Workout Tracker v3.2


updated 1//28/03 for version 3.22

Contents

Introduction

Definitions

Creating Routines and Routine Templates

Creating Exercises and Exercise Templates

Creating and Managing Goals

Preferences

Using the Windows Conduit

Registration and Purchase


 Introduction

Workout Tracker allows you to track all of your exercise and workout information, review past Exercises, and plan new workouts. Take it with you to the gym, enter your information in as you perform each exercise, and then go home and make plans for your next workout.

 

Workout Tracker is demoware. It is fully functional for 30 days, after which time, if you'd like to keep using it, you'll need to purchase it (Workout Tracker costs $19.95 US). For information on purchasing a copy, see the Registration and Purchase section.


Definitions

Before going any further, a few definitions are in order.

Exercise Template This is the basis for an exercise (see below). You can select the fields you'd like to record for each exercise (such as sets, positive weight, or seat position). Each time you perform the exercise, this list of fields is presented for you to fill in.

Routine Template This is the basis for a Routine (see below). You can select a list of Exercises to group together into a single Routine. Each time you perform the Routine, you will be given the list of members to complete.

Routine Based off of a Routine template, a Routine is a collection of Exercises that you perform in a group. For example, you may go to the gym on Wednesdays to work on your upper body, and have a set of Exercises (such as bicep curl, lat. pull down, vertical butterfly, and chest press). You can create a Routine Template (above) with these Exercises in it. Each Wednesday you can go to the gym, tap the "Routines" button, tap on your "Wednesday Routine", and you'll be presented with a list of your Exercises.

Exercise Each time you perform a Routine, it's composed of Exercises. Each exercise is based off of an Exercise Template (above) listing the fields you'd like to track for that particular exercise. For example, for the shoulder press exercise, you might want to track your sets, reps, positive weight, and total weight lifted. You would add each of these fields to a template, so that each time you create a shoulder press exercise (creating Exercises is described below) you will have this list of fields to fill in.

Instance Each time you create an Exercise or Routine from a Template, that is referred to as an Instance of the Exercise or Routine.

Goal A goal is very similar to an exercise in that it is a list of fields. It is associated with a certain Exercise Template (e.g., you'd have a goal for your next shoulder press) and is just a list of the values you'd like to achieve the next time you perform that exercise. For example, you might want to try to lift 70 kg the next time you do a bench press, so you'd enter this into your goal. Goals must be enabled (via the Goal Preferences) to make use of them.

Orphaned Exercise This is an Exercise that you've performed by itself, not as part of a Routine. You can elect to have these underlined in the Exercise List (see below) via the Preferences.

Exercise List This is a list of all the exercises you've performed. Any orphaned Exercises will be underlined. It is sorted by date. You can view this list by going to the Main screen and tapping the "Exer." tab at the top.

Routine List This is a list of all the Routines you've performed. It is sorted by date. You can get to it through the Main screen by tapping the "Routines" tab.

Goal List This is a list of all your Goals. It is sorted by date. You can get to it through the Main screen by tapping the "Goals" tab. If you have Goals turned off (via the Goal Preferences) this will not be available.


Creating Routines and Routine Templates

As described, Routines are basically collections of Exercises that you usually perform in one workout session. Each Routine is based on a Routine Template. To create a Routine Template, select "New Routine Template" from the menu in the Main screen. You will then be taken to the Routine Edit screen:

You can add new Exercises to this template by tapping the "Add Exercise" button. Here is a sample Routine:

After entering one or more Exercises and giving the Routine Template a name, tap the "Done" button. To create more Routine Templates, tap the "New" button. You can also edit your other Routine Templates by selecting them from the "Name" picker in the upper left. The number in parentheses to the right of the Routine Template name is the number of Routines based off of the current Routine Template.

 

Now that you've created a Routine Template, it's time to actually use it. In the Main screen, tap the "Routine" button to popup a list of all your Routine Templates, and select one.

Selecting a Routine Template will take you to the Routine Edit screen:

Here you see the list of all the exercises you added to the Routine Template. Above the list you will see the number of Exercises you've completed, and the number in the Routine. The left hand colunn shows the current status of each Exercise. An open bullet () indicates an Exercise has not yet been completed. A filled bullet () indicates that the Exercise has been performed. You can tap on the bullet to popup a list of actions:

Reset Exercise This will only be available if the Exercise has been performed. It will delete the Exercise and place an uncompleted Exercise of the same type in the Routine (just as if you'd never done the Exercise.) This is useful if you start an Exercise and change your mind.

Remove from Routine This will remove the Exercise from the Routine. It will not delete the Exercise if it's been performed (it will still show up in the Exercise list).

Remove from Routine Definition This will remove the Exercise from both the Routine and the Routine Definition.

Delete Exercise This will remove the Exercise from the Routine and delete it from the Exercise List.

Create Goal This will create a Goal based on the Exercise. It is only available for completed Exercises when you have Goals enabled.

The right hand column(s) show contents of the various fields in the Exercises. You can tap the column header of a column to change it's contents, or directly in a cell to change the field for just that Exercise.

