3/16/2009

iPump for the iPhone: Worth Every Penny

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

iPump Fat BurnThe workouts from iPump cost two bucks a piece and they are worth every penny. I worked out with iPump Fat Burn.

They have a FREE workout that you can download to your iPhone to see what they are like:

They have many other workouts to choose from. You can see them all here:

iPump for the iPhone: Worth Every Penny by LauraMoncur from FlickrEach exercise has a video showing how to perform the exercise correctly. To play the video, press the green circle with the letter P in it. I didn’t notice this the first time I used iPump and wrote a VERY different review of this application. After a few emails with Craig Schlossberg, the founder of PumpOne, he pointed out where the play button was. That dedication to customer service is what separates a good company from an excellent company.

The videos showing how the exercises work are only accessible when you have Internet access, but you don’t need the videos to complete the workout. After you’ve done each workout several times, you can probably do the whole thing just by looking at the exercise photos. I tried accessing iPump Fat Burn while my iPhone was in Airplane Mode and it allowed me to go through the whole workout just showing me the photos and instructions. When I tried to play a video, it just popped up a dialog box saying, “This movie could not be played,” and let me continue.

As with MANY exercise programs, their idea of a beginner workout is sorely mistaken. Take, for example this exercise: the push up.

iPump for the iPhone: Worth Every Penny by LauraMoncur from Flickr

Asking a 200 pound beginner to do a push up is like asking them to do a bench press with nearly 200 pound weights on the bar. What trainer in their right mind would have a beginner bench press almost 200 pounds? That is essentially what you’re asking a beginner to do when you have them do a push up. Sure, you don’t need “special equipment” to do this exercise, but a first-timer should be doing a modified push up or push ups against a wall in the beginning. Asking beginners to do push ups or bench dips is just an exercise in frustration or a recipe for injury. As a beginner, if you find any of the exercises to be too advanced for you, do your best, modify the exercises or skip them altogether until you are strong enough to master them.

Despite their miscalculations about what beginners can actually do, iPump Fat Burn is a great workout tool. You could take it with you to the gym, use it while traveling or just workout at home. You don’t need any exercise equipment to do the workout aside from a bench or stool that can support your full weight. More importantly, PumpOne is a company that is dedicated to customer service. If you are looking for something to change up your workout, then try one of the iPhone applications from iPump.

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One Response to “iPump for the iPhone: Worth Every Penny”

  1. Jof Arnold Says:

    Hi Laura, Michael

    Your comments about pushups are exactly why we created the iPhone app PushupFu. Unlike other courses, we tested ours of thousands of people of varying fitness and the result is a smooth 10-stage process where anyone can feel like they are making progress.

    But the best bit is the motion-tracking; our app can be attached to your arm (using elastic bands if you like) and it gives you feedback on the pace and quality of your reps.

    Once you are feeling a bit more confident, you can even challenge people across the internet, add a realtime progress widget to your blog and even get battles from our Fubot.

    Feel free to contact me at the above email if you want to know more.

    All the best, Jof All the best, Jof

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