Apps for amateur athletes on trend

Apps for hobby athletes on trend: Electronic aids in sports

13/10/2013

More and more people use technical and electronic aids such as smartphones, apps and gadgets. While these may be helpful as helpers and guides, it is more important to listen to his own body.

Many good reasons
For various reasons, people are looking at the possibilities that the world of smartphones, apps or gadgets offers. Some use a pedometer to track their daily mileage, while others feed their consumed food and drinks right into their smartphone to calculate their calorie intake. And some apps can be helpful for recreational athletes by measuring their heart rate while walking using a heart rate monitor. The founder of the German Quantified Self-Community, Florian Schumacher, says about the reasons behind the use of these funds: „The recording of values ​​about one's own self serves many to observe change or to motivate self-imposed goals.“

Collected data exerts fascination
The Quantified Self-Community is a network of software users and providers that use their personal information to promote and monitor their personal development and health. In the US, 70 percent of the population would already observe their health as described above. „The situation in Germany should be similar, although not so openly talked about“, so Schumacher. Also the sports psychologist Dr. Christopher Willis, who among other things coordinates sports and exercise programs for recreational athletes, sees great benefits in modern aids: „You can provide it with structure and support. At the beginning, the collected data has its own positive fascination.“ When coaching beginners apps are used by him targeted. „We see increased motivation, more fun and increased endurance“ so Willis. Thus, the users would develop more realistic goals.

App does not replace your own motivation
Dr. Urs-Vito Albrecht from the Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics of the Technical University of Braunschweig and the Hanover Medical School, commented in an interview „The world“ however critical: „An app can never replace one's own motivation.“ However, he acknowledged that such programs could help to achieve self-imposed goals, visualize progress and achievements, and deliver a training plan. Negative he sees: „Of course, all training failures are mercilessly documented, which can do exactly the opposite.“

People compare
An advantage of the collected data lies in their preparation. For example, one's own services could be compared with those of other users, or through certain apps, average values ​​of the same age group or training level could be viewed and their own services analyzed. „Man tends to compare himself“, so Albrecht. The comparison with his own age group or similarly trained people is for him the more appropriate comparison and not between a beginner and a long-time athlete. „In general, however, such comparisons are difficult because standardized algorithms can never judge the individual characteristics of the individual.“ For example, faulty algorithms could present the user with incorrect results. The user would then be either unjustified or happy about „negative“ Annoy results. „In either case, he may fail or operate actions that he would not have taken in the case of correct results.“

Tips and invitations from the internet
Many apps are used to spread tips and invitations from the large Internet community, mostly for a rather playful competition. For example, you can create virtual running groups for some smartphone applications, or users can announce their training routes, including distance, height difference or level of difficulty. Dr. Willis says: „It is precisely these platforms that offer valuable social support that many people would not have in their everyday lives and everyday social environment.“ Often, however, such messages in social networks take over and annoy. „Some coquet with it and want to force a positive reaction“, said Oliver Stoll of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Sportpsychologie.

Complete training sessions without technical assistance
Even though 560,000 people in Germany are addicted to the Internet, according to a current study funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health, there is still no published study that deals with the potential addiction of measuring. This danger sees Dr. Willis anyway for very low. However, he warns: „As soon as excessive employment negatively affects one's own mental well-being, danger is in arrears.“ In spite of all technical training devices, beginners would have to learn to perceive their body without the aids. He recommends recreational athletes that they should regularly undergo training sessions without technical assistance. In this point, Dr. Albrecht to: „One can only recommend users to consider fitness apps as little helpers and instructors and to always listen to the signals of their own body.“

Study on the effect of electronic media on patients
Also in the medical field, the electronic media are paying more attention. For example, Petra Wagner from the Institute of Health Sport and Public Health at the University of Leipzig is investigating their effects on people with health problems. For this purpose, 60 adolescents, who were in a rehabilitation clinic because of their obesity, were asked about the topic. For the study is of interest, how the behavior of young people, their knowledge and attitude change with the help of the new media. Social networks help the young patients stay in touch with each other and with the clinic even after their stay.

Instructions with sports exercises
But most would be motivated to exercise more as long as they stay with a mentoring program that supports them with podcasts and other formats. These media developed by Petra Wagner and her colleagues include, for example, practical instructions with sports exercises. It would also allow young people to upload and download their data in a protected framework for expert evaluation. This research is still young, but hospitals are already following the work of the institute, as there is interest in concepts for aftercare. (Ad)