interval-training
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TUAW's Daily App: Seconds
I've been getting more and more into running lately, and while I've been tending towards long distance running, one of the best ways to beef up your running expertise is by doing what's called HIIT -- high intensity interval training. You sprint at a certain speed for a period of a few minutes in length, rest for another interval a few minutes in length, and then sprint all out again. It's interesting (and effective, I hear), but you've really got to track times and make sure you're moving when you're supposed to be. Enter Seconds, an app designed to either track and run HIIT workouts or any other timed workout periods (boxing and MMA are also fitness pastimes which usually depend on rigidly defined periods of endurance training). With a clean and simple interface, the app comes with a few preset interval-based workouts, or you can set your own intervals. You can even program music and playlists to go along with whatever you're doing. It's definitely not an all-purpose app for working out or anything else -- even with HIIT, odds are that you're combining this type of training with other exercise in some way. Seconds isn't meant to track calories burned or just work as a standard stopwatch. It's specifically designed to work as an interval timer. For that specific purpose, it serves the role well. Rather than fumbling around with a stopwatch and doing the math as you sprint around a track, Seconds makes it really easy to just let your iPhone handle the timing, so you can focus on getting the most of your HIIT workout. It's available for an introductory price of $1.99 in the App Store right now.
Ultratimer: a must-have for interval training
While Plain and Simple Software's UltraTimer [iTunes link] can't do your workout for you, it'll certainly provide you some guidance to help you follow your workout. Let's face it. Working out is hard, and can sometimes get boring -- very boring. Especially when spending half an hour or more on the same machine, be it a treadmill, stationary bike, or elliptical trainer. To this end, I've recently taken up interval and circuit training to help liven up my workout. While planning out interval and circuit training workouts is a fairly straightforward and easy task, following them isn't. Wait a minute: Which exercise do I do next, and how long do I do it for? Of the timers that I've tested, UltraTimer is my favorite. Its combination of ease-of-use and functionality make it the benchmark fitness timer app. At the top of the list is the ability to create multiple sets of timers. Which means that you can have a timer with different intervals for CrossFit, a timer for boxing, or any other unique time-based routine. And each interval within a timer can be set for a specified time period, with corresponding sounds and display options. For example, say my boxing timer has four different intervals: jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts. I'd like to do jabs for a minute, crosses for one and a half minutes, hooks for 45 seconds, and uppercuts for 30 seconds. In addition, the screen can be customized to display a different color for each interval, which complements its ability to display the name (which you can customize) of the interval, alleviating the need to peer over at your workout sheet. However, you needn't look at your iPhone either. Besides associating an interval with one of the app's many built-in sounds, you can record your own voice. So, if you want the app to speak the word "uppercuts" when it's time to do them, you just need to record your voice to say "uppercuts." I've found the app's voice features to be a particularly nice feature, as I like to put my iPhone's screen to sleep and listen to music when I work out; UltraTimer will run when you put your iPhone's screen to sleep, and also features controls to play your music. Creating intervals is facilitated by the ability to copy and paste intervals. So, if you wanted to repeat each of the intervals in the above example, you could just select all four and paste them. Similarly, if you just wanted the first, third and fourth intervals repeated, you can do that as well. Lastly, the app allows you to share the timers you've created with other iPhones either via Bluetooth or via import/export. In the case of the latter, the app will copy the specified timer's contents onto a clipboard, which others with UltraTimer can import. UltraTimer is available for purchase at iTunes for $1.99.
Count The beats: Training your ear with RelativePitch
Relative pitch, let alone perfect pitch (some people are born with it, everyone else has to learn!) is an invaluable skill required when it comes to playing an instrument and understanding the music you are hearing. Thankfully, Easy Ear Training has developed a nifty little app to help you along with all your pitch training needs. The idea is to learn how to hear the difference between two musical notes in a given key / octave, and be able to identify what that difference is, based on the root note. This is otherwise known as an interval: the space between two notes. For example, a minor 3rd, or a perfect 5th (think the Star Wars theme tune!). For a great description of what an interval is, click here. I also came across this iTunes U video lesson by Shawn "Thunder" Wallace [iTunes Link] describing the difference between perfect pitch, relative pitch and something that Shawn calls true pitch. Very interesting! This may sound rather complicated, but really you don't need to know any of the theory when it comes to using the Relative Pitch app. At its simplest, it will help you to hear with more detail what it is that you're listening too Relative Pitch [iTunes Link] consists of two main modes: training and testing. When you open the app, you kick off with the first lesson (of which there are 14) in the training mode. Once the first lesson is complete, a corresponding test is unlocked to examine what you have learned. On passing that test the next lesson is unlocked, and so forth. Relative Pitch will teach you to distinguish ascending, descending and harmonic intervals across four octaves. With in-app volume control, in-depth customization of the training mode, and even being able to choose the root note of the octave you want to train from, you'll make strides. Whether you are a seasoned musician or a complete beginner, Relative Pitch will have you listening with a sharpened ear and a greater appreciation of the music you love. The Relative Pitch app costs £4.99, but there is a lite free version of the app here [iTunes Link] so you can try it out. Also, keep an eye out for the revamped Easy Ear Training website launching in the coming weeks.
Hands-on (and feet-on) with RunKeeper Pro
The $9.99 pro version of RunKeeper [iTunes link] serves as a nice alternative to Nike+, especially for the interval-training minded runner. While the Nike+ kit serves a means to an end for many runners, it may not suit everybody's needs. There's the additional cost of the transmitter and receiver (USD $30) for iPod nano owners -- iPhone and iPod touch owners need only purchase the transmitter for USD $19. Then there's the cost of Nike running shoes, which are the only shoes that accommodate the Nike+ transmitter; or as a workaround, you could get a pouch that fits the transmitter on your shoelace; and these usually run about $10. And then there's the issue of accuracy. I personally find a calibrated Nike+ kit very accurate. For instance, during a 4 mile run (I mapped out the trail on walkjogrun.net prior to running) RunKeeper Pro showed that I ran 3.95 miles while Nike+ showed 3.90 miles. Others, however, have not been as fortunate. And this is understandable, as the kit works by detecting the steps a person takes; and as runners' gaits and strides can sometimes change during a run, this may affect the kit's accuracy. Accuracy issues aside, RunKeeper Pro, at face value, appears little different than Nike+: at its core, RunKeeper Pro aims to track your running progress, albeit with different technology than Nike+. But dive a little deeper, and what you'll find is a training gem, especially for interval-based workouts.