In this update we made offline mode way better. You won’t get those annoying popup notifications telling you you’re offline anymore!

The app is also a little bit faster and smoother.

So now you have one more excuse to get into the gym!

Version 2.0 of the Vitogo iPhone app has just been submitted to is now available in the app store! That means this week you’ll be able to download it and start using it! The new version is a major improvement from the current version. Here are some highlights:

• Dramatically improved speed
• Syncing with Vitogo.com works perfectly!
• Cleaner User Interface
• To many bug fixes to list!

In addition to all the great improvements you can see, we’ve also rebuilt the app from the group up to make it much faster and easier for us to update. That means you can look forward to more frequent updates, and improvements!

Thanks to everyone out there using Vitogo!

Edit: We also made some improvements to vitogo.com. You can now switch your preference on the web to metric (coming soon to mobile). There are a lot of other small changes to make the overall experience better.

Let us know what you think!

                                                                        Olympic Squat

Studies at Duke University found that when done properly, the squat is incredible at building strength and endurance in the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles but that’s not all! This is where we get a little science-y.

You see, when you work out the energy being used to lift these muscles creates an anabolic environment in which the body begins to release extra testosterone and growth hormone into the bloodstream, maximizing gains made from other exercises you might have done or may do next. In other words, the squat tells your body to use an incredibly large muscle group (your legs and butt as well as your back for stability) which then requires more energy and thus pushes your body into overdrive. 

Now, I am not saying that you only have to do squats to get a big upper body, but it has been proven that those who squat, along with their upper body regimen, can see more gains than those who don’t! 

The squat is one hell of a workout. It hits the glutes, the hamstrings, quads, calves, hips, and back, all while you keep your stomach tight.

David Haas is a cancer support group and awareness program advocate at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. David often blogs about programs and campaigns underway at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, as well as creative fitness ideas for those dealing with cancer, while creating relationships with similar organizations.

Most people know that fitness is important, but a string of recent studies from various cancer foundations prove just how important fitness really is. According to various studies, fitness is a great aid for cancer patients, no matter what stage of cancer they are in.

While fitness may benefit certain cancer patients more than others that does not reduce its importance. Certainly, cancer patients with a rare or aggressive form of cancer, such as mesothelioma, may require extra attention from a doctor. However, even these patients can benefit from fitness.

Exercise has multiple benefits, all of which are linked to help cancer patients reduce their side effects. Of course, fitness is not a miracle cure, but it can greatly improve a patient’s life’s quality.

Fitness reduces the amount of toxins in the body

This is especially important for a patient who is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment. These harsh treatments do help kill cancer cells, but they may also react with the toxins in the body. Exercise can help the body purge the toxins through the sweat glands and by defecation.

Able cancer patients should engage in various acrobatic exercises to help remove toxins from their body. Of course, no patient should begin a workout routine without first consulting with his or her main doctor. Depending on the patient’s condition, he or she may be restricted from engaging in specific types of exercises.

Fitness improves energy

Patients who are going through treatment usually admit that they constantly feel fatigued. However, their condition usually prevents them from getting quality sleep, leaving them even less energized. Fitness can help improve a patient’s energy levels, as well as sleep quality. Most patients report that after they were able to get a good night’s rest, they felt even better in the morning, with fewer pains and aches.

Fitness improves a patient’s mental health

Fitness not only affects a person’s physical health, it also helps their mental state. Unrelated studies show that optimistic people are generally healthier than negative or pessimistic people. By participating in regular exercise, patients can feel better about themselves, thus helping them to remain positive.

Conclusion

This article also lists several reasons why fitness is important to cancer patients.

Don’t let cancer overtake you. Consult with your doctor about a workout program. Most cancer clinics have their own workout programs readily available to patients.

We launched Vitogo 1.0 in January to an exciting amount of coverage from Thrillist.com (and some other great sites) and got a ton of users. It was exciting to see all of you finally using Vitogo after the months that we spent building it. We’ve received some fantastic feedback and have been working hard to implement all of it. It’s exciting work turning your feedback into reality!

The only problem is we can’t do everything instantaneously. So, the past little while, we’ve had our heads down working at a furious pace to build the next great release of the Vitogo iPhone/iPod Touch app and adding some awesome improvements to vitogo.com. We can’t wait to show them to all of you. While it isn’t going to look much different (yet!), it’s going to do everything better. It’s hard to explain, but trust us when we say it’s going to blow your mind how much better Vitogo is going to be. 

So what’s coming? First, version 2.0 is going to run SUBSTANTIALLY faster and smoother than the existing app. But speed doesn’t matter much if the app isn’t doing what you need it to do, which is why we fixed the bugs you’ve been reporting. Your workouts will now sync properly with the website every time, the calories you burn will calculate properly, and when you’re on a new week of your workout you’ll see how much weight you lifted the previous week and be able to properly update the amount of weight you lifted and the number of reps you’ve completed. We’re also really excited about including metric as an input method, so everyone who uses weights measured in kilograms will now be able to use Vitogo without doing an annoying conversion all the time. There are a ton of other awesome fixes and improvements as well! We use Vitogo every day, we’re excited about everything that’s coming in V2.0. Really excited!

This update isn’t just bug fixes though, it’s designed to make it really easy for us to add new features and improvements. So we’ll be able to add features we’ve been dying to add, like Lose It! integration. We have a huge list of features and improvements we want to get to, so this is a big deal! You’ll be able to look forward to regular updates that constantly make the Vitogo experience more awesome!

Finally, we love feedback and we’re constantly thinking about what we can do to make working out simpler, more engaging, and more fun. So let us know what you think, we want to hear it.

