Fitness app from Freeletics put to the test - Freeletics app: Digital trainer for road cyclists

Many road cyclists have a chronically guilty conscience: Sure, it would be important to strengthen the back and upper body and stretch more often - but gymnastics is boring, gyms are expensive, and anyway, cycling is the most fun. Freeletics is a tool to help you overcome your inner couch potato. The basic version of the free fitness app for smartphones is used by more than four million people worldwide.

All you need is your own body weight and three square metres of space. The programme focuses on tough training sessions and constant motivation. Each user takes a fitness test to classify themselves, followed by an initial workout. Can you really work out in less than ten minutes? You can! Freeletics focuses on functional training in high-intensity intervals. You can control which parts of the body are challenged and encouraged by selecting the programme. A sweaty body is guaranteed after just a few minutes - as is the exhaustion of the muscles.

This is a great way to balance out your training on days when you don't ride your bike - especially in the autumn and winter months. One of the strengths of Freeletics is the social component. You can compete with other Freeletics users, collect points and there are Facebook groups of "free athletes" all over Germany who meet up in city parks and on sports fields to do sport together.

The exercises are explained in short films - if you don't have WiFi nearby, you will of course use up a lot of data volume. It's best to watch the exercises at your leisure on the homepage. The fact that the exercises are performed very quickly and to the limits of performance harbours a risk: you may be tempted to perform them incorrectly. If you throw yourself into the workouts without any previous experience or muscular prerequisites, you run the risk of incorrect strain. It is advisable to train under the supervision of a fitness trainer or experienced Freeletics athlete. All in all, the app is a great motivational aid for sweating out a chronically guilty conscience with sensible exercises.

PLUS Motivational aid, useful exercises
MINUS Risk of incorrect loading