FitTime5 iOS App REVIEW | MacSources

A fun way to keep moving while you’re working from home.

As more and more people transition to working from home, we can suddenly find ourselves sitting a lot more than we usually do. Even though there are a lot of distractions at home, you can also easily find yourself in the ‘work’ hole where you don’t realize it’s past quitting time for the day because you’re already at home. You also tend to realize at that point that you’ve been sitting for hours without giving your body a much-needed stretch break. To help remedy this, I would recommend finding a decent fitness app that can help remind you to move from time to time. One app that I’ve found to help me is FitTime5.

DETAILS

FitTime5 is an app that is designed to help you stay fit while you sit. It’s available for iOS and Android users. With this app, you have the option to stretch for 5 minutes without leaving your desk and you get reminders when it’s time to get up and move. So, why use FitTime5? It’s designed to combat sedentary lifestyles at work and at home. According to the app description in iTunes:

“After years of working with clients and patients on an individual basis, Brett (Master Trainer) and Marsha (Physical Therapist) realized that more needed to be done to tackle this issue. They decided it was time to implement a program that is effective and everybody can use.”

FitTime5 is different from other fitness apps because:

• All of the exercises are designed to be done AT YOUR DESK, even in a dress or suit
• The programs are pre-formatted so you don’t have to choose your exercises
• Routines will change daily
• You will have an option to set your own reminders to get up and stretch
• Each routine will guide you through different exercises for your full body
• You can swap exercises if they don’t feel right for your abilities
• You can also save your favorite exercises to easily come back to later
• You will be able to access all of your FitStats with how many stretches you’ve done
• A calendar showing your entire month so you can also track your consistency

The iOS app is currently on version 2.1 and was updated Feb. 3, 2020.

USER EXPERIENCE

Earlier this week, I was charged by my boss to start working from home as a part of our shutdown process for the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic crisis. Even though I have a standing desk at home and a comfortable desk chair, I have found myself getting more sore than usual and I’m sure it’s because I’m more sedentary than I usually am in my office setting. I’m always getting up and moving between offices, but at home, I stay in one spot most of the day.

So, I decided to look for an app and found FitTime5. I have to admit that I only just started using it, but it’s already started helping me to break up the mundaneness of sitting all day long. I also found that my back is less sore since I don’t stay seated at a 90-degree angle for 8 hours straight. The app is very easy to follow and it’s broken into short segments so it doesn’t interrupt your day too much.

I did run into one issue though. When going to set a reminder, the times don’t show up. I can open or close the toggle to activate the different reminder options, but I can’t select a time. I can’t even see the time. I did discover that when I run my finger over the blank space that is shown in the screen below, I can feel the haptic feedback as if I’m scrolling through timing options. But since I can’t see them, I don’t know what time I’m selecting. So, unfortunately, I can’t use that feature until the app is updated with a fix to the glitch.

I do like that the progress bar is shown in a similar manner to the way Apple shows activity on an Apple Watch or iPhone — in rings.

CONCLUSION

This is a helpful little app for people who find themselves suddenly working from home. I’m happy that I have some quick movement workouts to move through during the day and I intend on continuing to use this app even after I’m allowed to return to the office.

For more information, visit fittime5.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

Originally published at https://macsources.com on March 27, 2020.