Best triathlon training apps review
With so many triathlon training apps around for every mobile platform, Mike Anderson takes a closer look at four designed to give your training a boost….
My Fitness Pal
Price: Free
Platform: iOS and Android
Info: www.myfitnesspal.com
My Fitness Pal is a fantastic free app that helps you log your daily food consumption. Their massive database contains thousands of food products that you can either search for by name or scan the barcodes on the packaging using your smartphone’s camera.
You can also log exercise and see your daily net calories, as well as set goals, see a nutritional breakdown of that day and monitor your progress with handy graphs and charts. The pie chart is a particular favourite as it helps you keep track of your daily macronutrients. Plus you can calculate the nutritional content of recipes by inputting the ingredients, and the app will save them for future reference.
Verdict: Superb app for anyone who wants a helping hand with nutrition, 90%
Strava
Price: Free
Platform: iOS and Android
Info: www.strava.com
Strava isn’t new by any means, but when they amalgamated their cycling and running apps into one last year it streamlined the service for triathletes. At its base level the app is very easy to use, and will turn your phone into a GPS recording unit for your workouts as well as receive data from power meters, HRMs and other sensors.
And of course there’s the much vaunted segments for anyone who wants to add a competitive element to their training. You can also upgrade to Strava premium for £4.49 per month, which adds goal setting, real-time segments, suffer score, power analysis and more if you’re itching to get technical with your training.
Verdict: Great-looking, simple app that'll add an extra element to your training, 93%
Wahoo Fitness
Price: Free
Platform: iOS
Info: www.wahoofitness.com
The first time we used the Wahoo Fitness app, we teamed it up with Wahoo’s superb Kickr turbo trainer and were very impressed. You can also link it up to any Bluetooth-equipped sensors, like Polar’s latest HR straps. The app itself is very easy to use, and gives you a choice of workout between running, cycling and their indoor equivalents.
Once you’ve started a workout, you get two customisable screens of information, as well as one extra from which you can control the music on your phone and a map if you’re outdoors. You can also add multiple additional screens to turn your phone into pretty much the ultimate metrics machine.
Verdict: Highly customisable and easy to use, but needs extra sensors to get the full benefit, 81%
SwimRadar
Price: £2.29
Platform: iOS
Info: www.swimradar.com
The concept behind SwimRadar is a really simple one: map every location for swimming around the world. Consequently, wherever you are, the app will display the latest pools, tell you pool length, whether it’s indoor or outdoor and show the location on a map. There’s even a button that’ll give you directions to the pool from your current location in Google Maps.
Plus, if you ever come across a pool that’s not on the app, you can add it to the database for other users. While some might argue that it’s solving a problem that can already be easily solved by a quick Google, it makes the whole process easier for a small up-front fee.
Verdict: An app that makes finding a pool easy, even when you're away from home, 80%