According to Ericsson Mobility Report, the number of people with a smartphone subscription is expected to grow to a smashing 6.1 billion by 2020. No wonder mobile application has a huge impact on our daily lives.
One way in which mobile apps have invaded our daily lives is physical activity. Many people fail to find motivation for sports unless they’re reminded to have their morning jog by apps like Endomondo. Here are 4 critical ways in which mobile apps radically changed how we do sports.
1. FITNESS TRACKING
It’s hard to find a consumer who doesn’t engage in some form of self-tracking. It can be anything from a fitness tracker connected to a smartphone to a specific app which measures the distance ran by a user on the basis of their GPS position.
Consumers like to track their physical activity closely and compare their results every day. Those who like doing sports choose fitness trackers which additionally measure their heart rate and sleep cycles, helping them to optimize their daily rhythm to the needs of their bodies.
2. EXERCISE PLANS
Many sports apps provide their users with personalized training regimens which can be used in various kinds of physical activity. Those who frequent the gym can learn how to warm up before hitting their favorite gear. There are also dance and fitness routines available in a form of mobile apps.
These plans can be personalized to realize specific aims too. For instance, if users would like to lose some weight, training apps can provide them with training regimens and diet plans optimized for achieving this goal.
3. MUSIC FOR TRAINING
Consumers also use apps to make their training even more engaging with lively music playlists. Spotify Running is an excellent example of a product designed to boost the experience of users who want to gain additional motivation for their jogs.
The app gives users a non-stop mix of music chosen to match their taste. It ensures users’ tempo matches the beat to create a perfect harmony and help users in their exercise. On top of that, it also features a range of running originals – tracks which were produced with runners in mind. With apps like this one, runners will never run out of great music.
4. SOCIAL FUNCTIONALITIES
This is probably the most important functionality of sports apps. What’s the point of running a long distance if you can’t brag about it to your friends? By comparing their scores with other users, consumers gain plenty of inspiration for working out. The gamification of sports is key for boosting that type of intrinsic motivation.
Some apps allow other social functions as well. For instance, users can create their training plans and share them with friends who are bound to be impressed by their regimen and will likely want to achieve similar results.
Other applications provide users with partners for training. This is especially useful for sports which require at least two people. How many times did you want to play squash but couldn’t find a friend who could spare some time for a game or two? By choosing an appropriate app, you’ll be able to easily find people who are interested in similar sports and would like to diversify their training plans with some exciting games.
5. KEY TAKEAWAY
Sports apps are clearly on their way to revolutionizing they way we do sports. By providing users with training plans and ideas, sports apps help to diversify physical activity and ensure that it never gets dull.
But the real power of sports apps lies in their social dimension – the way in which they help to connect like-minded people, create some healthy competition between friends and help users celebrate their amazing results with others.
This is how sports apps motivate people to do more sports and lead healthier lives.
Want to create your own sports app? Check how to pre-plan it with our guide.
