CONNECT: June 2012

CONNECT Through Fitness Via the Web

Activity & Nutrition Website Review

As the Olympics approach, we may all find ourselves a little more motivated to DO something.  Eat healthier, exercise more, train for an event, or challenge your friends to a friendly competition, but whatever healthy thing you are inspired to do, there are some really great options out there to help guide you and keep you motivated along the way.

Activity and Nutrition tracking websites are popping up all over the place, so we decided to review 4 of the most common sites used within our community of athletes and individuals.  These sites are increasingly becoming a way to stay connected with your community of friends and have some fun while focusing on your overall health and wellness goals.  Most importantly these sites help to guide and encourage you to make the changes it’ll take to realize your full potential.

The 4 websites reviewed with final scores are below, read on for the details:
1. MapMyRide/MapMyRun - 37.5 Points - Good for everyday users and a big community
2. Nike+ - 30 Points - makes your training fun!
3. Training Peaks - 26 Points - get serious and work with a coach
4. Garmin Connect - 24.5 Points - data hounds enter here.

"FUN"

DEVICES (3.5 out of 5):  Nike+ has an array of devices that pair with their web software.  There is the traditional foot pod for the iPod, the Nike+ GPS App for your smart phone, the Nike+ GPS Sportswatch, the Nike+ sportsband, and the Nike+ Fuelband.  Unfortunately, the site does not support connection with other GPS devices such as Garmin or Timex, but a quick google search just may turn up a 3rd party website or two that will do the conversion for you free of charge.

COMMUNITY (4 out of 5):  Nike+ has a large, global community of runners using the system.  This allows you to chat with other members, take on interesting challenges such as who can run the most miles over the next two weeks, or compare yourself against the statistics of the entire “Nike-verse”

MOBILE (4 out of 5): As talked about in the devices section, there is an App for smart phones, but at a small fee for the GPS app which uses the GPS function of the phone to track distance, elevation, and pace.  On the iPhone the app costs $2.99

TRAINING PLANS (4 out of 5):  Nike+ offers a variety of training plans for free to users who would like to complete their first event...first 5k, first ½ marathon, etc.  They are in the middle of renovating their site currently and this is one option that is not available at publishing, but was in the past and they promise it will come back.

NUTRITION TRACKING (0 out of 5):  Nike+ does not offer the ability to track nutrition.

COMPETITION/GOALS (5 out of 5):  Nike+ gives you the ability to setup competitions against a group of friends or total strangers as well as join a group randomly out there.  You can also setup goals such as running faster, running farther, or running more often, where you set the parameters and the site will encourage you and even give you a trophy when you complete it.

ROUTE PLANNING (3 out of 5): You are able to pre-plan a route using this application, but it is not quite as intuitive as some of the others.  You also have the ability to see routes others have shared to the community.

SOCIAL NETWORKING (4.5 out of 5):  Post your runs to Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites...we’ve all seen at least one friend who is.  What you may not know...if you’re using your iPhone while you run, and someone “likes” or comments on your post on Facebook, then you’ll hear the roar of the crowd through your headphones.  Now that’s uplifting, and a pretty neat idea!

VERSATILITY (2 out of 5):  This is where this site lacks.  This is a running community and doesn’t track bike or swim mileage.  However, they just introduced the Nike+ Fuelband which tracks movement of any sort.  They advertise the ability to measure yourself against others no matter what you are doing...walking, skateboarding, dancing, or even working, but it’s something that’s just getting started.

OVERALL IMPRESSION (30 out of 45): An all out blast...get congratulated by a past olympic gold medalist for your recent PR, compare yourself to the entire Nike+ community, or just look at your data in colorful fun graphics, Nike+ finds a way to make achieving feel like a fun game.  If your goal is to have fun and enjoy the social aspects of a running community, this is the site for you.

"ANALYTICAL"

DEVICES (4 out of 5):  Garmin Connect is limited to importing directly from Garmin brand GPS devices.  You can manually add activity to the site, so that’s an extra option if you aren’t using a GPS device.  Garmin has an array of devices ranging from $180 for the basic model, to $400 for the waterproof multisport model.  Garmin is often considered the gold standard when talking about GPS watch devices.

COMMUNITY (2 out of 5): Garmin Connect has a large community of users uploading data to the site which offers a good selection of local courses and events, but the site does not offer any ability to communicate with other members such as chatting, forums, or challenges.

MOBILE (0 out of 5): No mobile access for this site

TRAINING PLANS (3 out of 5):  There are no pre-packaged training plans, but it does give you the ability to pre-plan your own training and workouts including a calendar function and ability to detail a workout such as warm-up time, interval pace, etc.

NUTRITION TRACKING (0 out of 5):  Garmin Connect does not offer nutrition tracking

COMPETITION/GOALS (2.5 out of 5):  As mentioned in the community section, there are no competitions, but this site does allow you to set up personal goals and tracks progress toward completion.

ROUTE PLANNING (4 out of 5):  Garmin Connect allows you to pre-plan a route or find a local route posted by other community members using some pretty basic mapping features, but what sets this apart is the ability to upload the route into some of the Garmin devices.

SOCIAL NETWORKING (4 out of 5):  Allows posts to social networking sites which allow friends to see your route and statistics from the run.  Much more of an analytical approach.

VERSATILITY (5 out of 5):  Depending on the device, you can even use this site to track your swimming mileage.  Any endurance sport you are after works with this setup.

OVERALL IMPRESSION (24.5 out of 45): Dig into your data to really analyze your splits and go for your next PR.  The precision and detail focus of the Garmin Connect platform helps out the most serious endurance athletes.  Not as social as some of the others, but hey, do the socializing while running and biking and you’re set.

