Favourite apps for martial arts usage!

[_Simon_]

Just curious if anyone has found any apps beneficial to their martial arts practice. Would be good to share them here

I've been using just standard "round timer" ones for either bagwork, shadowsparring or even when I used to run, where you can set how many rounds, how long the rounds are, and rest times etc.

But I totally forgot that I had downloaded one awhile ago called "Shoutbox Workout Timer", and hadn't used it! It's actually really cool, it has preset modes like punching combinations, exercises, karate kicks, fencing, movements etc. And basically a dude calls out loud what to do, at random intervals!

And of course you set the standard of round/rest time and so on, but you can also change the "intensity", which basically is how quickly he will call them out.

Today I'm gonna use it just in a shadowboxing style, then next time will incorporate bagwork. Obviously, downsides of using it too much is not utilising creativity and imagination, but a good practice in listening, reacting as quick as possible, and also in doing things you may not usually try, in ORDERS that you may not have tried.

And for just a bit of intense cardio if you really crank it up.

What's more is you can edit the presets (I edited the Fencing one here as I don't plan to do fencing, weird they don't just have a custom option), so you can choose what will be called out, and also a scale of 0-9 as to how likely it will be called.

(Oh and no I didn't make the app nor have anything financially to do with it haha)

Also been told in the past of specific apps for slow motion filming of your practice, which I'd love to get into.

Got any good ol faves?

 

[_Simon_]

Just did 5 rounds (1min rounds, 30s rest) with my own custom program: punches, combinations, kicks, adv kicks, elbows, calisthenics exercises, movements, evasion, steps etc...

Bloody exhausted haha, really gets the heart rate up when as SOON as you hear the call, you explode as fast as you can into whatever it is.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Sadly, I couldnt find the app on the android playstore. Found a similar one i might checkout though.

 

[_Simon_]

Sadly, I couldnt find the app on the android playstore. Found a similar one i might checkout though.

Yeah I just had a look now and couldn't see it anywhere... bizarre! But it does look like there are very similar ones available, I might look into those too..

 

[Tez3]

Is there an app. that shouts at you like our conditioning coach?

 

[_Simon_]

Is there an app. that shouts at you like our conditioning coach?

Hahaha, I wouldn't be surprised if there was one! XD

 

[CB Jones]

Have you looked at Coach's Eye?

Let's you video yourself and break it down in slow motion and freeze frames so you can analyze techniques. It has a function to draw lines on the screen and calculate angles of the lines. You can also do split screen and compare the two.

I've downloaded it for baseball and basketball but will probably try it out with karate as well.

 

[_Simon_]

Have you looked at Coach's Eye?

Let's you video yourself and break it down in slow motion and freeze frames so you can analyze techniques. It has a function to draw lines on the screen and calculate angles of the lines. You can also do split screen and compare the two.

I've downloaded it for baseball and basketball but will probably try it out with karate as well.

Ah THAT'S the one... @JR 137 mentioned it awhile ago, will definitely look into that one, sounds amazing... would such a great training tool! Only downside is I may get too obsessed with it haha, overanalyse etc, but gonna look into it. Cheers CB

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Just curious if anyone has found any apps beneficial to their martial arts practice. Would be good to share them here

I've been using just standard "round timer" ones for either bagwork, shadowsparring or even when I used to run, where you can set how many rounds, how long the rounds are, and rest times etc.

But I totally forgot that I had downloaded one awhile ago called "Shoutbox Workout Timer", and hadn't used it! It's actually really cool, it has preset modes like punching combinations, exercises, karate kicks, fencing, movements etc. And basically a dude calls out loud what to do, at random intervals!

And of course you set the standard of round/rest time and so on, but you can also change the "intensity", which basically is how quickly he will call them out.

Today I'm gonna use it just in a shadowboxing style, then next time will incorporate bagwork. Obviously, downsides of using it too much is not utilising creativity and imagination, but a good practice in listening, reacting as quick as possible, and also in doing things you may not usually try, in ORDERS that you may not have tried.

And for just a bit of intense cardio if you really crank it up.

What's more is you can edit the presets (I edited the Fencing one here as I don't plan to do fencing, weird they don't just have a custom option), so you can choose what will be called out, and also a scale of 0-9 as to how likely it will be called.

(Oh and no I didn't make the app nor have anything financially to do with it haha)

Also been told in the past of specific apps for slow motion filming of your practice, which I'd love to get into.

Got any good ol faves?

Th only app I've found consistently useful is a Flex Timer app. I originally picked it up because they have a Flex timer in one of the rooms at the Y I was using at the time, where the heavy bag is. So I could fire up the app with my routine when nobody else was using the timer, and have my 10-round heavy bag routine (90-second rounds, 30 seconds rest) on the wall. The app works reasonably well without the wall display, but I sometimes don't hear the end-of-round warning from my phone.

 

[_Simon_]

Th only app I've found consistently useful is a Flex Timer app. I originally picked it up because they have a Flex timer in one of the rooms at the Y I was using at the time, where the heavy bag is. So I could fire up the app with my routine when nobody else was using the timer, and have my 10-round heavy bag routine (90-second rounds, 30 seconds rest) on the wall. The app works reasonably well without the wall display, but I sometimes don't hear the end-of-round warning from my phone.

