How recommendable are sports and fitness apps that allow you to train at home on your own? This question is addressed in a TV report on the channel “arte” entitled “Xenius: Training Correctly - Sport Apps vs. Personal Trainer”. In it, various apps such as “Seven - 7 minutes training”, “Nike Training”, “Daily Yoga” or “Freeletics” are presented and demonstrated to determine whether they are suitable for working out at home.
Prof. Dr. Ansgar Schwirtz, Head of the Associate Professorship of Biomechanics in sports, discusses the contents of the fitness app “Sweat” by the Australian personal trainer and influencer Kayla Itsines. It's based on a training program consisting of six days per week, with each workout lasting 28 minutes. An entire cycle lasts twelve weeks. “The app specifies that you should train every day and only allows for one day of rest per week. The workload gradually increases from week to week. However, you wouldn't normally approach a training plan in this way because it is definitely too intense. Someone who has not trained beforehand will be able to cope a lot better and live healthier with an alternating program of one day of training followed by one day of rest."
According to Statista, in Germany, around 3.4 million people used fitness apps in 2017. According to a forecast, this number is expected to rise to around 6.6 million users by 2022. However, very few apps inquire about the user's individual physical condition and fitness level.
Another critical point is that sports and fitness apps cannot respond to individual user's needs. “If someone takes a three-week break somewhere in the middle, you can't simply pick up where you left off”, says Prof. Schwirtz. “The app should then be capable of allowing the user's return to the training program and both sides should react positively. Both the app and the person exercising would have to acknowledge that deterioration probably occurred during the three-week break."
Digital analysis programs are also used regularly in sports science. In the TV report, Philipp Köchling, Assistant Coach at FC Bayern Basketball, and the player Erol Ersek test the basketball app “Home Court”, which uses artificial intelligence to record and track (missed) throws and locations. The app deconstructs players' throws down to the smallest detail.
Dr. Daniel Link, private lecturer at the Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics, explains how the app works: “It uses automatic image recognition methods. Using video, an algorithm can determine which areas of the image move and which remain constant from frame to frame. The moving areas are highly likely to correspond to the ball and the player, while the background remains constant. Of course, the app also has to detect structures on the floor, the lines, the board, and the basket. Essentially, this works by identifying contrasts. This technique is used in many areas of sport. Even the analysis of players' running parameters in the German Bundesliga football leagues recorded by stadium cameras relies on this functionality."
However, artificial intelligence methods of this kind are not only used in sport. “These technologies can be found in many areas of modern life”, explains PD Dr. Link. “Autonomous driving is a good example. The first self-driven cars are already navigating their way through city streets and can stop at red lights, for example. The technologies used to detect a ball or a red light are similar in principle - but the consequences of incorrect classification are of course more serious when it comes to the latter."
To the TV report „Xenius: Training Correctly - Sport-Apps vs. Personal Trainer“ on arte.tv
To the homepage of the Associate Professorship of Sport and Health Sciences
To the homepage of the Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Ansgar Schwirtz
Associate Professorship of Biomechanics in sports
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24580
e-mail: Ansgar.Schwirtz(at)tum.de
PD Dr. Daniel Link
Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24498
e-mail: Daniel.Link(at)tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photos: „arte“/Associate Professorship of Sport and Health Sciences/Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics