Apps I Wish My Students Would Use...

So I just finished scrolling through my twitter feed and saw a blog post titled "Apps I Wish My Students Would Use" from thephysicaleducator.com and it got me thinking... what Apps would I love to know my students are using outside of school that have a direct correlation to Health or Physical Education? If I could give them a gentle guiding towards some key apps which would they be? These are 4 favourites!

MapMyRide - MapMyWalk - MapMyRun 

These little apps are neat! You enable the GPS settings on your device and hit "record" and go on your merry way. It maps out where you travel during your workout and provides results including: distance, average pace, time taken and speed. The results including the map are kept journal style and can be accessed later on via the app, or the website. Meaning users can review their week, can share with others (there is an online community associated with the website) or users can just revisit older workouts and try to better them. The other neat thing is members can set themselves goals to achieve with a variety of parameters for consideration to make the goals more achievable. Members can share their achievements via social networks as well, meaning students could continue to encourage one another. The best thing is this app is available on both Android and iOS.


MyFitnessPal

This app is a great way for students to monitor their exercise and  nutrition. Users log their workouts and what they have consumed throughout the day. They can add friends and share their progress with one another. The food bank is extensive as is the exercise bank, meaning most things can be found and added to the daily log book. Just like with MapMyRide/Run/Walk members can set goals and track their progress. This app is also available across most platforms including Android and iOS and the website is a great place to stop as well.


Nike Training

I've mentioned this app on the blog before and still have faith in it's ability to give students a good workout, particularly those who are self motivated. I've shared this with a few students who have either told me that they enjoy working out by themselves or that they want to work out but can't access/afford a gym. It's only available on iOS at this stage but is worth the large download with a variety of workouts available to try.




Zombies Run!

Ever heard the excuse "I'm not going to run unless I'm being chased"? Well this app provides just that... Plug your headphones in, hit play and start running. The app is clever and suits interval training as well as continuous. As you run you are involved in a story that includes the growl of chasing zombies (meaning you need to go faster or risk fictional death) and the GPS means your run gets included into the story with suggestions for side streets to gather "supplies" to help you on your run. This app certainly appeals to students who are enjoying the recent rise in zombie popularity.