A brief update in less than 10,000 words

I promise...

Today I used a really ROCKIN' iPhone Ap called Personal Trainer when I went to the gym.


(Disclaimer: Apparently I'm supposed to do some kind of disclaimer about whether or not I've been somehow compensated for this review...and so, in the interest of being totally honest and all that, I have received NO COMPENSATION from Personal Trainer (other than a kick-ass workout), In fact, I paid .99 for the ap from the iTunes Ap Store. I have an e-recipt for anyone in the internet police who wants it)

Anyway...you'd think after the debacle with the real life personal trainer, I might be hesitant about a virtual Personal Trainer, but it was only 99 cents...so WTF.

Truth be told, I think the reason I usually don't really like strength training is that I really don't know what to do. I mean how many sets, reps, circuits, cycles, whatever, and on which muscle groups should I be doing, moving, lifting, repeating, whatever.

In other words, I am a strength-training novice.

So this Ap is PERFECT for me.

First, it has a list of workouts to choose from. I did a workout called "Rushed for Time" because today I was rushed. It was a beginner workout.


Then, it gave me the list of activities in the workout and the number of reps I should do:


Then, when I didn't know what "Bicep curls with DB" were, it had a video to show me...


It even has a timer for those exercises that need to be timed. (I did two sets of planks for 30 second each...cake).

So...while the workout I did today was a beginner workout and was pretty easy, and while I probably looked like a complete dork wandering the gym while looking at my iPhone before every set (I used the right word, right?), I had fun AND I think I got a reasonable workout.

In the future, I can also create custom workouts. I was also able to keep a journal of the workouts I do. The only thing I wish it did was a calories burned, but since those kinds of things are deplorably inaccurate anyway, I figure it's not that big of a deal. I have other places to look for inaccurate calorie-burned counter.

Another thing that could be improved about the ap, is that every time I wanted to look at a video (which for me was almost every single time), the music playing on the iPod stopped and it took a couple of swipes and clicks to get back to the music. It would be better if the music started automatically once the video was over.

Anyway, if you have an iPhone, it is pretty cool ap, and if you are a strength training novice (like I am) or if you just need some mojo, it is well worth the 99 cents...and is way more affordable than a "real" personal trainer.
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PS...wish me luck. I'm going for a followup foot X-ray in the morning. Should let me know if I can start running again. To be honest, I'm not optimistic.