"WELL ROUNDED"

DEVICES (5 out of 5): Flexibility is key as the site links to just about every device out there or you can connect to other sites and upload your data that way.  The site has no devices of its own associated with it, but one’s not needed.

COMMUNITY (4 out of 5): A very large community with access to local routes, connect with friends or create new groups of like minded people, and setup competitions.  You can even find local endurance events or enter the community forum to talk about things only the craziest of endurance athletes find interesting.  Also connect with friends as it acts like it’s own social networking site.

MOBILE (5 out of 5): Apps exist for most smart phones and are free to members.  Track your runs using the GPS function, log your nutrition, and view your past activity.  This free app is pretty easy to use, or upgrade for a small fee for the ability to take pictures, receive audio feedback, and utilize the ipod function while mapping.

TRAINING PLANS (2.5 out of 5):  This site offers training plans, but you have to be a premium member at $5.99/mo.  I haven’t tried any of the training plans, but they are likely a little more in depth than what you can get for free on other sites.

NUTRITION TRACKING (4 out of 5): Track your daily nutrition and balance it against your daily calorie budget based on your profile settings and activity for the day.  Analyze macronutrients such as protein, fat, and carbs.  Everything needed for weight loss goals or to maximize endurance performance.

COMPETITION/GOALS (4 out of 5):  Setup challenges among your friends and track personal or decided to take on the massive challenge of the day.  If you’re just up for a quick challenge, choose from a series of courses which allow you to compete against anyone else who has tried the course! This function is currently in BETA testing, but is planning to launch soon.

ROUTE PLANNING (5 out of 5):  The original mapping website, which is still probably the easiest to use.  Map new routes, choose from the largest community collection, and save them to your frequently used routes.

SOCIAL NETWORKING (4 out of 5): Share your activity on facebook or twitter.  Nothing special here, similar to other sites, but the internal networks which show you recent friend activity is what sets this one apart from the rest.

VERSATILITY (4 out of 5):  You can use the Mapmyride/Mapmyrun sites for just about any activity, but there are separate sites for each of the different communities.  It’d be nice if it was all combined, but if you’re focusing on one discipline, this will narrow down your community.

OVERALL IMPRESSION (37.5 out of 45): For the user looking for a well rounded experience.  MapMyRide/Run offers a lot of the same features as the other top sites including challenges, social networking, mapping functionality, but also allows you to track your nutrition and has one of the largest communities around.  There are also MapMy - Walk, Hike, Tri, Fitness, & MTN.  Receiving the highest score for overall uses, it’s often not the best at any one thing, but is really good at almost all of them.

"NUTRITION FOCUS"

DEVICES (4.5 out of 5): The largest list of compatible devices, almost any training device used can be imported into the tracking platform.  Training Peaks does not have a device of its own, but does not need one.

COMMUNITY (1 out of 5):  This is one of the shallowest communities and doesn’t really offer many social opportunities or challenges, but this site is not really focused on the community aspect.

MOBILE: (3.5 out of 5):  There is a free mobile app which allows for free nutrition and activity tracking, but you have to upgrade to the premium version in order to utilize GPS tracking.  The greatest functionality of the app is the ability to scan a barcode of a food and have it automatically add to your food log for the day, aiding in ease of use and accuracy of tracking.

TRAINING PLANS (3 out of 5): There are stock training plans available, often at a hefty price, $20-$100 for a training plan, which probably is not worth it, but the true value of this system is that it allows for coaching from live individuals.  Coaches will have the ability to see all of the activity and food you are logging and give individualized adjustments.  Pro-Activity currently utilizes this program to coach remotely and utilization of coaches often comes at added cost.

NUTRITION TRACKING (4.5 out of 5):  The ability to track nutrition is similar to other sites, but you often have a wide variety of brand name items to choose from including the ability to scan barcodes with your smartphone.  The analytics of the nutrition data and the ability to have a coach analyze the data is the best of all the platforms we’ve seen here.

COMPETITION/GOALS (0 out of 5): No competitions, and only coaches can set goals. The ability to populate your own calendar in the future with workouts comes at a $20/mo. cost unless you are a coach.  It's fair to say that the true value of this platform comes from the coaching abilities and evaluation of past nutritional data.

ROUTE PLANNING (3 out of 5):  The ability to plan and store routes is available, but pretty average, and there is an ability to choose from local community routes, but it’s not easy to find. Click on "routes" and then select "public".

SOCIAL NETWORKING (3 out of 5): The standard ability to post to Facebook and Twitter if you want to, but don’t have to, and you can even post your meals and nutrition data.  You also have the ability to add any of your Facebook friends to your internal Training Peaks network.

VERSATILITY (3.5 out of 5): This platform can be used for any type of activity and the nutrition aspect is the best of those reviewed here.  The score is lowered for this one based on the premise that the activity tracking and data analysis is really standard at best in the free version of the software. However if working with a coach, this score really improves as coaches have a BUNCH of analytics at their fingertips.

OVERALL IMPRESSION (26 out of 45): On the surface this platform doesn’t appear as good as some of the others as you have to pay for a lot of the services the other sites offer for free, but this platform is really intended for the coach-athlete relationship. The true value of the free version lies in its expansive library of food choices for nutrition tracking and analysis, but when working with a coach trainingpeaks offers a lot including the ability to analyze your account remotely.  If you’re someone who’s looking to focus on nutrition for overall health, an athlete at any level who is (or will be) working with a coach, this is the site for you.



Written By:
Nick Pfaff - Pro-Activity Personal Trainer & Corporate Prevention Specialist
Amateur Ultra-marathon Trail Runner