For those of you who have been using Fitocracy, the website that gamifies going to the gym, you’ve either been tracking all of your workouts after the gym when you get home, or you’ve been logging into the mobile site on your phone’s browser and tracking your workouts while you’re working out. I do the latter, as I often find it is somewhat difficult to remember every single exercise, amount of sets, reps, and weight I’ve done when I get home from the gym an hour later. Though the mobile site gets the job done, I frequently ran into small bugs and optimization issues on my iPhone 4S. Now, however, an iOS Fitocracy app has released, and not only does that mean Fitocracy is now optimized for iPhones and we can track our workouts at the gym easier than ever, but the app looks very sleek, and we can use more of Fitocracy’s features much more easily than we could’ve with the mobile site.
Though the mobile site got the job done, the app is noticeably prettier. Mobile site on the left, app on the right:
Also, I could be wrong about this, but I never found a way to break out of the mobile site’s track feature (the main feature of Fitocracy, where you log your workouts) and access the rest of the program’s features. As one can see from the comparison above, whether or not you can actually access the rest of Fitocracy’s features on the mobile site, it’s pretty clear how to do so within the app.
Whether or not you’re into gamification of any and all things, even if you ignore the Achievements, Quests, Levels, and Points in Fitocracy, the app is a great way to track and compare your workouts, which is mainly what I use it for. Among a ton of different features, the app allows you to browse past workouts, keeps a list of all of the exercises you’ve ever performed and entered into the tracking system, and it automatically records your own personal records for each workout. It’s an extremely handy tool for those serious about making progress at the gym and finding out what works for their body and what doesn’t.
Along with the extensive tracking, Fitocracy has all of the social networking features you’ve come to expect from a social program, with the ability to join different groups, maintain a friends list, post Fitocracy info directly to various social networks, and comment on anyone’s workouts. There are even leaderboards with various filters.
So, if you go to the gym and never know what to do in between sets and awkwardly pace around where you are situated until your next set, Fitocracy will not only give you something to do for that minute or two of rest, but it’s a much better way to track your workout than that disheveled notebook and tiny pencil you’ve been using for the past few years. Possibly best of all, it’s free.
- Muscle soreness after a workout sounds really disgusting in science terms
- A wallet punishing workout
- Shake Weights don’t work, if you’re going for a workout, that is
