There’s a sea of mobile fitness apps out there, but Kumu’s iPhone fitness app is already at full sail after launching just this month. It helps that Kumu was quickly chosen by Apple as a featured app in its App Store, and was also featured in “Men’s Fitness” magazine as “The Next Best Fitness App”.
A different kind of iPhone fitness app
So what’s the big deal about Kumu? The app is not just another iPhone fitness app that tracks you. Sure, it does that, but also delivers a real-life “Wellness Coach” to advise and motivate you. While the app is free, the coaching service costs $20 for one month, or $100 for six months.
The Kumu team says that only four percent of applicants are chosen to be coaches, though they didn’t say what criteria are used.
The Kumu app assigns your coach based on your main fitness goal–either to lose weight, get fit, eat healthier, or have more energy. You can talk with your coach using Kumu’s in-app texting, photo messaging, and audio or video chat. Video chat is optional and costs $6 per session.
Kumu coaches are trained to use “motivational interviewing,” which is a style of coaching borrowed from therapy that aims to motivate you and create changes in your habits. As you talk with your coach, he or she will assign you goal cards, which are small daily goals that aim to spark changes in your behavior and move you closer to your final goal.
Choose what you track and share
Because Kumu is integrated with Apple Health and syncs with popular fitness trackers like Fitbit, you and your coach can get real-time feedback on your daily meals, workouts or other activity, sleep, and other health data. Your activity is kept confidential between you and your coach, unless you accomplish a goal you want to share.
The app’s “team” feature lets you share similar goals or accomplishments, status updates, or “high fives” with other Kumu users and friends who you invite to participate. You can give your teammates a high five on a job well done, or share a completed goal card.
Kumu — which is the Hawaiian word for teacher — was conceived of by fitness celebrity Jake “Body by Jake” Steinfeld, and was built by FitOrbit, a small company based in Los Angeles. FitOrbit previously sold an Android and iPhone fitness app by that name that was similar in many ways to Kumu, but the company has discontinued the older app in favor of Kumu. The company says Kumu is guided by research that shows that people tend to accomplish health or fitness goals more easily when motivated regularly by mentors and friends.
You can download the Kumu iPhone fitness app from the App Store or at getkumu.com. There’s no Android version yet, but we’ll let you know when one is out.
Recent related stories:
MyScript sketches handwriting apps for iOS, Android (MobileVillage)
