Cardio exercises are one of the most effective ways of burning some fat and losing some weight. When done regularly, they have a really positive impact on a person’s health. Measuring progress of such exercises can be helpful. Lucky for us we live in a time that provides us with apps and gadgets that can measure and record our performances in cardio workouts.
The Play Store holds several apps that can measure your running, walking, cycling speed and data using GPS, Gyrometer and Accelerometer. Those are already available in advanced Android smartphones. Since, there are so many health related apps, I thought it would be a good idea to list the top ones which are free. All the collection of apps below comes with GPS support which measures your distance on a map.
Here is the list for health related apps suitable for cardio workouts:
1. Runtastic Running & Fitness
One of the most popular app for cardio sessions. Connect this app with Facebook or just create an account to begin. This app features a set of workouts including running, aerobics, skiing and even sports such as Basketball and Badminton. Select the type of activity that you are going to do and then click on “Start Workout”. With awesome voice feedback, this is a great app for cardio trainers.
After completing a session of workout you will be displayed the calories burned, distance travelled, time taken and other stats based on the activity. You can even connect a bluetooth heart monitor to monitor your heart beat and enhance the accuracy of calories burned. Your workout stats can be backed up to Runtastic.com so that you never lose them.
2. Edmondo Sports Tracker
A simple yet powerful sports app. Like other apps, this one requires you to connect to Facebook or create an account at the beginning. You can select different types of workouts. You can also select goals, follow routes, beat the records of friends or your old records. The list of workouts that this one features is long. Select one of the workouts and begin the recording process.
Your progress will be recorded accurately and when it completes. Detail stats including duration, calories and activity that you chose will be displayed. Your completed workout can also be shared to social networks for your friends to view.
3. Runkeeper – GPS Track Run Walk
Runkeeper is an excellent app for cardio workouts. The first time you launch the app, you can sign up with Facebook or with your email. You can also give this app a go before actually signing up. After your initial setup, you can record your performances on different activity types like running, walking, cycling and many more. You can even take pictures while you are performing a certain exercise. There is even a landscape / potrait mode and they can be flipped for your ease of viewing. While on the run, there are audio cues which tell you your current performance stats.
At the end of the workout, you can see the summary of your performance which includes calories burned, distance traveled and average min/mi. You can also set workout reminders on certain date /time and this app will remind you on that specific date / time. There is also a great feature which allows you to set goals. Goals can be anything from traveling a certain distance to losing defined weight within a number of weeks. The charts and statistics are recorded and displayed for your reference. You can even share your performances in social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
4. Noom Cardio Trainer
Noom Cardio Trainer is a very popular and very useful app for cardio trainers. Track a large list of indoor and outdoor activities with this highly useful app. Featuring both GPS and pedometer, this app will give you all the details that you require. Those details will also inspire you to push yourself to another level while exercising. There are also more inspiring features such as an integrated voice output feature which tells you how you are doing.
Other features include a music player which plays your favorite songs suitable for a power workout. If you want to compete or compare with friends then there are tools to do so. You can easily connect with your friends and view their stats for inspiration. There are even more features such as workout schedules, reminders and heart rate monitor with external device attached.
5. Sports Tracker
A great app for runners and walkers. You get to select between different activities or you even get to define your own. To get started, you can connect to your Facebook or create a manual account. Doing this is not mandatory but is recommended because it allows you to share your performance, analyze them and have a safe backup on the server of sports tracker. Sharing stats and pictures with friends is there which creates a sense of competition and excitement. Voice feedback in this app provide encouragement.
At the end of the workout session, you get your stats. Stats like duration, distance traveled, average speed and pace, maximum speed, energy spent in calories are displayed. These stats can be saved in the sports-tracker server so that you never lose them as long as you are a member of their services. There is also an in-app diary for all your logged stats which can be synced with the sports tracker server.
6. MapMyRun GPS Running
Another great GPS running app where you will be able to create a profile with Facebook or sign up manually. This sign up procedure helps you to save your performance over time. You will also be able to save and access your routes.
To begin a workout press start and the recording process starts. Route, speed, duration, minutes per mile and calories burned are calculated. Your route is clearly recorded over the map and it is exciting to see it with such accuracy. You can also custom record a workout data. Other things that you can track is your nutrition and weight data. This app also provides encouragement with music, achievements and leaderboards.
7. Nike+ Running
A great app branded by Nike. Run, get cheered, earned NikeFuel, challenge yourself and record everything with Nike+. The first thing that you need to do is sign up. Doing it with Facebook eases up the process. You still have to enter some details including a new password for this app. Your previous Nike+ account will work as well. Then you need to enter your physical details like height, weight and gender.
Once you complete everything, begin the workout and see how nicely this app records everything related to cardio workouts. This app supports voice feedback and playing of songs during workout. After the workout ends you get the details which you will be able to store. The cheers you get is really encouraging in this app.
8. adidas miCoach
micoach or adidas miCoach is an adidas branded workout app. When you first run this app, you need to setup it properly. You can choose between female and male voices. There are even celebrity voices by Derrick Rose and Reggie Bush. You can signup, log in or use this app as guest. Signing up with this app is recommended to sync and store your workout history. You also need to setup your basic info like gender, weight, height and date of birth (for age calculation). The setup is quite detailed for your workout and you should complete it.
Once you complete the manual sign up process, the app syncs with updates and workout details. Details such as voice data and exercise videos are also downloaded. Workout hard, track your progresses, record your stats, sync them to micoach.com and be physically stronger and healthier after a certain training period. This app is much more than just a running and cardio workout.
9. C25K Couch to 5K by RunDouble
Workouts are great when they are done with encouraging music. This is an app for that. Put on a song and start your run. This app has plans setup for you. Weekly running plans are predefined. That means you will be running just a warm-up minutes per week to lots of miles per month. Follow the instructions of this app correctly and you might find yourself running at a really fast pace covering a long distance. Your strength and stamina increases over time.
This app has 9 weeks of training scheduled for you. There are free as well as paid training schedules. There are also obviously other features such as statistics recording and heart rate monitoring (with external device). So set up an account with them and train seriously if you really want to move from your couch to 5K.
10. JogTracker
A great app with a small size (around half a Megabyte). The first thing you do is select between miles and kilometers, the two popular units of distance measurement. Well kilometers is popular but some big countries prefer miles. Enter your other info like weight (in lbs, no KG here) and then you get to start the workout immediately.
Like other apps, this one also features several activities like running, walking, skating, hiking and what not. At the end of the workout session you get to choose to save it or discard it. Most of us would want to save it. The layout of this app is quite simple along with the features. If you create an account you can sync online for backup.
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