Wahoo Fitness App & Heart Rate Monitor
The Wahoo Fitness App allows you to use your smartphone to track and record your training and workout data, then upload it to popular training sites such as Strava & Training Peaks. With the powerful phones we have today, the Wahoo Fitness App is able to record your GPS track, distance, heart rate, elevation profile, wattage, cadence and much more. You can use the app to record your cycling, running, hiking and fitness workouts, which can then be seamlessly transferred to your favorite training sites and automatically sent to your coach.
Wahoo Fitness App features
Easy setup and reliability. We have been using this app for a few years now and I can’t recall a time that it did not work or record the data properly. To ensure of this, it is very important to keep your phones and apps up to date with regards to their software.
It can do everything that your Garmin, Suunto, Timex & Polar devices can do.
Connects wirelessly to your favorite training websites such as Strava, Training Peaks and Garmin for seamless uploading, as well as DropBox for file sharing.
Has a compatible Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor that connects directly to your phone.
Allows you to record your workout by simply throwing it into your pack and never looking at it until you press the stop button at the end.
Low battery consumption, especially on newer phones. Still be sure to head out with a fully charged phone and a small backup battery for longer adventures. We recommend the Anker Power Core 10,000. Also don’t forget the cable. The Anker Powerline+ Lightening Cable is a reliable option and is only 12 inches long.
Getting Started
To begin using the Wahoo Fitness App, simply download it to your Apple or Android phone. Once installed, launch the app and follow the instructions for entering your information such as age, height, weight, etc. and then connect any sensors (heart rate monitor, cadence, etc.) that you may have. Then go to the “settings” menu and click on the “sharing” option. Here you will log in with the websites username & passwords that you want the app to seamlessly connect with. See the video below.
We primarily use Training Peaks & Strava, as well as Garmin Connects Autosync feature to quickly upload to multiple sites with one upload. To learn more about this auto sync feature and how to set it up, click here.
More about the training sites we recommend
Training Peaks (trainingpeaks.com) - The big plus with TrainingPeaks is the ability to connect your account with a professional coach. This optimizes client/coach communication which is the cornerstone of training & coaching with MPF. You will find a very detailed training log & history of all your completed workouts. There are numerous graphs and charts for detailed analysis of your training and feedback from your coach. You will see a tally of your daily, weekly, monthly & yearly mileages, durations, personal bests, along with a host of cutting edge analytic tools to measure your fitness, fatigue level and progress. Your coach will be given full access to your training data and calendar for easy scheduling and analysis of your workouts and training stress accumulation. No other website offers such a complete and in depth experience for the coach and athlete.
Strava (strava.com) - Strava has many similar features to Training Peaks but does it in a more social and simplified manner. We recommend our athletes to open a Strava account if they haven’t done so already. Strava will automatically break down your run or ride into segments (specific section of road or trail) and compare your effort against past efforts, as well as other athletes who’ve run or ridden the same segment. You can then see where you rank and use this information for a little motivation to start moving up the leaderboards. This can be thought of as a social network for athletes. To check out our MPF Adventure club on Strava, click here.
Garmin Connect (connect.garmin.com) - They have been going through some major updates to their website in hopes to be on par with the likes of Training Peaks and Strava and they are getting close, sort of... The best thing Garmin Connect has going for it right now and why we recommend it to our athletes is there AutoSync feature. This works by connecting your Training Peaks & Strava account to your Garmin Connect Account. This only needs to be done once, so now whenever you upload your workouts to Garmin Connect, it will automatically sync and send those files to TP & Strava. No longer is the need to upload to multiple websites! It works beautifully with the Wahoo Fitness App, where as soon as you finish your workout, all you need to do is “share” it to your Garmin Connect account and everything else will be synced. Then you can go into each app or website and add titles, thoughts and notes about that workout. To sync your Training Peaks account to Garmin, click here and for Strava, click here. For more information about the Garmin Connect AutoSync tool check out our article.
Compatible Heart Rate Monitors
Another great feature of the Wahoo Fitness App is the Wahoo Sensors that you can use with it, particularly the Wahoo TICKR Heart Rate Monitors. These HR monitors connect directly to your iPhone or Android via Bluetooth. Once paired, you will be able to see all of your HR data in real time and it will be recorded with the workout for further analysis. Below are the 2 monitors we recommend.
Wahoo TICKR Heart Rate Monitor for iPhone or Android - $49 - The Wahoo HR monitor is a great option if you don't have a dedicated HR monitor & training watch to use. It has bluetooth capability and quickly syncs up with your phone for reliable consistent data. This can also be a great backup if you forgot to charge your watch or left it at home.
Wahoo TICKR Run Heart Rate Monitor - $79 -TICKR Run features treadmill mode, advanced running analytics and personalized heart rate training with the RunFit App. It's the heart rate choice for runners looking to improve form and efficiency.
Summary
We regularly use the Wahoo Fitness App and their Heart Rate Monitors to record our hikes, runs, rides and workouts. The ease of use and the ability to just use your phone to do the job is a huge plus. You don’t have to be a slave to the numbers with this app, just press the “start” button, throw it in your pack and upload the data later to keep track of your history and let your coach take it from there. Download the app today and give it a try. Let us know if you have any questions.