Sunday 5 June 2011

Adidas MiCoach

Hello, a quick introduction. I set this blog up because I was sick and tired of paying for apps that turned out to be crap. I was also sick of reading long-winded 'reviews' of things I'd probably play with for ten minutes before getting bored. So, there you are; tell your friends. Or don't; I hear it's cool to have an iPhone.

A few days ago I stumbled upon Adidas' "MiCoach", a fitness app which acts as a personal trainer. It's available on both iPhone and Android as far as I know, so the demographic is pretty wide. What it appears to be is a competitor to the much lauded (and much purchased) Nike+ for the iPod (something which they have ported over to the iPhone in app form), apart from one very slight difference: MiCoach is free.

Adidas' MiCoach uses Google Maps
and GPS to track the route taken.
And free, in this case at least, doesn't mean what it usually means. In recent years, and certainly since the whole app business got going, free has come to mean "light", "demo" or "shit". MiCoach is none of these things. It is, rather, an incredibly exhaustive and well-supported piece of kit. In-app registration is a lovely inclusion, and the ability to create and edit workouts on their website is a nice touch, though the ability to set an app-exclusive password seems somewhat wasted when you consider that it's just exercise. Linking playlists to workouts and customising the voice of your workout 'coach' are pleasant aural additions, especially since most things with Jonny Wilkinson's name to them tend to cost a lot of money. There are a few other athletes to choose from, though sadly I don't recognise any of them. I don't like sports.

The real meat and potatoes is in the way this app actually works. Perhaps any other workout app would simply give you a time, and tell you when to speed up and slow down, and then finish after that time. No questions asked, no expense spent. MiCoach isn't "any other workout app" in that sense; rather it does something quite clever. It incorporates GPS into your workout, which lets the app know exactly where you are, how long it took you to get there, and thus your speed. This adds another (perhaps unnecessary) dimension to the workout process- using it feels as though your friend Jonny is running (or doing push-ups, or stair-climbing, or cartwheeling) with you; he knows where you are. He knows if you're not doing as you're told ("Speed up a bit now. Speed up. You need to speed up"). He knows if you're cutting corners. He knows if you are sleeping, he knows if you're awake, etcetera. Jonny Wilkinson basically becomes a 21st Century Orwellian dictator, but it all helps in the end. It's probably character-building, or something. It's also worth noting that the app can track speed, mileage, and heart-rate simultaneously which, while interesting, is pretty useless to 90% of people who will use this app. Unless you have a stroke half way through, then I expect the app will notice your heart-rate and tell you to slow down. Don't assume however that every time Wilko tells you to slow down, that you're having an acute stroke.
The app tracks mileage, kcal and speed
data during the user's workout.

This innate ability to know every single detail of where you are and what you're doing may sound daunting, though it really is a good thing. The app collates all the data from the first "assessment workout" (which is always the hardest, but only due to lack of motivation rather than Adidas being slave-driving bastards) and uses it to tell you how healthy you are, before then setting up several weeks worth of exercises tailored to suit your ability level, meaning that instead of going by sheer estimation like other workout apps (and there are a lot), MiCoach creates a workout which is both achievable and, believe it or not, enjoyable. Such active use of GPS can require you to specify the route that you plan to take*. This can be a real pain in the arse to get sorted (picking a familiar route which is long enough, but not too long), and following the same route for months on end can be a bit dull (spontaneously taking a sidestreet is possible, but it can throw the app off slightly). Add to that the fact that GPS on phones is still almost completely useless in quite a few places; I'm not sure what it's like in the US, but in the UK coverage pretty much ceases unless you're in Manchester or London; and you end up with an app which is far greater than the sum of its parts.

In short, the app is impressive. Incredibly impressive when you consider the price, or lack thereof. If you delve deeper into it, you'll find a variety of addons, modifiers, evaluative tools and coach voices; "Female French 2" is particularly entertaining. There are some flaws, but a lot of these are down to its dependence on other pieces of software, such as GPS. MiCoach is probably worth a shot no matter where you live, and while it can work without GPS functionality, it's not the same. It's a fun way to get an exercise routine going, though your mileage may vary**. If you're a health nut living in the city however, then this is a must.

*note: you can set the app to record your route as you run, and then save it for reference or application to another workout, but this feature is a bit dodgy even when it works, and is certainly not supported on phones without GPS.
**no pun intended  

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