The world has changed so much since I started working in the field of fitness. One of the things that has forced some of these changes is technology. A lot of the things we had to do with pencil and paper, has now been made simpler, and can be carried with you on your smartphone. So here are some of those apps that have made fitness easier for me.

Argus- Argus is great because I can track a number of fitness related variables. I can take my resting heart rate first thing in the morning without much trouble. I can also track my steps, calories, my weight, and my water intake. It even lets me know the temperature outside. 

Sleep Cycle- Sleep cycle measures the quality of your sleep. At your bedtime, you just set it face down, and it turns off some of the notifications that you’ll receive from your phone until it’s time to wake up, and it has a soft alarm. More importantly it uses your phone’s microphone to to detect when your toss and turn, or even wake up, and rates the quality of your sleep. Most people are surprised at the quality of their sleep, and immediately aim to improve it, so that weight loss becomes easier, and they can improve their health.

Elite HRV- This app is awesome because I can use it to help me balance out rest and recovery. I just have my heart rate monitor synced to my phone, and every morning after about 90 seconds, I can get my resting heart rate, and my heart rate variability. When your Heart rate variability is larger, your managing stress very well, when it starts going down, you need to either reduce your intense activity, or include more relaxation techniques into your life, such as yoga, or guided breathing.

Headspace & Calm- These apps are great for relaxation techniques. Headspace has the guy that talks you through the guided breathing and helps you relax. While the guided breathing techniques and anxiety modules on calm have actually put some of my clients to sleep in the middle of the gym. 

MyMacros+ – This is my macro/calorie tracking app. I’ve been using it for years, and at that time it was much better than the others out. I could enter in foods that aren’t in their database, and even enter in their macros (not just their calories). I could even enter track cholesterol, or various types of fats, as well as have various customized macro profiles saved. 

Interval Timer- I can customize my HIIT workout work and rest ratios with this app. I often do this based on how I’m performing my HIIT workouts, because each method of madness requires different work to rest ratios. I have the screen turn green when it’s time to go, and red when it’s time to stop, so I can easily see when it’s time to do what. You can hear the beeps and buzzers over your music if you wear headphones, and you can even program how many reps (intervals) you’re supposed to perform.