Seven Minute Workout App Review

FitSnap App Review

I am addicted to my iPhone, but I mostly use it for good. 😀

I have a bunch of health and fitness apps, some of which I use more than others. I use the GPS and running apps as a back-up to my Garmin–if I forgot it, forgot to charge it, or if it just won’t find a signal. I should use the Waterlogged app more regularly–maybe I’ll take that on in January. The app I use the most for my workouts is the Interval Timer app. I use it for fun workouts on my Jumpsport Fitness trampoline, for my plank routines, and for the Seven Minute Workout.

That said, the 12 exercises of the seven minute workout are just a few too many for me to remember in order when I only have 10 seconds to move to the next one, so I tried out several of the free apps that will lead you through the routine, and decided to put together a seven minute workout app review.

All of these apps are free. They all lead you through each exercise for 30 seconds with 10 seconds in between, and tell you the next exercise at the start of the preceding rest period. They all have descriptions of the routine and each exercise, and most have links to YouTube videos demonstrating each exercise. What makes them different is the graphics, the voice, the cuing, and the options.

• The first app on my screen (with the pink 7 logo) shows the current exercise by name and audibly cues the time remaining every 1o seconds. It is the only free app I found that lets you adjust the duration of the work and rest intervals.
• The second app (with the plain orange 7 logo) also shows the current exercise by name, but doesn’t audibly cue the time remaining at all. I find that when I don’t know that I’m almost done, I have a harder time pushing through to the end!
• The third app (with the orange seven in the dark blue logo) has a bell that chimes every second and a sharp whistle (like a coach’s whistle) that blows at the end of each segment. It was all too annoying to finish even one 30-second segment.
• The fourth app (with the blue logo) shows a cartoon image of the current exercise. A whistle marks the start and end of each segment, and a loud tock-tock-tock counts down the last three seconds of each segment. This is the only app that has you do a 30 second side plank on each side (so the full workout is 7:40). It also has features to track your workouts and earn rewards for consistency. This seems to come at the price of annoying notifications on my home screen that I haven’t been able to completely eliminate ….
• The fifth app (with the stopwatch logo) also shows a cartoon image of the current exercise. This one cues the remaining time in each work interval at 20 seconds, 15 seconds, 10 seconds, and then 5-4-3-2-1, which I found to be a bit much.

I’m not sure which one of these I like best, but I think the ability to customize the intervals makes the pink one a winner.

Another app I’ve been playing with lately is the FitSnapp App. The developer asked me if I would like to review it, and gave me an iTunes gift card so I could test out the premium features that require an in-app purchase.

This is the official description of the app:

FitSnap is an easy-to-use, free iPhone application that helps people create inspirational pictures from their workouts or other activities. It adds workout information on top of photos to create beautiful images that can be shared with friends on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and more.

I like it as an easy way to share my activities with the basic details provided in a nice overlay. This is a sample screen shot of the interface, after you have selected or taken a picture. The “Activity” drop down menu has a number of options (or you can leave it blank) and you can add your own comment in the text box (where “Great day for a run!” is shown).

Right now there are two premium themes that require an in-app purchase: Running and Yoga. I think the yoga one might be most worthwhile, since it comes with a menu of different poses that you can use to match your pictures.

The Running theme overlays different running-related messages that don’t really resonate with me (“New Shoes,” “Run Now, Beer Later,” etc.) so I usually use the free themes. The “Sporty” theme overlays the name of the selected activity (Running, Cycling, etc.) while the “Simple” theme just overlays the other information.

Here are a few of my creations:

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I like that when you enter your time and distance it calculates the pace, and I like the different options for the overlays.

What fitness apps do you use?

Do you have a favorite photo app?