TRAINR turns smartwatches into a personal fitness trainer

TRAINR is a smartwatch platform that turns the devices into fitness trackers that can detect the type of exercise being performed, as well as offering suggestions for improvement.

Smart fitness tracking is one of the leading lights of the wearable tech industry, with consumers already buying products such as Nike+ and FitBit in their droves. However, the field has plenty of space to grow, and we’ve seen endeavors such as Athos gymwear, which has performance monitoring tech built-in. Now, LA-based startup Focus has developed TRAINR — a smartwatch platform that turns the devices into fitness trackers that can detect the type of exercise being performed, as well as offering suggestions for improvement.

The system offers automatic tracking for up to 20 activities — including push-ups, crunches and dips — which means that users don’t need to tell it the type of workout they’re doing each time they switch. TRAINR then tracks reps and sets and displays the information intuitively to allow users to quantify their progress. However, the platform also uses data such as the last exercise date, how hard users trained and the goals they’re trying to achieve to offer personalized suggestions to help them meet their targets. If users can’t manage to reach TRAINR’s recommendations, it further adjusts its suggestions to match their abilities.

The TRAINR app will launch for Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 in May and aims to be available on Pebble, Sony, and Android Wear devices at a later date. Are there other ways smartwatches can offer capabilities that smartphones can’t?