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Can marathoners be good crossfitters ? Smart crossfit with 5 apps

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Jul 1, 2014 8:45:00 AM

Can marathoners be good crossfitters ?

Smart crossfit

 

 

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Once you have your goals defined the next step is to get a plan in place. Once the plan is in place you need to track your progress. My plan is to be able to do a muscle up and hand stand push up by the end of the year, because they are major components in many of the hero workouts from Crossfit. This leads inevitably into how to track your progress towards that goal, because otherwise you won´t know how to adjust. Competition is also a nice component to help you excel. Here is where apps can come in handy.

Currently I use the following apps to keep track of my progress:

  1. Nike + Run App
  2. Beyond the whiteboard
  3. 30 day ab challenge
  4. 30 day push up challenge
  5. Stronglifts 5x5 App

 

Nike + Run app

 

Smart running at its best. The Nike + App is for free and track all of your runs. Each mile or kilometer it states your total running time and your pace per mile or kilometer depending on your settings. It works for Android and iPhone. Once you have added some runs you will also see how many runs they log and how they perform. The analytic are smart and give you insight around where you ran, how long you ran and how fast you have been. The charts help you to see whether you are off track, on track or outperforming your self set goals. There options to set mileage and pace goals. The navigation is intuitive and easy to use. I am trakcing my progress for two years now with this app and have never been let down. The trophies you can win are fun and keep yopu motivated. Highly recommended if you want to work towards a running goal.

 

Beyond the whiteboard

 

I just started out with this app for 50$ a year. It got recommended in a blog post and I directly decided to buy it. Maybe my first paycheck of my new employee played a role in this impulse buy. The handling is not as intuitive as with the Nike + Run app, but it has other merits. Once i figured out the meaning of an as prescribed vs a not as prescribed workout I got the gist of it. You can also create your own workouts, but I wouldn´t recommend it. The strength of this app is, that there already many great workouts and you can benchmark yourself against the wole community. For now it is a thumbs up for this app while i still figure out the finer nuances.

 

30 day ab challenge application

 

The 30 day ab challenge app comes for free from I tunes. All the movements of the program are being explained and the navigation is intuitive and straight forward. I am one third into the program and I find it challenging as it is already scaling to 30 leg raises, which is not the easiest of workouts to do. I like the design and the possibility of doing it any where it anytime. No downside here as it is for free.

 

30 day push up challenge app

 

Same as for the 30 day ab challenge app. The only difference is, that I personally find´that a bit more thought could have been given to the exercise regime. There are so many different types of push ups and all the program does so far is letting me do one more regular push up each day. If you can´t do any push ups yet this is fine, but otherwise it gets rather dull. If you can do ten push ups already maybe consider a harder challenge.

 

Stronglifts 5x5 App

 

The program and the app are amazing. I love the design, the ease of use and simplicity of the workout. Increase your workouts by 2.5kg increments eacht time and do 5 sets of 5 reps every second day, weekends of. A great way to start into power lifting and Olympic lifting. Even if you are already stronger, make use of the low weight sets at the beginning of the program to clean up your form and nail it. You won´t regret it. This is the way of smart lifting.

 

Conclusion

 

I am just starting out with some of the apps and I use the Nike + app for years now. If the other apps do the same for me I will see great progress in my fitness and I will share the results in later posts. Get an app to track your progress to stay fos

 

Further reading

 

Set your SMART goal

 

Topics: Can marathoners be good crossfitters?