Docupoint

Online, August 11, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Personal trainers and entrepreneurs with a passion for fitness, Arya Farzin and Joseph Phillips, announce the launch of a new app that is focused exclusively on making running fun. HEAT Running helps runners of all levels motivate themselves, challenge others, and move up in rankings. Based in part on Farzin's own struggles with obesity, and realizing that none of the current running apps provided the motivation and support that helped him lose over 200 pounds, Farzin and Phillips set out to create a unique running app that provides a level of competition and motivation that was previously unavailable. HEAT Running is the only app that allows - and encourages - direct competition among users. By adding a social component to running - rather than just raw data as most other running apps do - HEAT Running seeks to change the way people develop and maintain an app-based fitness program by creating a virtual racing environment that fosters head-to-head competition.

HEAT Running's co-founders, Arya Farzin and Joseph Phillips, have both worked as personal trainers, and understand firsthand the value and importance of fitness. They bring both this knowledge and passion to HEAT Running. Farzin was able to lose over 200 pounds after focusing on a weight loss regimen that emphasized running. Phillips has worked at several of the most elite gyms in the country. Together, Farzin and Phillips developed an app that not only helps people run, but serves as both a social and a personal training tool.

"I spent most of my life being obese, and finally got sick of being a college student who weighed close to 400 pounds," says Farzin. "We realized that there is clearly a desire for mobile-based fitness, but every available app was seriously lacking. Either you couldn't compete against people, or there wasn't enough of a motivating component. After conquering something that seemed impossible your entire life, something in you changes. A fire to help others succeed burns from within creating an ever-present "HEAT." Our goal is to share this with others looking to get in shape or get into better shape."

One of the biggest shortcomings that Farzin and Phillips found in other running apps was the inability to allow users to actually run with others. HEAT Running solves this issue by creating a virtual environment where users can run with each other anytime using their phones. By adding a social, competitive dimension to HEAT Running, people looking to improve their fitness level can now train with others, compete against both local and global runners, and be held accountable.

"HEAT brings the social element back to running, which has tremendous benefits," says Phillips. "Until now, people who were using running apps did so in a vacuum. Part of being a trainer is being a person's coach, mentor, and motivator while holding a person accountable. HEAT now offers this same level of interaction, competition and accountability in a mobile app. It makes people's runs both more effective and more fun."

HEAT Running's innovative approach brings the gamification of running to an easy-to use mobile app by encouraging users to, "Unlock Your Animal." The more races a user completes, the closer they come to unlocking their spirit animal. You may start the app as an egg, but keep running and you will soon hatch into a gazelle, mustang, coyote or with hard work a cheetah! By turning a person's runs into both a competitive experience as well as a game, HEAT Running makes running more approachable for novices and reinvigorates the running passion of long-time runners.

HEAT Running is currently available in the Apple App store, with plans to offer an Android version in the near future.

To download the HEAT Running app, please click here.