Most testing advice assumes there is a second person. Someone fires the start, someone holds the stopwatch, someone films the jump.
A lot of athletes train alone. If that is you, the usual fix is to skip testing and guess. You do not need to. Every test in SpeedTrackr can be run by one person, as long as the phone does the job the partner used to do.
This is how I set up a solo session.
Before you start
Leave Coach Mode off. With it off, the app treats you as the athlete, so every result is saved as yours and the questions it asks talk to you ("Did you cross the finish line?") instead of to a coach.
Bring a tape measure, something to prop a phone against, and a second phone if you want sprint times. The second device can be another Android phone, an iPhone or a laptop.
Reaction: let the phone count you in
Reaction time off the start signal needs one phone. The problem on your own is that you have to tap start and then get into position.
In the Android app, turn on Solo Athlete Mode in the Reaction tool. When you tap start, you get a 10-second countdown, then the start sequence. That is enough time to put the phone down, get set and wait for the signal.
Do three reps and look at the best and the spread, not one number. Reaction moves a lot from rep to rep and day to day, so one fast rep tells you less than three steady ones.
Jump: the phone is your partner on the floor
Jump height and RSI come from video, so the only thing you need is a phone that stays still.
Prop it on the floor or a low bench, side-on, with your whole body and feet in frame. Start recording, step into place, do your jumps, then stop. Or film it with the normal camera and import the clip later.
In the app you mark take-off and landing, and it gives jump height, or RSI for drop jumps and hops. Normal 60 fps video works. Slow motion is the most precise option.
With Coach Mode off, jump power uses your own body weight, so keep the weight in the app up to date.
Sprint: two phones and a 10-second walk
This is the test people think needs a partner. It does not.
Put the start phone at the start line and the finish phone at the finish line, side-on to the lane, both fixed in place, not in your hand. Measure the distance with the tape. Pair the phones.
On the Android start phone, turn on Solo Athlete Mode in Timing Gates. Tap start, and you get a 10-second countdown to reach the start line. Then the phone calls the start, and the finish phone records when you cross.
Two things to know:
The clock starts on the start signal, so your time includes how quickly you react to it. That is fine for comparing yourself week to week, as long as you always start the same way.
It is practice-grade start and finish timing. There are no split times and it is not a fully automatic timing system. It tells you whether you got faster on the same setup, which is what a solo athlete needs.
If you use two Android phones, keep both updated to the latest version from Google Play before a session, so they pair.
Give yourself full rest. Two or three good reps beat six tired ones.
Bar speed: film the set, read it after
Prop the phone side-on, still, with the whole bar path in frame. Film the set, then let the app read it, or import a clip you shot with the normal camera.
You get bar speed for every rep in m/s after the set: mean velocity for squats, presses and deadlifts, peak velocity for Olympic lifts, and velocity loss across the set. It is film or import, then results, not live analysis while you lift.
Use the same load as your last test day if you want to compare. The first set at a new weight is shown as the baseline to beat.
The order, and what to write down
Reaction, jump, sprint, lift. Least tiring to most tiring, so no test ruins the next one.
Then note the two things the app cannot know: the surface and the time of day. On your own, nobody else will remember that last month was on grass in the evening.
Your results stay in your History, and Home shows your best in each test with the date. Next time, beat that, on the same setup.
The Android app is on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedtrackr.reactionpro
On an iPhone or a laptop, use the web app: https://www.speedtrackr.com/auth/login
There is no native iPhone app. iPhone users use the web app.
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