buzzbishop
- edited
If you're going to work out, there's an app for that. The issue becomes trying to have your big bulky iPhone with you on the gym floor or a run.
Belkin has a variety of armbands for you to strap your iPhone or iPod to your bicep while you work out, I took one for a test drive through a fitness routine and a run.
WORKOUT:
My favorite app for working out is the Nike Training Club. It has dozens of workouts that require minimal equipment for every activity level. Whether you want to get lean, toned or focused, this app can get you up and doing lunges and russian twists.
There are dozens of exercises that are rotated through each workout, so the first few times you use the app, you're constantly referring to the video demonstrations in the app to understand exactly what the exercise is. Since the Belkin armband straps the iPhone/iPod to your arm, it's not easy to see, so it can be a bit of a hassle to view each exercise demo.
Once you've used the app a few times, you become familiar with the exercises and can do them on demand, so having the screen on your arm isn't as much of a distraction. You can easily set your playlist, select your workout and you're off and doing burpees for 15, 30 or 45 minutes without ever having to look at the screen again.
So for workouts, it works great.
RUNNING:
I am currently training for a marathon with Team Diabetes. (aside, I'd love it if you would join me in Iceland this August and support the nearly 1/3 of Canadians living with diabetes). That marathon training requires me to do workouts of varying distances and paces a few times a week.
Usually I've done my marathon training with a Garmin Forerunner on my wrist and an older iPod Shuffle on my hip. This week I took the iPhone in the Belkin Armband and used RunKeeper to track my distance.
Out of the box the app was a fail. To be fair, I did do my running on an indoor track, but the distances were off by kilometres. So I wasn't a fan of that, but I did like the reminders of distance and pace and time that the app coach would drop in (even though they were way off).
The issue with running with the iPhone on your arm is you can't see how you're doing. I like being able to glance at my wrist and see the pace of my run, the distance I've travelled or how long I've been on the track. You can't do that with a screen in a neoprene case on your bicep facing 90 degrees away from your face. It doesn't work.
CONCLUSION:
Working out with apps is great and strapping the iPhone to your arm is a much better solution than keeping it in a pocket or holding it in your hand. If you want to proper interval training and keep track of pace and distance and time, running with the Belkin iPhone Armband just doesn't work.
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