Ah nice, yeah those timer apps are great. That routine sounds killer, I'd have to build up to that at the moment I think hehe.

And I've had that happen where you don't hear the alarm... and you're hitting away thinking "WHEN IS THAT DAMN ALARM GONNA GO OFF?!?!?" XD

I like a nice clear alarm

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Ah nice, yeah those timer apps are great. That routine sounds killer, I'd have to build up to that at the moment I think hehe.

And I've had that happen where you don't hear the alarm... and you're hitting away thinking "WHEN IS THAT DAMN ALARM GONNA GO OFF?!?!?" XD

I like a nice clear alarm

I can’t make it through that routine right now, either. I could for a while, but I broke my habit of doing that.

 

[JR 137]

Ah THAT'S the one... @JR 137 mentioned it awhile ago, will definitely look into that one, sounds amazing... would such a great training tool! Only downside is I may get too obsessed with it haha, overanalyse etc, but gonna look into it. Cheers CB

@Dirty Dog uses it too. It’s a great app.

I also use interval timer. It’s a good basic app. I can fine tune it better than round timer. And I use Polar Beat/Polar Flow with my Polar heart monitor. Probably the most accurate heart rate monitor on the market. It tracks heart rate and graphs it nicely. A great way to tell how hard you’re actually training. My goal when using it is to get my heart rate up as high as I can (in the maximum safe zone) and sustain it during the round, then as close to resting as quickly as possible during the rest periods. You can see your HR in real time on the app, thereby telling you to work harder or back off. Sometimes you’re going too hard during a round, so it helps you set a pace to finish the round and workout; other times you think you’re going harder than you actually are.

So when I hit the bag I’ve got 2 smart devices going - my old iPad and iPhone. One’s got the interval timer, the other has Polar. This way I can instantly see both instead of trying to switch over on the same device. Kinda hard to do that with boxing gloves on.

I want to get one of those boxing round timers. They’ve got big colored lights and louder alarms. Problem is they’re expensive for what they are and I’m too cheap. Especially when a free app will do the same thing, and most often has better control of the times and number of rounds. They’re more for a gym full of people working out rather than a guy in his basement like me.

None of this stuff is necessary, but it makes me far more efficient and keeps my workout focused.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

This way I can instantly see both instead of trying to switch over on the same device. Kinda hard to do that with boxing gloves on.

Now I'm trying to imagine the ads for boxing gloves with touch-screen compatibility.

 

[_Simon_]

@Dirty Dog uses it too. It’s a great app.

I also use interval timer. It’s a good basic app. I can fine tune it better than round timer. And I use Polar Beat/Polar Flow with my Polar heart monitor. Probably the most accurate heart rate monitor on the market. It tracks heart rate and graphs it nicely. A great way to tell how hard you’re actually training. My goal when using it is to get my heart rate up as high as I can (in the maximum safe zone) and sustain it during the round, then as close to resting as quickly as possible during the rest periods. You can see your HR in real time on the app, thereby telling you to work harder or back off. Sometimes you’re going too hard during a round, so it helps you set a pace to finish the round and workout; other times you think you’re going harder than you actually are.

So when I hit the bag I’ve got 2 smart devices going - my old iPad and iPhone. One’s got the interval timer, the other has Polar. This way I can instantly see both instead of trying to switch over on the same device. Kinda hard to do that with boxing gloves on.

I want to get one of those boxing round timers. They’ve got big colored lights and louder alarms. Problem is they’re expensive for what they are and I’m too cheap. Especially when a free app will do the same thing, and most often has better control of the times and number of rounds. They’re more for a gym full of people working out rather than a guy in his basement like me.

None of this stuff is necessary, but it makes me far more efficient and keeps my workout focused.

Yeah for sure they can be great training tools. They didn't have them decades ago but quality martial artists were still born and bred , but anything that can give a little edge is all good (legally that is.. XD ).

Yes the heart rate one sounds great, been wanting to get a monitor for awhile, for exactly the purpose you use it for!

PS. Hope you've been well JR, and that training's going well

 

[JR 137]

Yeah for sure they can be great training tools. They didn't have them decades ago but quality martial artists were still born and bred , but anything that can give a little edge is all good (legally that is.. XD ).

Yes the heart rate one sounds great, been wanting to get a monitor for awhile, for exactly the purpose you use it for!

PS. Hope you've been well JR, and that training's going well

I’ve been doing pretty good. Training’s on hold for a while. Too many commitments and too little time. But it’ll slow down.

If you’re going to get a heart rate monitor, get a Polar. The light technology like on Fitbit isn’t very good. And hitting a bag with their watches ruins them. I know this because I’ve ruined 2. Fitbit was great and sent me a replacement without hassle, but I didn’t want to keep doing that.

Polar is EKG accurate and used by a ton of exercise physiologists in clinical stuff. And it’s not on your wrist to mess with gloves.

 

[_Simon_]

I’ve been doing pretty good. Training’s on hold for a while. Too many commitments and too little time. But it’ll slow down.

