Lauftraining

Training Plan

Same as with the nutrition plan, users take a questionnaire, so the system learns more about their goals: lose weight, gain weight, learn to run, and improve the current level. Then they need to fill in the fields with more detailed information: how often the users would like to train, their health issues and days preferable for training. The system collects information, sorts it, and presents it to the coach who then creates a personalized plan.

User Interface

As soon as the training plan is created, the interface with scheduled training sessions becomes available to the user. We also added 2 features:

1. A carousel of weekly events to keep track of previous and upcoming training.
2. An option to plan a training session and add it to the calendar. To do it, the users have to select the sport activity, total training time and difficulty level.
All details are available in the personal account and stay available in the future. The coach uses this information to organize future sessions and make adjustments.

The users also can evaluate the difficulty of training. There is a field with a slider where the user can choose from the proposed options. From the easiest workout (Easy) to the most difficult one (Can’t do it). All processed data is also displayed on the trainer’s interface.

Diary

Challenges and rewards are essential for those who are struggling to reach their goals. That is why the BelVG team added a Diary to the Lauftraining website. On the page a user can see:

• How many kilometres they have made while jogging
• How many hours they have exercised
• What awards they have earned
• How much they weigh

The page helps keeping track of the user’s progress and see if a client’s goal is getting closer, or the coach have to change the program.

Live Trainings and Media Library

The idea of live trainings was inspired by the lockdown. Lauftraining wanted to support their users and give them an opportunity to keep fit while at home. Live training is a stream of Vimeo video where the trainer conducts the training and subscribers can exercise together with the trainer.

When users decide to exercise with live training, they get the link with a countdown. When it comes to zero the stream begins and users can exercise. After the stream ends the users can enter the data about the training in the system, choosing one of the three buttons that appear after live training:

• Done as planned – if the user did the whole training from the beginning
• Enter manually – the users can change pre-installed data about the training if they didn’t do the whole thing
• Not done – if the training wasn’t completed at all

The users can return to the training at any time as the video transfers to the media library and they can return to this and other trainings when it is comfortable for them. In the media library users can choose this training or any other stream that was already done. The filter allows choosing training by type and coach.

Coach Interface

In the coach interface, the coaches can see the list of their users and go to the page of a particular one to edit their training and nutrition plans. Users and coaches can see training and nutrition plans for two weeks in advance or until the day the subscription ends.

The coach sees all the information on the user’s progress – the type of training (running, swimming, cycling), the duration, the average heart rate, the distance, as well as personal evaluation of the complexity. Using the data, the coach checks the performance of the customers and adjusts the training plan.

According to the user’s questionnaire answers the system prepares a basic plan. It marks each day with a color that represents the intensity of the training:

• Blue – for the simple exercises that don’t burn a lot of calories
• Green – for the medium trainings
• Orange – for hard exercises
• Red – for the days with extreme activity, e.g. the day of the marathon

Same colors are used to mark the live training in the media library. The coach can use this basic structure to create a personalized plan. The coach can also change the level of training if needed.

Running Watch Integration (Polar, Garmin)

Lauftraining is a company that offers both beginners and professional athletes an opportunity to plan their diet and track training. This is why the progress tracking must be detailed. To display the training sessions more accurately, Lauftraining decided to integrate the system with running watches. They chose the Polar and Garmin running watches.

User Interface

The team wanted the process of authorization and synchronization with fitness watches to be as easy as possible for users. So, when a user clicks on the “Running watch” button, they can select the provider, connect to the running watch and then confirm the synchronization of the data in the personal account of their watch company (Garmin or Polar). After that, all data from the training automatically appears in the account with the possibility of modification.

When the user is connected to the fitness watch, a green tick appears on the watch icon in the personal account. The user can cancel the synchronization at any time in the Lauftraining personal account, and the data will no longer be transferred to the system. It is also possible to cancel the sync in the watch system – Garmin, Polar. In this case Lauftraining reacts to the changes and the tick disappears from the clock symbol, which means that the data are no longer processed.

WatchSync Module

The implementation of fitness watch integration required the BelVG developers to create the WatchSync module. It ensures that data from the Garmin or Polar systems transfers to the Lauftraining system via API. The information is stored there and is available for the user at any moment.

It was a substantial piece of work as a great amount of different data comes from both systems: distance, training time, speed, type of training. All this data must have been processed and saved. There were also some differences in Polar and Garmin systems. For example, Garmin does not allow authorization of the synchronization unless there are already several Garmin users in the system. That is why we had to test the system on real users: they planned the training and we were waiting for them to end it and get necessary data.

As a result we got a smoothly working system with compiled data, that the system comfortably presents to the users.

Personal Account

Besides training and nutrition plans, the user’s personal account has other functionality. It includes a personal information page and chat with Lauftraining for premium users.

Automated Emails and Chat

In systems like that, it is essential to remind users of the upcoming events, changes, or when their subscription is about to expire. This is why the BelVG team implemented a feature that sends email notifications with reminders about training, subscription payment, end of subscription, competitions.

We adjusted the automated email functionality and the customer decided to add some improvements. Their idea was to implement the chat into the personal account so some categories of users can communicate with Lauftraining support managers. They also use the system to send group messages about system changes.

Flexible Subscription System

Originally we implemented the Sarp module to offer subscriptions for a certain period of time – 1, 6 or 12 months. After a brief period of time Luaftraining decided to implement a flexible system so that users can set the subscription period themselves.

We developed a custom module that allows setting any subscription period and then calculates the total cost of it. The module also gives an option to switch to another plan if the user wants it. It calculates the required payment for the selected period and sends a notification before the subscription expires.