Sometimes, having something tell us what to do is easier than figuring it out for ourselves. That is my opinion when it comes to intervals. Those with great organizational and time skills may revel in watching the clock so they know exactly when to go to the next interval on the treadmill- not me. If the timing us up to me to watch, the workout tends to look on track for the first 5-minutes, but quickly derails with me jogging, walking, or sprinting for far too long- usually sprinting or jogging for too long and walking too short.
This, my friends, is what brought me to look for a good (and cheap) interval app that would give me updates while my music was playing and log my time. What I found was a weight loss bundle in the iOS app store including Fitness for Weight Loss and Running for Weight Loss pack for $3.99. Not cheap, but I though, "meh, why not?"
The workouts are about 40+ minutes each with a 5-minute warm up and cool down. There are three interval workouts per week. The intervals change on a weekly basis so you are slowly increasing your abilities. For this one, I opted for the intermediate level since running is not my strong suit. I am currently [still] on the first week since I only run intervals once to twice a week.
Up to now the intervals have been 4-minutes jogging, 15-seconds sprinting, and 1-minute walking over and over with one run being 3.5-minutes instead. It has been great and I work up quite the sweat doing it! I have also noticed that my running times have gotten a bit better with each interval workout. Score!
Some other pros of this app include a very easy interface, audible notifications of when to walk, run, and sprint, a multiple day and multiple week schedule, and the ability to go back or skip an interval or entire workout. That last feature is pretty great when I completely forget to listen to the audible cues. It happens.
Some quick, and only, cons are the point system. Everything has points and whenever I open the app, I am bombarded with ads asking me to redeem my points for shopping. If you like points for shopping, welcome to your mecca. If not, get ready to push the little "x'' button in the upper right about a billion times. As much as I love everything else about this app, I would almost stop using it because of this feature. This is especially bothersome considering the amount we pay for the app. To me, these little point reminders are the same as ads- something I do not expect when buying an app.
As for the other app in this bundle; I have not used it yet but it looks super neat. Like all others, you choose the workout level you are, then it gives you different workouts to do each day. The workouts are easily understood with an overview showing the time it will take, number of workouts, and reps. Both these workouts have a weekly plan but I am not sure if I would use the weekly plan for either- or if many would for that matter.
Most of us already have a weekly plan and would be using these as a supplement in that. This is how I have been using the Running app, and I have been seriously enjoying it. For this reason, I cannot say if the workouts have helped me lose weight, but can say that these are the kinds of cardio workouts most people look for when they want to drop a few LB's.
If you do use this as a complete workout calendar, please let me know how it goes!
