I have a new workout buddy, Men’s Health Workouts. A couple weeks ago I was browsing menshealth.com looking for some new workouts when a picture of the ever so sexy iPhone showed up on the middle of the page followed by the words “new iPhone app”. Being a sucker for cool new iPhone apps I immediately clicked on the Download now button.
The iPhone is turning into a great resource for just about anything on the go, so it is only natural that workouts and fitness would make it there too.
What it does:
Just as you would expect, this application is a library of workouts and exercises. With over 20 complete workouts and 150 individual exercises, this is a great resource for workout material. Men’s Health has promised to add new workouts and exercises every week, so this app will continue to grow and become more useful.
Workouts
Workouts are sets of exercises assembled to focus on a certain group of muscles (e.g., biceps) or achieve a specific goal (e.g., burn fat). There are several ways to browse through the workouts the find just the right one: alphabetically, goal or body part. Once you choose a workout, you slide your finger from side-to-side to browse through the exercises in that workout. The workout also includes a timer, so you can watch how long it takes to complete the entire workout.
Exercises
If you’re the build-your-own type, you can browse through the list of 150 exercises to pick-and-choose the exercises that you would like to do. Exercises can be browsed alphabetically or by body part.
Each exercise, in a workout or individually, has a description, pictures of the complete motion and the prescribed number of sets, repetitions per set and rest time between sets.
For each exercise you log the number of sets and reps you completed during that session and you can see the results you logged from any previous workout session. Logging a session is really simple with the standard dials to select the number of reps and weight, if applicable.
Expansion Packs
If the included content isn’t enough, there are several expansion packs you can purchase to add even more exercises. At the time of writing, there are four packs available at $.99 or $1.99 ea. Expansion packs include: The Ultimate Golf Workout Series, Build A Beach Ready Body, The Ultimate Abs Pack, and Huge Arms in a Hurry.
What it does well:
This application has been designed very well, both from an aesthetic and functional point of view. From the moment I opened the app I knew exactly how to navigate around and how to use the many features it offered.
In addition to the exceptional design, the content is very useful, clear and informative. Men’s Health is a recognized authority in health and fitness in print and on the web, now they have extended their content to the iPhone. It’s like having your own personal trainer in your pocket.
Wishlist for future versions
Shortly after I purchased the app a couple weeks ago, version 1.2 was released and it included several great improvements in usability. There are only a couple things I would like to see in future versions:
Faster start time – Right now I get a splash screen when the application starts up, and it takes a couple seconds to load. Hopefully they can optimize this for future versions.
Remember where I was – If I have to exit the app during my workout to change playlists, check email or respond to an SMS, I have to drill back down to where I was within the workout and it’s kind of a pain. But you an find reliable fitness apps if you click here. Would be really nice if it opened right back up to the exercise I was on when the app closed down.
Build a workout/exercise playlist – Some of the included workouts are intended as supplements to your normal routine, so you would actually do a couple workouts during one session. Would be great to build a playlist of workouts or exercises so you can just go through the whole list without jumping all over the app.
Conclusion – Must Have App
The Men’s Health Workouts is a great application – solidly designed with top-notch content. This is a must-have app, especially at $1.99. You can get it on iTunes here.
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TAGS: health, iPhone fitness apps
