Professional athletes are the pinnacle of physical fitness and athletic prowess. Sports fans love handing out divine, prophetic sounding nicknames like “King James” and “The Great One,” but when asked (and they are always asked) athletes usually attribute their success to the same thing: their workouts.
Noting a cultural fetish for fitness advice, experienced mobile developer Ronen Benin decided to harness the coaching power of top athletes’ workout routines and deliver it to anyone with a smart phone.
On October 11, Benin and his team launched Coachd, an iPhone app (Android version coming soon) where pro athletes coach users through workouts developed in conjunction with their own personal trainers.
With a roster of five coaches and 15 workouts currently available, there are already over 40 additional athletes preparing new content.
Benin is optimistic about recruiting globally recognizable legends like Kobe Bryant, and as a former competitive swimmer, he is especially excited about reaching out to someone like Michael Phelps.
Brandon Prust of the Montreal Canadiens initially contributed to Coachd because he was eager to share his life outside the rink with his fans. “I love motivating people to work out and be healthy,” he told me.
Lacking any demonstrable athletic ability of my own, I sought the opinions of guys more qualified to evaluate the value and usability of Coachd.
I tested one of Prust’s workouts with Ethan Ruderman, a Masters student in exercise sciences at the University of Toronto. After hitting me in the face with a rogue 4 lb medicine ball (accidentally, he swears), Ethan shared his thoughts:
“I really enjoyed the exercises. They were challenging, they were sport-specific, and included lots of great hockey movements. I’ve been playing hockey my entire life and those are the types of exercises that I would like to do, especially right before the season.”
Rhyin Newell, a lacrosse coach and player, was excited to try the workout provided by Chris Corbeil of the Edmonton Rush. “Nothing is better than knowledge being passed on by some of the best players in the sport,” he told me.
Rhyin has already incorporated some of the exercises into his regular routine and has recommended Coachd to two of his friends.
Both Ethan and Rhyin encountered minor downloading problems, but the team at Coachd has assured me that it has all been resolved in the most recent update released October 19.
Coachd version 1.0.3 is available now for free in the Apple App Store.
