[skelf]

Anyone got any decent training diary apps they can recommend ?
Everything i've looked at tends to be for the knuckle heads out there, focused on reps sets etc but nothing that would fit climbing well.

I used to use fairly basic weight tracking app diary that had a nice free text bit too but it looks like that has been dropped. New phone , hence the problem !

[slackline]

I'd recommend making your own using Google Forms then bookmark it on your phone.

You then have exactly what you want to record in the way you want to record it.

The downside is you a) have to make the form yourself and b) have to make graphs and summaries yourself.

[TheTwig]

Depends what you are tracking. Fingerboarding, campusing, routes/boulders all require something different.

I use excel spreadsheets to track all of my climbing-related activities, it's quite satisfying 

[slackline]

I use excel spreadsheets to track all of my climbing-related activities, it's quite satisfying 

If you adapted this to a Google Form you could populate your spreadsheet from a wwb-browser anywhere you happen to be with a smartphone and 3G signal, including whilst at the wall or crag.  You can even have an 'entry' page to the form where you choose what activity you are recording and are then conditionally taken to different pages depending on whether its fingerboarding, campusing, routes or bouldering you are recording and each page is tailored to the activity.

[tomtom]

Or use a google (or MS online) spreadsheet for updating at the crag/wall/whilst having a poo etc...

[slackline]

Or use a google (or MS online) spreadsheet for updating at the crag/wall/whilst having a poo etc...

That is essentially what I'm suggesting, but in my experience over the past year with my own attempts at recording training its far, far easier to create a custom form to capture/input the data than trying to type into tiny spreadsheet cells on phone/tablet.

It has the added advantage that you can record the same activity/action quickly and consistently rather than introducing typos.  For example for fingerboarding you can create a menu of which hold you are using on any given hang within a set and which sets of fingers which means that when you come to summarise the data it is in a consistent format for converting into a factor/categorical variable and you don't have to spend ages cleaning the data so that 'BM1000 - 4 Finger deep pocket - Index/Middle/Ring/Pinky' is always recorded as such and not 'Bm1000- 4 finger deep pocket -index/Middle/Ring/Pinky' or 'BM1000- 4 Finger deep pocket - Index/Middle/Ring/pinky' which could happen if you are typing it in manually each time.  This has the added advantage that you quickly select from a menu rather than wasting time repeatedly typing the same thing over and over again each time you want to record it.

As with most things this does require a larger up-front investment in creating and defining all your forms/fields/values but in the long run it will save time and make life a lot easier when it comes to summarising and visualising the recorded activities.

 


EDIT : Alternatively you could go and wank some money away on The Whipper 

[TheTwig]

Or use a google (or MS online) spreadsheet for updating at the crag/wall/whilst having a poo etc...

That is essentially what I'm suggesting, but in my experience over the past year with my own attempts at recording training its far, far easier to create a custom form to capture/input the data than trying to type into tiny spreadsheet cells on phone/tablet.

It has the added advantage that you can record the same activity/action quickly and consistently rather than introducing typos.  For example for fingerboarding you can create a menu of which hold you are using on any given hang within a set and which sets of fingers which means that when you come to summarise the data it is in a consistent format for converting into a factor/categorical variable and you don't have to spend ages cleaning the data so that 'BM1000 - 4 Finger deep pocket - Index/Middle/Ring/Pinky' is always recorded as such and not 'Bm1000- 4 finger deep pocket -index/Middle/Ring/Pinky' or 'BM1000- 4 Finger deep pocket - Index/Middle/Ring/pinky' which could happen if you are typing it in manually each time.  This has the added advantage that you quickly select from a menu rather than wasting time repeatedly typing the same thing over and over again each time you want to record it.

As with most things this does require a larger up-front investment in creating and defining all your forms/fields/values but in the long run it will save time and make life a lot easier when it comes to summarising and visualising the recorded activities.

 


EDIT : Alternatively you could go and wank some money away on The Whipper 

Google forms is just a front-end for inputting data to an existing spread sheet or what? Every few months I do a quick 'audit' of my entries to make sure there are no typos on my spreadsheet (takes about a minute). Thing is there are so many entries it is all starting to slow down a little. Since 2013 I've got nearly 2000 boulder problems / routes (indoors) recorded which have date, grade, incline, lead/TR/boulder, onsight/RP/flash/dog etc.

A guy called Charlie on MountainProject (search his thread 'The Nerdy Joys of Tracking your Training') is starting to use Access and reports good results.

[cjsheps]

I found that a solution for me is to use a combination of Google Calendar and Google Drive. I enter the plan into the calendar, with different colours for different energy systems (strength is red, aerocap blue etc), and then change the entry post-session if I did something different.

I write each training month up in a document in Drive, and use the calendar as a quick reference tool. It seems to work quite well and I've been doing it for a few years.

[slackline]

Google forms is just a front-end for inputting data to an existing spread sheet or what?

Yes (although technically the GoogleSheet doesn't exist until you create the form).

Thing is there are so many entries it is all starting to slow down a little.

I use it solely as a warehouse for collecting data and export it for summarisation in R.

Someone could sit down and write a database in anynthing, a WebUI to go with it, dedicated Android & iOS applications for it too.  I'm busy/lazy so have opted for some convenient tools I already know how to use (as most people do).