Indoor Cycling Apps – Page 3 – Indoor Cycling Tips

If you plan on getting fit, why not help other people while you're at it? You can do this with the help of some indoor cycling apps. What indoor cycling apps can I use to give to charities? Indoor Cycling Apps like Zwift and Rouvy sometimes host charity events. Charity Miles is another app you can use to track your physical activities and give to charities at the same time. Read on to dig into the details about these fitness-charity apps. Zwift Zwift is a popular immersive indoor cycling app that lets you train and interact with fellow indoor cyclists online. The app features virtual worlds on your screen so you can visualize your rides to keep you engaged while you ride on your trainer. Zwift is excellent for cycling and for running on your treadmill. The company behind Zwift has been supporting charity initiatives since the beginning. It has partnered with various charities for different causes, including ALS, prostrate cancer, free bikes, hospital charities, and more. Dubbed Zwift Ride with a Reason, these initiatives task Zwift participants to complete an individual challenge (e.g., burn 1000 calories, complete 9.9 hours of indoor cycling in a month, etc.) and contribute to a community goal. Once the community reaches the goal, Zwift will donate to the specified cause. For this month, Zwift has organized Zwift Tour for All in support of the Doctors without Borders ( Médecins Sans Frontières) in their response for COVID-19. The event runs from May 4 to May 30. This multi-stage mass participation event for cycling and running is by far Zwift's biggest cause-driven campaign. The company will start with a $125,000 donation. If 250,000 Zwifters finish at least one stage at the end of the event, Zwift will give another $125k to MSF. Participants are also encouraged to donate to MSF or their local charities, but this is not a requirement in joining the event. So if you are a little low on finances but still want to help COVID-19 efforts, joining Tour for All is a great way to do it. You can find more information about this initiative and register on this page. Individual Zwift users are also free to create their charity events in Zwift. In such cases, donors donate through that person's website or fundraising page. Rouvy Rouvy is another immersive indoor cycling app that is somehow similar to Zwift. Rouvy recently launched a charity event for COVID-19 dubbed as #RideForItaly. For every person who completed the #RideForItaly Challenge featuring four rides in Italy, Rouvy donated 1 Euro to the Veneto Region in Italy. The company announced that it was able to raise 14,000 euros during the event. RGT Cycling So far, I have not seen any charity events organized by RGT Cycling. However, individual users are free to create their riding events in the app, and some people and organizations have turned their events into a fundraiser. The event organizers will ask the participants and donors to donate through the former's website or fundraiser page and not through the RGT Cycling app. Charity Miles Charity Miles tracks the miles you have covered whenever you walk, run, and bike, and earns money for your selected charity on your behalf for every mile with the help of its brand partners. You can download the app for iPhone and Android. Once installed, you have to create an account and choose a charity. Before you begin your workout, open the app, and choose your activity. The activity options include an outdoor walk, outdoor run, indoor walk, outdoor run, and outdoor bike. But there is no indoor cycling option in the app, you may wonder. Don't worry as there is a workaround for that. Because the app uses your phone's GPS and pedometer to track the distance you have covered whenever you move, it cannot track your miles since you are in the same place when indoor cycling. You can try putting your phone in your pocket and choose the indoor walk mode so that your phone's pedometer can track your "steps." However, this will not give the accurate miles that you have cycled. The better way is to connect Charity Miles with the Strava App or Health Kit App (iPhone). You can manually enter your miles on Strava or Health Kit, and then the data will be automatically sent to Charity Miles. Read this guide to learn more about how to enter your miles in the Strava app manually. Summary You can get fit and help fund some causes at the same time by using indoor cycling and other charity apps. You can do this by joining charity events organized by the companies behind the apps like Zwift and Rouvy. You can even create your charity events via Zwift and RGT Cycling or join existing charity events set up by the other app users. Another way is to use Charity Miles to track your physical activities in and outside of your home. The app will convert the miles you covered into donations to your chosen charity. Now that we are all encouraged to stay home, I say joining indoor charity rides is a great way to spend our time indoors. I urge you to check out the apps and events mentioned in this post and tell your friends and family about them. Related questions Are indoor cycling apps for free? Most indoor cycling apps are free to download but will require a monthly subscription to use. Most of them offer free trial periods so you can try them out before committing. Currently, RGT cycling is waiving the premium subscription fee while the pandemic is ongoing. What do I need to wear when indoor cycling? Choose a sweat-wicking top and padded cycling shorts to keep you comfortable during your indoor rides. Also, keep a towel and water nearby. Can I use a non-smart trainer with Zwift? You can use Zwift with non-smart trainers as long as you have either a power meter or speed and cadence sensor. Your trainer must also be supported by Zwift to ensure the accuracy of your training data. You can check out the Zwift website for the list of supported indoor trainers. To learn more about this, you can check out our earlier post. Is indoor cycling an excellent way to lose weight? Indoor cycling, coupled with strength training and a proper diet can help you lose weight. It is best to follow a structured training program to maximize the gains of your workouts. Most indoor training apps offer structured activities to help you achieve your fitness goals.