You can drag exercises to re-order them within the Routine.

To perform an Exercise, just tap on it. Similarly, to edit an already performed Exercise, tap on it.

You can add additional Exercises in two ways:

Tap the "Add Exercise" button This will add an Exercise to just this Routine, not to the Routine Template. The next time you create a Routine using the same Routine Template, the newly added Exercise will not be in the list.

Edit the Routine Definition via the "Edit Template..." menu item You can return to the Routine Template Edit screen using this option. If you do this, any Exercises you add will only be added to future Routines. Any currently created Routines (including the one you were just viewing) will not get the new Exercise.

You can track several statistics with each routine you perform Hours Slept, Body Temperature, Weight, and Body Fat Percentage. Select "Details..." from the Routine Edit screen, and the Routine Details screen will open. Here you can enter whatever values you like.


Creating Exercises and Exercise Templates

The whole point of Workout Tracker is to keep track of your Exercises, so this is a key section of the manual! As described above, it is usually helpful to group your Exercises into Routines, but this is certainly not necessary (frequently it's not desirable, such as for runs and bike rides, which are usually done without any other Exercises).

Workout Tracker comes with over 30 pre-defined Exercises, but it's very easy to add your own. From the menu in the Main screen, select "New Exercise Template...". You will be taken to the Exercise Edit screen.

You can add additional fields by tapping the "Fields" button. This will popup a list of all available fields. You can tap on a field to remove it from the Exercise Template. After you've added a few fields, and filled in the "Name" line, you've defined your first Exercise Template.

You can edit other Exercise Templates by selecting their name from the "Name" popup. The "Available" checkbox determines whether an Exercise Template appears in the "Exercise" popup in the Main screen, and the "Add" button when creating a Routine Template.

There are 32 different fields you can add to an Exercise Template:

Sets, Calories, Distance, Aerobic Time, Anaerobic Time, Heart Rate (Active), Heart Rate (Resting), Incline, Level, Positive Weight, Negative Weight, Pace, Range of Motion, Redline, Reps, Seat Position, Time, Total Positive Weight, Total Negative Weight, Blood Pressure, Race, Set Type, Video, Location, Program, and Notes, plus 6 custom fields.

Of these, Distance, Incline, Positive Weight, Negative Weight, Pace, Reps, Time, Total Positive Weight, and Total Negative Weight are all dependant on the number of sets (if you have 3 sets, you'll be able to enter 3 different values for each of these).

The easiest way to create an Exercise is to tap on the "Exercise" button in the Main screen. A list of all your Exercise Templates. Tap on the Exercise you wish to perform, and you will be taken to the Exercise Edit Screen. You can also tap on the name of an Exercise in a Routine to create it.

Here you can enter the various values for the Exercise. An important feature of the "Sets" field is that it determines the number of columns.

In this Exercise (based on the Bench Press Exercise Template created earlier) there are 3 sets, thus each field that is dependant on sets has three columns.

You can enter the values for your workout into the appropriate field (tap on a field to enter data into it). To change the number of sets, you can either use Graffiti or the keyboard to enter in a number, or use the small up down arrows next to the sets to increment/decrement the number.

You can drag a set from one column to another to copy the set data.

If you've already performed an Exercise based on the same Exercise Template, you will see the old Exercise data in the fields, grayed out (if you're on a device with Palm OS 3.5 or later) as well as boxes on the right side of the screen.

Tapping on a box will copy the data for that field from the previous instance of the Exercise to the current one. Here the box to the right of "Pos. Weight" has just been tapped.

To copy all the data from the previous Exercise, select "Copy Previous Values..." from the menu.

To add a field not in the Exercise Template, tap the "Add" button. A list of fields will popup, and you can choose a new field from there.

If you'd like to see a chart of your past performance with this Exercise Template, tap the "Charts" button and select the field you'd like to graph (vs. time). You will be taken to the "Charts" screen.

Here your previous Exercises are displayed. To view a different field, select it from the picker at the top of the screen.

If you'd like to assign an Exercise to a Routine after you've already created both the Exercise and the Routine, you can select "Attach to Routine" from the menu. This will bring up the Attach To Routine screen, where you can select a new Routine to associate the Exercise with.

The Exercise will be removed from any Routine it is currently associated with, and attached to the new one.

If you'd like to set different units for an exercise (for example, you normally use Miles for distance, but you're running a 5k race today, so you'd like to set Kilometers for just this instance) you can choose "Select Units" from the menu to bring up the "Exercise Units" screen.

You can also set the default units for all Exercises based on this Exercise Template by checking the "Default for Template" box. (For example, while most of your Exercise distances are measure in Miles, you may want to measure your swim distances in Yards. Check this box to have all Swim Exercises be measured in Yards).

Workout Tracker will automatically calculate certain values, which you can set up using the "Calculations..." menu items.

In the Exercise Calculations screen, you can set whether you'd like Distance, Time, and Pace automatically figured out (if you enter any two of these, the third is computed), and whether you'd like your Weight Totals computed (this is just Positive or Negative Weight times the number of Reps). Finally, you can automatically calculate the Negative weight as a percentage of Positive (some Exercise machines allow you to vary the two.)

