Tokyo 2020 has begun, and we could not be more thrilled to see the Olympics back on our screens.

As we all know, this year we’ve waited even longer than normal to see those five iconic rings light up on our screens. But, upon their long-anticipated return, they’ve certainly come back with a bang.

There is something so extraordinarily special about the Olympics - the pride, the ambition, the history, and the magnitude of it all.

The history of this sporting event is unparalleled. In fact, the first games were held almost 3,000 years ago, in 776 BC. The ancient Olympic games were held in Greece (in Olympia), where they were celebrated until 393 AD.

Then, just over 1,500 years later in 1896, the Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin paved the way for their return. And so, the modern Olympics were born.


Beyond the awe-inspiring history of these games, the other element which keeps audiences hooked is the skill of the athletes themselves.

Their ability is unbelievable - we are always shocked by the speed and skill that humans can reach. Although a lot of this is down to natural genetics, their intense training preparation makes a huge difference.

These athletes have to commit themselves to their training for years, day in and day out. It takes an incredible amount of dedication to reach this level.

Today’s athletes approach their training in a range of different ways. Alongside the support that they have from their team of coaches and nutritionists, they also use a range of modern technology.

Believe it or not, Olympic athletes also use apps. There are a number of fitness apps that provide a highly specialist form of support, which even professional athletes can benefit from.

In this blog post, we’ll be sharing six of our favourite Smart apps, which you can use to take your fitness to another level.

1. Map my Fitness, by Under Armour

Map my Fitness is a versatile fitness app, which can be used for many different fitness specialisms.

The app provides you with a vast range of training programmes, which you can customise as you like. There are more than 800 exercises to choose from, so you can tailor-make your workout plan to best suit you.

What’s more, it offers the same style of service (just at different levels), regardless of your ability.

Through the app, you can input how much you achieved during the workout, monitor your progress, and bookmark all of your favourite workouts.

2. 5/3/1 Strength

Much like a Personal Trainer would, 5/3/1 Strength is a fitness app which allows you to build an effective, personalised training programme.

There are a lot of risks to jumping into a higher weight or intensity too soon, but you don’t want to stay safe forever and make no progress. So, regardless of your ability, we all need an expert’s guidance to help us advance our strength training.

With this app, users can input their current level, and then use this starting point to create a recommended training plan to reach their strength goals.

3. JEFIT Workout Planner Gym Log

The JEFIT Workout Planner Gym Log is a free (yep, you read that right!) specialist fitness apps. But just because it’s free, that does not mean that it’s offerings are any less impressive. With it, you can access a wide range of exercise programmes, then tailor your picks, depending on the goals that you want to achieve.

The app offers daily videos of workout ideas, which have come straight from the JEFIT community.

Whether your focus lies in strength training, improving your all-round health, burning fat, improving your cardio, JEFIT will have a specialist programme, at your specific skill level, to suit you.

You will also have access to clear instructions from the experts to guide you, as well as your own workout planner to log your progress.

The app is ideal for beginners and pros alike because, if you need even more content, you can easily upgrade to a paid Elite membership.

4. STRAVA

Ever seen people post the details of their run, walk or bike ride on social media? If it had an orange backdrop, you can bet your bottom dollar that it was tracked through STRAVA.

This app can be used by fitness fanatics of all abilities, and it is a fantastic tool to use to monitor your progress.

With it, you can track how far you travelled on your last workout, your average speed, your route, and a number of other key details.

Then, you can share the results with your friends on STRAVA, or on your social media. This is a great way to encourage some healthy competition!

5. PEAR Personal Fitness

When it comes to fitness training, the more help that you receive, the better - it’s as simple as that.

With PEAR Personal Fitness, you can access the guidance of a fitness specialist in your specific field. Not just any specialist, though. PEAR will connect you to champion athletes from all over the world, and give you the chance to train with them in real time. How cool is that?

You can search through a wide range of options, and choose the best workouts for you. Or, if you’re not sure where to start, you can use PEAR’s recommended workouts (based on your current ability). Then, the app will track your key fitness metrics during the workout.

With these specialist programmes, you’ll be well on your way to hitting your goal.

6. Smarter

Any good athlete knows that nutrition is key. A good cup of coffee is just the thing to put you in the right headspace for your workout. It’ll get you, both your mind and body alike, ready and raring to go.

With the Smarter App, you can connect your Smarter Coffee machine to your phone. This means that, with just a few taps on your phone, you can set the machine to start making your coffee while you’re still getting ready upstairs.

In a previous blog post, we spoke about the hidden health benefits of a regular cup of coffee. You’d be amazed by how much it can help improve your all-round health.

This gives you loads of time to properly enjoy your coffee pre training, and give yourself the energy that you need to do your very best.

If you want to add a Smarter Coffee machine to your workout routine, you can get your Smarter Coffee machine from our website. Head over to the Smarter online store to find out more.

Written by Josephine Walbank