Show HN: My seven minute workout timer evening project

The main problem is that the standard timer app on iOS only acts as a stopwatch...so the final ten seconds of each interval, I'm watching the clock so that I can hit "Lap" and move on...this is awkward when I'm also wearing headphones to listen to music.

What would be ideal for me is to have a simple timer that would alert me when the interval was done and automatically move on to the next one....like a repeating event on a calendar. I'm sure there's an app for that but I just didn't feel like downloading a bunch and doing trial and error.

One more twist: I can't do all the exercises in the 7-min workout (as made famous in the NYT)...jumping jacks would annoy the shit out of the people below me. So I make up my own. A timer that would allow me to set up my own sequence would be fabulous.

Anyway, this is just a longwinded way of saying that there's a need for a niche app here, and it would definitely be a fun coding project...I'm glad someone else thought of it first :)

Can you make a way to skip sections?

Living in a house built in 1840, jumping jacks are out of the question...

(Also if you click rapidly on the 3/2/1 countdown you can kind of skip things, because the app goes to all madness.)

They could then create workouts by creating a list of exercises and rest periods and play their routing with the timer you created.

Does this exist? I want one.

One small suggestion: Perhaps a louder audio cue for transitions between exercises in case you aren't looking at the screen.

A few notes for you and others:

1) There are a few that switch sides/legs and I would handle them differently. For the lunges and step-ups, I think alternating sides is good. For the side planks, I think it would be useful to give the other side a whole segment. Splitting it in half wouldn't be much of a workout.

2) This is awesome because for the most part, you can modulate the workout however you want. In fact, keeping a log of the number of pushups/situps/high knees/etc would be cool because people could see progress. This might be a nice extension for the site!

3) It may be good to balance things out as far as muscle groups go. Pushups are repeated multiple times, as are squat related exercises. It is important to balance these out with the muscles that oppose these exercises.

4) Even better (at least for me) would be to have a series for desk workers that open up your body. We spend so much time crouched forward that a series of exercises to counteract this would be awesome.

Thanks and I hope you keep building on this!

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!!

That's. The. Most. Ingenious. Thing. Ever.

Now, I just have to bring my phone with me. Woohoo!

When I play it on the computer it ticks down, my phones doesn't so I'll have to pay attention to it, which could be tricky, but that's sweet. Thanks!"

I don't want to presume anything. Did you purposefully shorten the workout from that described in the ACSM article? It indicated 30 seconds on and 10 seconds off. (Your total duration variable should be 480--don't ask me how they added that up to "7 minutes"!) This has lead to some confusion in the comments here. And, although their intervals are somewhat arbitrary, and asserting this routine is "scientific" is debatable to begin with, it would be more accurate.

Again, great job.

1. The images don't update until after the first tick of the new exercise. It would be nice if the updated when the rest screen changes to the new exercise screen with the timer and the text.

2. It would be cool if for exercises like the side plank (I think that's the only one in this set), where you hold something on each side, it gave you a halfway warning to tell you that it's time to turn over.

3. The rest period at the end isn't really necessary.

Thanks for this. I'll give it a try in about an hour!

1.) You can now change the length of the workout 2.) Sounds now work (as well as they can) in IOS 3.) Changed duration of the breaks to 10 seconds no matter how long the workout 4.) Added a sound-effect to tell you to switch on exercises that need it 5.) Made some UI tweaks to improve the look

Thanks for making my week.

P.S.: Great job! And great website idea!

I also wonder why the images or better the whole site isn't responsive? I would also add a link to one of the sources.

Feature request: a nice sound when each section is finished. Sometimes I'm not looking at the screen while doing the exercise, so a sound marking the section changes would be nice.

One suggestion would be to add a Switch pop-up if you run into exercises like Side Plank.

I will be using it. Although I have to second others.. It'd be nice to choose my exercises.

According to wkiipedia, it's safety is disputed: might be injure someone with bad knees... something to keep in mind.

aside from this the site looks good, simple and to the point, props for it.

The last two should be repeated twice though (one for each arm)

EDIT: but this is an awesome thing, regardless