Which do you use, iPad or Windows laptop and which software to track your clients?
I’m looking into starting my own fitness company. I want to buy something that is easy to carry around to track my clients progress as well as type things in Office. Do I go with a tablet like an iPad or stick with a laptop and Windows? I would assume the choice will depend on what client tracking software I want to use too. Any ideas on the device and software to use would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I use an iPad and a laptop throughout the day depending on the exercise setting. There are laptop desks with wheels (like a desk chair kind of thing) that I use as well (but be careful, these are a bit top heavy with a laptop on them). I also use paper and pencil often and then transfer notes to the laptop.
I have developed my own spreadsheets for data and don’t use apps yet. Most of what is provided in apps is already in my system or something that I do automatically and don’t need the apps for as of now. I prefer to contact my clients with their preference of texts, emails, or phone calls. While some of the new apps do a lot of things instantly, I don’t like the impersonal nature of some of it. And my clients have not been asking for me to use any of the apps yet either.
Developing your own system will go a long way to learning more about tracking and interfacing with your technology as well. You could even develop your own app, if it is the way you want to go. A few trainers that I know have had their apps glitch out on them and they were lost as to what to do without them. If you do go with an app, have a back up plan on what to do if you can’t access it.
Hi Mary Ann,
since I have my studio at my house, I am even more old-fashioned and use a desktop. I would always gravitate towards a regular computer, be it laptop or desktop because for all the app-happiness, there are many programs I use that need to be installed on a regular computer. While a laptop may be slightly larger than a tablet, it provides a lot more options.
As far as software is concerned, I have also developed my own version of progress tracking. Over all the 20 years of training, I never felt a need for software to track. I may have created charts from time to time but there is so much in terms of progress that defies ‘tracking’.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com