I am always looking for simple and effective ways to make workouts more accessible. It can often be difficult to monitor and track workouts so I was very excited when Wahoo sent along the TICKR X. The TICKR X is a very capable device that can track a whole multitude of stats, from HR, to body movement and more, but the data point I was most interested in was rep counting.
Utilising the TICKR X along with the Wahoo 7 minute workout app on my iPhone, all my reps could be automatically counted. No more writing it all down in an app afterwards, assuming I could remember how many reps I performed on each exercise.
What is the 7 minute workout
The 7 minute workout is a collection of 12 body weight exercises that you can complete anywhere with no equipment needed. It has been shown to give results comparable to longer running or weights sessions. It comprises of 12 work sets of 30 seconds each followed by a 10 second rest. It is a quick and highly effective HIIT workout.
The Device
The device itself is one of the rare devices a blind user can take out of the box and configure and use without sighted assistance. You click the device onto one side of the strap, wrap it around your chest and clip into the other side of the strap. Ensuring the TICKR X is positioned in the middle of your chest, do not worry if the device doesn’t touch your skin. Unlike other HR trackers the HR sensor are located in the strap, not the actual TICKR X device.
To turn the device on tap the TICKR X a couple of times and then you are ready to pair it with your phone. This is achieved inside the app.
The App
The 7 minute workout app is highly accessible, Wahoo have done a fantastic job of labelling all labels appropriately. It is simple to navigate the app and start an activity, as the reps are counted automatically that is all you ensentially have to do to use the app. Start a workout and read your results, no manual inputting its all taken care of.
The app also uses a lot of audio for feedback. For example, the different exercises and start and rest sections are read aloud. It makes for a nice accessible experience.
How Does it Perform
When I began my workout I was surprised it worked, it was a real wow moment as I heard the reps count up as I went about completing the workout. I was quickly put in my place on correct form as the TICKR X wouldn’t count reps with bad form. So no longer can I cheat and just do quick reps with poor form, I am now forced to go lower rep with correct form. While this affects my rep count it does mean I am actually performing the exercise correctly! This was evident in push up rotations, as the TICKR X wouldn’t count a rep if I didn’t perform the appropriate amount of rotation, which is coming when going for speed. This correction of form isn’t limited to simply not counting a rep, as when in plank position if you begin to wain the app notified you to watch form!
The other slightly confusing counting system is in exercises that have an up and down movement, for example, push ups, triceps dips etc. This is because the TICKR X counts the up and down as 2 reps, whereas typically I would count each up and down as one rep. In itself this isn’t actually an issue as it correctly counts the movements and you are able to compare your results and see improvement as the counting is consistent. If anything it just makes it look like you can do twice the number of push ups you used to be able to!
For me the real wow moment of the app was upon completing a full workout. When the workout is finished you are given a table with the rep results of each exercise along with the HR for each exercise. This granularity was a fantastic reporting decision. Typically average HR is used for workouts whereas Wahoo have chose to give you the HR breakdown of each exercise. This is important as you are quickly able to identify the exercises you should be pushing harder on. I was able to see that I was sandbagging it a little on what I consider to be the easier exercises, perhaps unconsciously I was using them as a little rest period.
Like the other sections of the app the reports are very accessible, Wahoo really have done a great job in regards to accessibility for the blind.
Any Bad Points?
Yes, the in app purchases. I was a little disappointed that with a premium priced piece of hardware like the TICKR X required multiple small in app purchases to get full app functionality. It must be noted that this is for the 7 minute workout challenge, there are other apps from Wahoo that work with the TICKR X, but I was focussed on utilising the TICKR X for rep counting.
Overall
The TICKR X is wonderfully accessible with the accompanying 7 minute workout challenge app. I would highly recommend it for a blind user. Its rep counting keeps you honest and the reports allow you to highlight where you should be pushing harder. It is a definite buy for any blind user looking for an accessible and quick cardio workout!