The virtual training clock switches to red, your name appears on the website to tell the sports community that you have just ridden a measly eight kilometres on your bike. The mailbox warns you that you haven't trained for seven days. Online training diaries seem to have an advantage over the exercise book with the sticker "Training diary": they actively interfere with training, motivate you, but they demand your time.
There are countless training diaries that can be used online or as software on your own computer. Many of them are free of charge, while some platform operators offer extra content for a fee or charge a fee from the outset. In most cases, a training plan is also included - calculated by a person or computer. The question remains: does digital training documentation really add value?
Time waster or time saver?
In principle, heart rate, duration of exercise, distance, intensity zones and speed can be entered or uploaded in all training diaries. Most platforms can display GPS data graphically and offer users the option of entering how they felt during the corresponding training session. There are also numerous extras, such as documentation of sleep duration (e.g. 2PEAK, sportanalytix.com) and the equipment used (e.g. trainingstagebuch.org, sportanalytix.com). SportTracks from the USA is mentioned in sports forums as an international pioneer of independent training documentation (zonefivesoftware.com/ sporttracks/). The software is supposed to work in English, German, Spanish and French, but this is not always the case on the website. The full version upgrade costs 35 US dollars.
Loading your training data into the programme or onto the website saves time. Nevertheless, the handwritten training diary saves more time. This is because the digital data analysis with diagrams, curves and statistics entices you to spend hours on end and awakens the need for recognition. You can either let community members follow live where and how you train, as is possible on 1-2-sports.com. Or you can post your training, as at trainingstagebuch.org, polarpersonaltrainer.com and sportanalytix. com. Facebook and Twitter are also full of training information. At sportanalytix.com you can nominate a training partner. This is less about motivating each other and more about sharing data. Some diaries allow access for coaches who not only want to read along, but also enter the training for the athlete. However, this function is usually subject to a fee (trainingstagebuch.org, steps2win.com).
The fee-based 2Peak portal with diary and algorithmically calculated training plan should work without the intervention of another person, as Managing Director Beppo Hilfiker says. Everything works automatically. A training clock in the left-hand column sets an alarm red after just one day without training, and the training and nutrition plan is sent to your home by e-mail every day. steps2win.com also relies on motivation through e-mail notifications.
For those who don't see any added value in online training diaries, training planning by experts may be more beneficial. These are acquired via the internet and coach remotely.
In the PDF download below you will find an overview of the training portals. You can see in the table what the programmes can do and how much they cost.
