Online Tools for Recording and Measuring Fitness

A few months ago Pete and I began looking at various web-based tools to record and measure our workouts. Apparently my Excel spreadsheets of geekdom weren't good enough. What Pete was looking for was something that allowed him to generate graphical reports, comparing percentages of time spend in each sport, among other things. What I was looking for was system for recording not only all of my workouts but also my sleep, nutrition, weight and other factors that dramatically affect those workouts. I also wanted the ability to upload workouts as well as export data. What we found and are both using now is BeginnerTriathlete.com . This site is about as simple as it gets and its free. There are paid versions of the site that give you more bells and whistles. This tool is packed with user forums, reviews, event calendars and access to a community of triathletes that's far reaching. There is such a wide range of athletes on this site that just about anyone, at any level of the sport could find great use out of this tool. While I like the usability of this tool, I would make recommendations regarding usability.The back and forth that needs to happen to record, review, and analyze sessions is not intuitive, but once you understand how the system works, you'll figure out the best work-arounds for yourself.

Other sites include:

SlowTwitch.com  - While the usability of this site seems superior to others at first glance, it is quite limited to the types of workouts that someone would want to record. As any triathlete knows, we do a heck of a lot more than just run, bike and swim. Another unfortunate side to this tool was the inability to record races along side training. The SlowTwitch.com forums however are excellent and are broken down by various categories including: Women, The Lavender Room, and Classifieds to name a few. While SlowTwitch.com does allow users to import maps from Garmin and record routes, their system does not integrate with other commonly used training tools like MapMyRun for instance. As a site for amateurs, they allow users to set up profiles, like a simplified version of Facebook in order to make friends, compete in online challenges, set goals and post messages. I would give SlowTwitch.com 3 out 5 stars.

Runner's World Training Log -  This is a great tool, again its free! The downside is that it focuses on one sport only and looks at additional sports or activities as secondary. The tool requires that you select a main sport as opposed to lining up all sports and measuring them equally. The technology of this tool is far superior to the others, but with that downside, it lost my vote. As a triathlete I need to measure all activity, and include nutrition, sleep, etc. for an accurate view of my training. This did not cut the mustard. How do you cut mustard anyway?

ActiveTrainer.com - I've tried three times to activiate a free trial of this system and every time I received an error message. Being that I work for a technology company and a pretty confident on the interwebs, this was a huge turn-off. The features and benefits listed on their website are comparable to those of other tools, however without being able to login successfully, my review ends there.

WorkoutLog.com - This is where we start moving away from the free tools and into the paid ones. This tool offers a 15-day free trial, but then runs up to $75/year for more bells and whistles.

Bells and whistles in training logs are nice, but the one thing to remember is that unless you use the data to challenge yourself and make adjustments to your training, its not going to make you a better, faster or stronger athlete. Much like any tool, its their to assist you, not do the work for you. I've always enjoyed tracking my progress, and seeing a visual display of my accomplishments over time is motivating. I've started from nothing and worked my way up to great accomplishments, part of the reason I've kept a blog - this is a longer story, a detailed record of setting goals and reaching them.

I'm open to your thoughts about training logs and other measurement tools and what your experience has been with them. Please feel free to leave your comments with me.