Starting today, Gentler Streak users can check VO₂ max estimate data, with trends and averages, for a more complete snapshot of their fitness. Here are the details.
Gentler Streak adds a new health metric for runners
Just a few days ago, Gentler Stories updated The Outsiders, its app for power-based training, with four advanced metrics designed to help athletes better understand intensity, pacing, and efficiency across their workouts.
Today, the company is updating Gentler Streak, the award-winning (and my favorite) app for more casual exercising, with cardio fitness information.
The update is now available on the App Store, and adds VO₂ max estimate data to the Wellbeing section of the Streak tab.
Here’s Gentler Stories on what this data means, and what it can tell about the user’s fitness:
VO₂ max measures how efficiently the body uses oxygen during exercise. Beyond workouts, it affects our everyday energy and long-term resilience – research consistently links higher cardio fitness with reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and premature mortality.
Apple Watch estimates cardio fitness from recorded outdoor runs, hikes and walks, using heart rate, motion, barometric, and GPS sensors. Gentler Streak now reads this data from Apple Health and presents it in a way designed to be meaningful rather than just throwing the last recorded stat at you.
The company notes that VO₂ max estimate data is more accurate for users who run. This means that “walkers,” as they put it, might see a higher VO₂ max estimate than their actual fitness level, and the number is expected to drop to a more accurate level once they start running.
Staying true to the app’s focus on promoting healthy routines and the user’s overall well-being, Gentler Streak emphasizes VO₂ max trends instead of a single number.
Here’s Katarina Lotrič, Gentler Stories Co-founder and CEO, on the reasoning behind that:
We deliberately chose not to make the number the hero here. A single VO₂ max figure from a consumer device can’t tell you much, and in a lot of cases, it wouldn’t even be accurate. However, what does tell a story is the trend: where it’s heading, and what seems to be driving it. Over time, you might start noticing patterns between your behaviour and your cardio fitness, and that’s where you can learn.”
Gentler Streak is available for free on the App Store, with in-app purchases for monthly, yearly, family, and lifetime subscriptions.
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