It’s no news that all of us need some exercise every day to stay fit. It’s another thing that we never bother doing it till we get a rap on our knuckles in the form of a medical report. The doctor glances at the report and says, “You won’t live long if you don’t, at least, walk every day.”

It’s easy to start. But it requires strong will power to do it every day, day after day. We feel we can do with a little bit of help - any help.

Here’s where your mobile can help. The only requirement is that it must have GPS capability. Apps like Nike+ Running, Endomondo and Sports Tracker help us by tracking our walks or runs. These apps tell you how much you and how fast . If you enter your height, weight and age, some apps can even calculate the calories burnt. The Nike+ app also shows how you fare every day, whether you have walked or run more, or whether you have improved your speed.

These apps also connect to Twitter and Facebook, allowing your friends and followers know what you are up to. If your friends too use the apps, you can compare yourself with your friends and try to beat them. Even if most of your friends in Facebook or Twitter don’t use the apps or even don’t walk or run, you are aware that they are able to track what you are doing because of the updates they receive from your app. You can expect to receive comments like, “What happened? You are slowing down each day?”

Even if you aren’t bothered by your friends’ comments, what these apps do for you is to sync your workouts to their Web sites, so that you can keep track of what you have been doing.

Nike + is available only for iPhone and Android, while Endomondo is available for almost all platforms. Sports Tracker is not available for BlackBerry.

dinakaran.rengachary@thehindu.co.in

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