(repetitive music imitating a game app)
(Molly Wood) Fitness is a big trend in gadgets and apps right now.
But if you're trying to get in shape,
can a fitness app, and maybe a calorie counter do the job?
Or should you go old school and get a real personal trainer?
I decided to find out.
(exercising music)
I'm launching a month-long fitness challenge,
comparing an app called Fitstar, which does personal training,
and counting my calories with MyFitnessPal
Going up against Fitstar is Alison.
She's a personal trainer with multiple certifications,
and she'll also help me create a nutrition plan.
I'll evaluate which trainer keeps me most motivated, accountable,
and which works best for me in the long run --
and of course, which one kicks my butt the most.
(exercising music)
(Alison Roessler) I never do two workouts twice
and I'm always constantly changing
the different things that I throw at my clients,
the different stresses that I throw at them
throughout exercises, because really, it'll get boring
and it's not sustainable if there's not enough variety.
(Journalist pants; Alison says something inaudible)
(Journalist) Alison seemed overwhelming at first.
Her workouts were really scary,
and she sent me home with tons of cardio homework
and this long food journal that was in a spreadsheet.
Plus, each session with her is 100 bucks.
Not sure I'm going to be able to keep that up.
So I just finished my first full session with Alison
and I'm sweaty and starving,
and I've definitely underestimated how hard that workout was going to be:
it was fantastic, but I'll clearly have to up my game with Fitstar
because Tony Gonzalez is no Alison
(Tony) Reverse shoulder-up
(Molly) Fitstar was easy and convenient from the get-go.
The app is free or $40 a year.
I chose the pay version to get more work-outs
but I loved that you can do it anywhere: no gear required.
That is sustainable
(Dave Grijalva) It' like in a workout DVD and the experience is very similar to that
but different every time,
and it's different in the way that it actually adapts to you.
We wanted the experience to feel authentic and feel real,
and we wanted to put real people on the screen,
and having Tony's personnality that really helps a lot.
(Tony) Good job.
(Molly) I like how the workouts include a variety of strength and cardio
and you can specify your fitness level and rate each exercise
in terms of how hard it is.
I found that Fitstar did progress over time,
but it didn't really push me as hard as Alison did,
and even though it reminds me to work out, it's still kind of easy to skip --
like, I totally ignored it when I went on a vacation.
Even though I kind of dreaded my workouts with Alison,
I did not miss a single one.
Plus, she was able to modify those workouts
for this kind of nagging foot injury that I have and that was great.
She also held me very accountable for my food, my sleep and my stress.
(Alison) I don't think that an app can take the place of human interaction.
I think that they can be positive pieces of the puzzle,
but I don't think that it's going to ever replace
working with a trainer 1 on 1.
(Dave) You know, personal trainers provide a lot of things
that are really hard to do with software.
And so, what we're trying to do is provide that type of an experience,
in a way that's accessible to everyone, and really convenient.
(Molly) When I started this challenge,
I hadn't really worked out in about a year.
So if I were just getting started with only Fitstar and MyFitnessPal
I would see progress, but I might be slow and I could get frustrated and give up.
Alison was definitly a huge jump-start in terms of getting back in shape,
but one month with her was $400.
Ouch!
And ultimately, sticking with the workout plan
is about creating good habits.
So while Alison kicked my butt in the short term,
in the long term, Fitstar is the one that fits into my life.
After that initial push, the app is where it's at.
(music)