Any Tried the Retul at Home (mobility) App?

I’ll let you know. I’m doing a 14 day trial of GOWOD. I need a separate mobility routine to work out some niggles and restore flexibility from my cycling and strength training. Watch this space!

I know my fitter has some clients that he fits remotely so I imagine this is what he uses (he already uses Retul for his in person fits) and gets decent results.

Also does anyone know of a decent app to approximate CdA?

This is a mobility app. See the comments above.

I mistakenly assumed it was for fitting too since it’s called Retul.

An application for CdA will be downright useless without a device to measure. Way to many variables, even with the device you need to control things way more in testing to log consistent data to aggregate and use. That said Velocomp has probably the most affordable device, which also measures Power.

Aeropod CdA measuring

Aero Sensor Companies Start Own Common Aero Device Profile: Got Tired of Waiting for Standard

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A Retül Bike Fitter does the same things as in the App with you?
i will have a Retül Bike Fit in the next 2 month!

It’s not bike fit. It’s mobility exercises. Stretching.

Sure, but a Bike Fitter checks your mobility too, or?

Check out the app. It will make more sense then.

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Went through the Retul a bit today.

The app has much better explanations as to what you are doing in each exercise. Its Kelly doing his thing and its very helpful to get into position and have cues for each movement. GOWOD doesn’t have any real detailed explanations in contrast.

However, the Retul app focuses on a major exercise for mobility of the day and everything else is an extra exercise on top of that. Nice but it doesn’t feel like a fully coherent routine is laid out day by day. GOWOD instead has pre, post, and full stretching routines at your disposal. Feels much more like a fully thought out plan in contrast.

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Totally agree with this - I’m on day 3 of the Retul app, and it’s nice having the demo and the timer, but it’s a bit strange having one exercise per day. Not sure how to get the best out of this… maybe do as many as the other suggested exercises as possible??

It’s also making me question what “mobility” is. Bonesaw, foam rolling and lying on massage balls is working bits of me that really do need it, and I’ll keep doing them, but it’s much more self-massage than I was expecting, as opposed to stretching/strength exercises.

Figured I’d chime in. “Devoted fan” of Becoming a Supple Leopard and The Ready State in general :slightly_smiling_face: . I’ve been using his Virtual Mobility Coach for a month and have been pretty pleased with it, as I’ve had a twisted pelvis for several years that has gotten to the point of fatiguing my back so badly during cycling (triathlon actually) that performance began declining. The app has mobility prescriptions for body area, mobility tests, and pre/post sport specific warm ups and cool downs. Over the course of the month my power balance has slowly gone from 55/45 from the functional leg length discrepancy to between 52/48 and 53/47.

I briefly looked at Retül and it appears to be a significantly “lesser version” of the Virtual Mobility Coach. That said, if someone does not have known issues and just wants to restore general mobility, Retül may be enough. Subscription for VMC is $160/yr, which is more than reasonable - but at that price I’d be certain I wanted to use it before purchasing. He does have a free 2 week option, but that’s a very dumbed down version and more comparable to Retül than the full version.

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I received a marketing email from Specialized a few months ago mentioning the app and downloaded and performed the assessment immediately. To parrot what some of the others said, I too, was surprised there was so much foam rolling/lacrosse ball deep tissue massage for a mobility app but still performed them and did the extras for a few weeks.

General thoughts:

  • The detailed explanations and videos are pretty great and easy to understand the “why” of what your doing
  • A lot of interesting movements I’ve never even really considered doing.
  • After a bit some of it was repetitive and didn’t feel very focused. Felt like it was a bit “random” in what it was asking me to do.
  • Would be nice to have the option to schedule > 1 a day
  • Sometimes being unable to skip the timer is a bit annoying

I kind of fell off using it but have kept some of the work it showed me in my normal stretch/massage routine

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Want to report developments in using GOWOD.

I’ve decided to pull the trigger on a year subscription after a 2 week trial period. I have been able to increase my posterior chain mobility. I took an initial mobility test at the beginning of my trial., After 2 weeks I’ve been able to see a marked improvement in my posterior chain flexibility. I also feel a bit more mobile and less achy in other areas. I still really need to work on my posterior chain flexibility (I really suck) but I’m getting better. I do credit the app as being the main reason for this improvement as I have not done anything else except cycling.

I’ve come to really love the Pre-WOD section. You have an option to have automatically generated mobility routines for: daily use, pre workout, and post workout. For workout mobility, you can list the types of exercises you will be doing and the app will suggest mobility work to prepare you. For cycling, I’ve always picked “Bike Erg” and the app sets a routine accordingly.

The program also can rely on massage guns if you have one. Most of my pre-workout has become using the massage gun on various points to get me ready. I’ve found this to be quite a revelation and much needed since I hate doing foam rolling (except for t-spine mobilization). I have learned, however, that I also need to hit my calves more than the app suggested.

The daily stretching routine has also become a thing for me because of the app. I can throw a podcast on, have the app start, and get through a 22 minute guided stretching routine. Its really simple and I love it for that. If I want to hit more parts I can also select other routines targeting specific areas or even specific exercises. I credit the app in finally getting me to take stretching and mobility seriously.

Best way to summarize is to say that the Retul at Home app is like your indoor trainer’s own app for doing workouts, GOWOD is like TrainerRoad but for mobility.

In short, I’m very happy with the app and it has a low enough cognitive load in use that I now do a mobility routine daily. Its clearly worth it for that regard alone.

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Thanks for the review. Their website just focuses on these massive CrossFit people doing massive strength moves, and I never got past that. I’ll have to dig deeper.

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Yeah, thats why I didn’t look either tbh. I was more than pleasantly surprised.

The fact that it also incorporates massage guns too is so great. I’ve gone into trainer rides after a pre-wod with the gun and they are much more comfortable.

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As someone who also HATES foam rollers, I hear you on stretching and massage guns!

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Yes foam rolling is awful. Except for T-spine mobilization. The rest is just contorting on the ground like a crazy person.

Massage guns do the same and for less effort. And thank god for cheap Chinese massage guns cause I can have like…4 of them around the place for the price of 1 Theragun

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Not sure where your specific issues are, but in addition to T spine I’ve also found laying on each quad for 5-10 minutes in the evening has done a great job at loosening my hips - I had no idea how tight my quads were. (This is also part of a Theragun and ready state routine)

Regarding the cross fitters, I had the same opinion a few years ago and wish I didn’t because I could have had relief so much sooner.

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I’m gonna try this. I have extremely tight hip flexors, hamstrings and calves so I might give this a whirl.

I do think that a big downside of GOWOD is that its not really descriptive like The Ready State or even the Retul app (because kelly explains a lot better). But a yearly sub to GOWOD is significantly cheaper than the Ready State and I like the test and then prescriptive recommendations.

What have your thoughts about the Ready State? I’m curious to know more.