PROPER FORM IS KEY IN BUILDING STRENGTH AND AVOIDING SERIOUS INJURY WHEN DEAD LIFTING!

Here are  the steps to performing a proper Dead Lift:

(Before using weight, it is advisable to get the form and movement down first.)

Step 1: Stand over the bar with the bar resting on the floor and center your feet over the bar. Your feet should be a little closer in than shoulder width apart.

Step 2: Bend to grab the bar with both hands so that your arms are vertical or perpendicular to the floor. *VERY IMPORTANT!* While bending, the first movement should not be through the lower back or the knees but rather through the hips. Drop your hips first by moving them backwards and then the bending in your knees will come more naturally and stably. To avoid using too much of your lower back, keep your chest up facing forward not down. (Good hip flexibility is key for this step)

Chest Up, Eyes Up

Step 3: Lift your chest (while keeping it facing forward) but do not squeeze your shoulder blades like you would on a squat. Simply, keep your shoulders at good posture (pulled back and down) and your neck inline with your torso.

Step 4: As your chest rises begin to pull the bar up, pushing through the heels of your feet. Keep the bar close to your body. (Sometimes I get scrapes on my knees and thighs because I keep the bar so close-Hey no pain no gain right?!)

Knees and Hips Locked

Step 5: Push your hips forward so that your knees and hips are locked out and you are standing upright. Do not lean back at the top of each lift because this will put a lot of strain on the lower back and shoulders.

Step 6: Keeping the bar close to your body, move through your hips by pushing them backward and lower the bar to the floor by bending the knees. Do not bounce the bar on the floor but rather tap it gently.

And that is one rep! Tired already? Yea, I know this is one hell of a work out! GET LIFTING!

                           

Back in the days of Xanga and Live Journal, “Pro-Ana” or Pro-Anorexia sites sprung up around the internet. On these kinds of sites, people with eating disorders wouldn’t gather for support or treatment, but rather, to encourage each other to pursue a lifestyle of starvation by posting pictures of skeletal models and odd motivational statements to discourage eating. It wasn’t good.

                  

Everyone is different, so we can’t suggest how much weight to lift the first time you use Vitogo. However, we do tell you how many repetitions you are supposed to do, which will help you determine the appropriate amount of weight to lift. Here’s how:

1) Each exercise in your daily program will tell you how many sets and repetitions to do (For example, 3 sets x 8 reps). The number of recommended repetitions is tailored to your goal.

2) Pick a weight that you think you can safely lift for the recommended number of repetitions (In this case, 8 times).

3) Using the built-in countdown timer, rest for the recommended period between sets.

4) If you are able to easily complete all (or more) of the recommended sets and reps, then you know that you need to increase your weight for next time. If you weren’t able to complete the recommended number of sets and reps, then you should decrease your weight for next time.

5) You should feel tired by the end of your last set. Be safe, but don’t make it too easy! To see a real benefit from strength training, you need to lift weight that is heavy enough to challenge you. For some exercises, like the bench press, it can be helpful to ask a friend or trainer at the gym to “spot” you. It’s the spotters’ job to help you if you are struggling to lift the weight and to keep you safe during a challenging lift.

6) Vitogo stores the number of repetitions and amount of weight that you do for each exercise, so, the next time you complete that exercise you will remember how much weight to lift.

In case you haven’t heard, you can now download Vitogo from the App Store!

For the rest of you, now that you’ve downloaded the app don’t forget to log-in to your awesome account at vitogo.com! Just use the same email and password you used to create you account on the app. There are a lot of awesome things waiting for you on your Vitogo.com account.You have a profile, friends, trophies, an overview of your workout, the ability to print your workouts, and so much more! You can also enter your actual name, upload a profile picture, change your goal, even change your sex!

To fill out your profile, go into settings by clicking on where your name will apear in the top right corner of the page. You’ll end up at the page below.

Once you’ve completed your first workout, you’ll start earning trophies which will show up in your trophy case in your profile! Get your friends on Vitogo so they can see the killer trophies you’ve earned. Some trophies you’ll only be able to earn when you’re working out with a friend!

Back up ... did you get a look at that back? Congratulations on completing 25 back exercises!

You're dialing it in! Congratulations! That's 10% body weight lost.

Do you work out? Obviously. You're jacked! Congratulations on completing 75 workouts!

That’s it! Go log-in to your Vitogo account!!

Vitogo is compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch, so you can bring it to the gym to coach you through every step of your workout. Just like a personal trainer, Vitogo assesses your fitness level and goals to give you a tailored workout program that evolves with you.

We’re very excited to bring you this revolutionary product and we’re hoping that it will help a lot of people achieve their fitness goals. Check out the video below to learn how Vitogo works and head on down to the App Store to download your copy!

There is no way that we could have made this project happen without the enormous effort and support of a lot of people. We’d like to particularly thank Wells Riley. Without Wells, we never would have accomplished so much in such a short period of time. Wells’ inspired design and UI shaped Vitogo and made it better than we could have imagined.

We’d also like to thank Ian Hirschfeld, Nick Pettazzoni, Hugh Guiney, and Raffy Rabin for their countless hours of development work, Connie Chan for designing our sexy trophies, and Patrick Feger for designing our logo.

Special thanks to Laura Jud, the brains behind all the awesome tailored workout programs, and to all of the incredible models – Allie, Nikki, Mark, Adam, and Jill – who appear in the exercise videos. Thanks too to SNF Fitness for providing the venue, and to Scott Yates, our videographer.

Thanks to our advisor, Jared Stenquist, for providing us with guidance, support, (and hosting)!

You have been an awesome team to work with over the past several months. Thanks again for all your hard work!