You can assign notes to a particular Exercise by selecting "Template Notes..." from the menu. This is usually descriptive text about how to perform the exercise. This will open the Exercise Notes screen.

Here you can enter your description. If you want the description to be available when editing the Exercise, check the "Display when editing" checkbox.

If you'd like to edit the various fields in an Exercise (ie, to remove fields that you don't use, or to add a field that you do), you can select "Edit Template..." from the "Options" menu. This will open the Edit Template screen:

Changes made here will affect all Exercises of this type.


Creating and Managing Goals

Goals let you schedule 'targets' for your next workout. For example, if you bench 200 lbs on Thursday, you may feel it's time to move up, so you set a goal of 220 lbs for next Tuesday:

The first screen you are taken to is the Set Goal screen. This provides a quick way to vary your fields by a percentage value. Tapping the '+' will increment the value by the percentage amount at the bottom, tapping '-' will decrement it. If you'd like to enter specific values, tap the "Fine Tune" button at the bottom.

Here you can enter definite values for each field (such as 220 lbs for positive weight.)

The next time you create an Exercise based on the same Exercise Template (eg, a new Bench Prerss Exercise) you'll see your goal values greyed in the fields (just like the values for Previous exercises described above). If you also have a previously performed instance, you will have buttons at the top of the screen to switch between the two:

 


Preferences

Workout Tracker offers the abilty to customize the appearance and performance of certain sections, to better fit the way you workout.

The Preferences screen (accessed via the "Preferences..." menu item) lets you change a few different settings.

Show years in dates This determines whether dates display month/day/year or just month/day. (Certain countries will be day/month).

Order routines by creation time If this is checked, then each time you perform an Exercise in a Routine, it is moved above all the other, uncompleted Exercises in that routine. This makes it easy to track the order of your workout.

Don't confirm deletions If this is checked, then you will not be prompted "Are you sure?" each time you delete an item.

Underline 'orpha' exercises As described above, Orphan exercises are those not associated with a Routine. You can elect to underline these in the Exercise List by checking this box.

Show old dates in routines When performing a routine, it's sometimes helpful to see when the last time you performed a particular member Exercise. If this box is checked, you will see the date of the last instance of the Exercise in parentheses after each uncompleted Exercise name in a Routine.

Default Units You can select units of Distance, Pace, and Weight here. You can also change these on a per-Template or per-Exercise basis (see above).

 

Goal Preferences

If you'd like, you can use Goals to help plan future workouts. To do this, you need to make sure Goals are enabled. Select "Goal Preferences..." from the menu, and you are taken to the Goal Preferences screen.

Use Goals Make sure this is checked if you want to use Goals.

Discard goals after use This will delete a goal after you've based on Exercise off of it (ie, you set up a Goal, then go to the gym several days later and perform the Exercise, using the Goal. If this is checked, Workout Tracker will then delete the Goal.)

Goal Date This lets you set the default date for new goals. You can always change the date for a Goal.


Using the Windows Conduit

Workout Tracker is now released with a HotSync conduit that enables Windows’Ñ¢ users to export exercise data to a spreadsheet file. Once installed, the conduit completes this export with each HotSync without further manipulation by the user.

To install the conduit, you must use the installer available through the PC download link on the Workout Tracker download page available on our website. To run the installer, click on the link and select Open or Run from the first dialog box. If given an option, select Modify from the three installation choices. Make sure that Workout Tracker Conduit is selected for installation. Run the installation to completion.

Once you run the installer, you must EXIT and then RELAUNCH the HotSync Manager to complete the installation.

Upon relaunch, select Custom from the Options menu of the HotSync Manager. Double Click on Workout Tracker Conduit. Then Select ’ÄúHandheld Overwrites Desktop.’Äù Close this dialog box to complete the installation.

The Workout Tracker conduit will create two files. Within the folder labeled with your HotSync ID will be the file ’ÄúWorkoutTrackerExport.xls’Äù. This is a tab-delimited file and can be opened with Microsoft Excel’Ñ¢ or another spreadsheet application. Within your backup folder will be a second backed up Workout Tracker database named ’ÄúWorkout_Tracker_DB.pdb.’Äù This contains your most current data. Make sure to delete any older databases from your backup folder.

If the conduit appears in the Custom dialog box of your HotSync Manager but an export is not created, make sure to EXIT and RELAUNCH your HotSync Manager.


Registration and Purchase

You can purchase a copy online [WebPage], by fax (773-477-2579), or by postal mail (707 W Junior Terrace, Suite 2N, Chicago, IL, 60613). If registering by fax or mail, be sure to include your Owner name (this can be found by selecting "Enter Registration Code" from the menu) and your email address.

After purchasing Workout Tracker, you'll receive a registration code, which you can enter via the "Enter Registration Code" menu item.

Once registered, you will not need to reenter this code again unless you delete Workout Tracker from your machine or erase your entire Palm.