonably close to this?