If you’re going to get a heart rate monitor, get a Polar. The light technology like on Fitbit isn’t very good. And hitting a bag with their watches ruins them. I know this because I’ve ruined 2. Fitbit was great and sent me a replacement without hassle, but I didn’t want to keep doing that.

Polar is EKG accurate and used by a ton of exercise physiologists in clinical stuff. And it’s not on your wrist to mess with gloves.

Ah yep fair enough understandable! Hope things settle down.

And thanks for the heads up! Yeah I can't imagine the watch-like ones being good for heavy bagwork

 

[JR 137]

I can’t edit my previous post, but I’d like to clear something up a little bit...

The light technology on stuff like Fitbits is fine for walking around and even moderate exercise. A light jog, stuff like that. But when HR gets into the medium to upper ranges, it’s not very accurate. It uses light beams to measure your pulse; basically trying to “see” your blood flow.

Polar uses electrodes to measure the electrical activity of your heart. You strap the unit around your chest; picture where the bottom of a sports bra would be. Every time your heart beats, there’s an electrical impulse. The Polar measures the frequency (number of times) those impulses.

Heart rate can tell you a lot of things - approximately how many calories burned/mets you used; tracking the rate rises and falls can tell you how good of cardiovascular shape you’re in; and so on.

Perceived Rate of Exercise (PRE) is how hard you feel you’re working. PRE isn’t the most efficient way to work out. Getting an actual HR and tracking it constantly tells you exactly how hard you’re working. With interval/HIIT training, the goal is to get your heart rate up to a certain % of max HR, keep it there for a period, then get it down to a baseline % for a period. HR monitors really take the guesswork out of it.

The most beneficial exercise I do with it is hitting the bag. I try to go 3 minute rounds with 1 minute rest. 8-10 rounds. Watching my HR, I know when to pick up the intensity and when to back off. Going too hard, and I won’t make it to the later rounds. Too easy, and what did I really accomplish? There are days I feel great and start going harder than I should. I back off a bit and keep my HR where it should be so I don’t burn out. Then there are days I feel like doo-doo and realize I’m not going nearly as hard as I think I am. To put it best, it keeps the workout honest. My goal is to quickly get to about 90% of my max HR, keep it there for the entire round, then get it down to close to my resting HR as quickly as possible and keep it there for the rest period. The quicker you can get back down correlates with your cardiovascular shape a bit. It’s not the whole story, but it’s definitely a good indicator.

Sorry if I rambled a bit there.

 

[JR 137]

Ah yep fair enough understandable! Hope things settle down.

And thanks for the heads up! Yeah I can't imagine the watch-like ones being good for heavy bagwork

The shock from hitting the bag rattles the insides and stuff comes apart. Fitbit has been great about honoring their warranty. I call them, upload the data from my app, then get an email with tracking info on the replacement. They even say keep the old one. Both of my daughters have my old ones. Everything works except HR.

 

[_Simon_]

I can’t edit my previous post, but I’d like to clear something up a little bit...

The light technology on stuff like Fitbits is fine for walking around and even moderate exercise. A light jog, stuff like that. But when HR gets into the medium to upper ranges, it’s not very accurate. It uses light beams to measure your pulse; basically trying to “see” your blood flow.

Polar uses electrodes to measure the electrical activity of your heart. You strap the unit around your chest; picture where the bottom of a sports bra would be. Every time your heart beats, there’s an electrical impulse. The Polar measures the frequency (number of times) those impulses.

Heart rate can tell you a lot of things - approximately how many calories burned/mets you used; tracking the rate rises and falls can tell you how good of cardiovascular shape you’re in; and so on.

Perceived Rate of Exercise (PRE) is how hard you feel you’re working. PRE isn’t the most efficient way to work out. Getting an actual HR and tracking it constantly tells you exactly how hard you’re working. With interval/HIIT training, the goal is to get your heart rate up to a certain % of max HR, keep it there for a period, then get it down to a baseline % for a period. HR monitors really take the guesswork out of it.

The most beneficial exercise I do with it is hitting the bag. I try to go 3 minute rounds with 1 minute rest. 8-10 rounds. Watching my HR, I know when to pick up the intensity and when to back off. Going too hard, and I won’t make it to the later rounds. Too easy, and what did I really accomplish? There are days I feel great and start going harder than I should. I back off a bit and keep my HR where it should be so I don’t burn out. Then there are days I feel like doo-doo and realize I’m not going nearly as hard as I think I am. To put it best, it keeps the workout honest. My goal is to quickly get to about 90% of my max HR, keep it there for the entire round, then get it down to close to my resting HR as quickly as possible and keep it there for the rest period. The quicker you can get back down correlates with your cardiovascular shape a bit. It’s not the whole story, but it’s definitely a good indicator.

Sorry if I rambled a bit there.

Yeah it just sounds like a really efficient way of measuring or observing where you're currently sitting, training in those ranges for HIIT, and also would be very educational in teaching you what it actually feels like to be at say 90% max heart rate, and getting the feel of that in the body.

Nah that was super helpful, thanks mate