Arnaud Gilbert 
As the old advertising slogan used to say, “There’s an app for that.” It’s a fantastic slogan that gets stuck in your head and refuses to leave without a fight. Like all good advertising, it has lasted the test of time and is as relevant today as it was when Apple’s 2009 TV advertisement hit our screens. What does it mean? The slogan suggested there’s a smartphone app for every situation in life, and although that may have seemed a little far-fetched 14 years ago, it’s very true in 2023.
Whatever you plan to do with your morning, afternoon, or evening, you’ll likely find an app to help. Suppose you want to try cooking a new meal for dinner this evening. You can download a cooking app that’ll recommend a list of menus, add the ingredients to your shopping list, and then give simple step-by-step instructions on how to prepare the food. You’ll be cooking like a professional chef in no time, all from your Android or iOS device. Need the ingredients delivered? You’ll find a food delivery app in your area that will drop the products to your home.
Fancy watching this week’s most important sports event, but you won’t be at home and can’t make it to a sports bar? There’s an app for that. Download a live stream to your handset and watch football, soccer, horse racing, and other sports on the move. Fancy making a prediction? Read the latest betting site reviews on your smartphone, follow forecasts, claim bonuses, and get the best odds.
Want to read previews, gamble, and watch the game all on your handset? There’s an app for that, and you can download it today.
Table of Contents
Apps in Professional Sports
The reach of mobile apps extends to the highest level in professional sports, far beyond the live-stream options available to fans eager to keep pace with results while on the move. Training apps are common at every soccer team in the English Premier League, football team in the NFL, professional MMA fighters, and sprinters. The most professional and modern sports apps help the leading athletes prepare for competition while assisting coaches in choosing their strongest team.
In professional sports, apps are now essential in the training regimes used by coaches and players. They help monitor speed and timing with the numbers converted into a graph to show if a player’s performance is improving or declining. Apps can also highlight work rates in a practice environment, indicating how many yards a football player runs in a touch-football game or how many punches a boxer throws when working on the heavy bag. It’s a great way to help track performance but also encourage players to find a little extra.
The apps used in professional sports are improving at astonishing speed, but their influence is nothing new. We’re now seeing the sports training apps that are tried and tested at the highest level on the common market. Training apps were once only available to the leading names in sports, and the highest bidder is now available to download to any app, anywhere and by anyone. But how can apps designed to assist professional athletes benefit you at the gym?
Keep reading as we explain how the leading fitness apps can improve your strength, endurance, and skills while helping to breed good habits.
Distance Running Apps
The most common training aid app is for long-distance running and endurance. There are several types of distance running apps, including the popular ‘Couch to 5k’ style apps, which help newbie runners with little or no running experience complete a 5k run. They’re packed with helpful tips, training videos, tutorials, motivation, and even suggested soundtracks. Everything you need to get fit and firing.
More experienced runners target more professional apps. The running apps from Nike, Strava, and other leading names measure distance, average speed, calories burnt, and terrain covered, and they even map your course using GPS. New and experienced runners have everything they need to improve.
Time, Speed, and Volume
Away from the running tracks and the hard miles on the road, we move to the comfort of the gym. Okay, we admit, comfort and gym aren’t two words you often see together, as there should be nothing comfortable about your training regime. But the best apps certainly make it easier to monitor your progress.
When a boxer is preparing for a fight, hitting the focus mitts, and working through drills on the bag, they want to know how hard they’re working. Place a sensor in your boxing gloves, connect it to your smartphone via Bluetooth, and the app tracks your progress. You can chart your rise in fitness and punch output all on your handheld device. It’s like having a sports scientist available anytime and anywhere.
Diet
You’ll find many fantastic diet and nutrition apps available to download from the App Store and Google Play. Most of the best diet apps are on a monthly subscription, but if you struggle to keep a tight hold of your diet, these apps can help. They’re great for learning new tricks, discovering healthy snacks, and improving your relationship with food while tailoring your calorie intake to your training goals.
The diet apps are also great for making you more accountable for what you’re eating. The simple steps of adding a snack or your lunch to your in-app food diary often help people stick to the right path. There’s a feeling of guilt involved in adding a doughnut at 8 p.m. after a long day of following your food and exercise plan.
Rest Days
When training in cardio or strength, many of us could be better at taking rest days. We notice a little progress and want to keep hammering the gym, but less is often more with exercise.
For your muscles to grow and repair, you require several rest days a week, and a training app can spot the dangers of doing too much exercise. It’ll flag when you should rest, how to relax, and any ideas on what you can do to combat boredom, such as active recovery, meditation, or stretching.
