u/GenXNorseman

I'm more nerd than athlete; but as I turn 56 this summer, and after a spinal fusion two years ago thanks to stupid things I did in my teens/twenties, I'm trying hard to get into better shape through basic weight lifting and weaving in some crossfit workouts. My son and I were 'competing' to see who could get the biggest count during the Cindy AMRAP in 20 minutes workout (so far, he has, by a mile). Kept losing track of counts even when I was using tic marks on paper and phone as a timer. Looking around, every app had way more than I needed, or required subscription or login. But I've been a nerd since the Commodore 64 days, and did some web stuff back in the 90s so I built a little web app that worked for me. Then my wife suggested others might want something simple like it, especially since it exists fully on the phone but in a very small size and I thought maybe I could use it to raise money for my nephew Bo (more below). It wasn't all me; I used Claude to wrap it in Xcode for the App Store. Hope folks find it useful, and please let me know if there are other workouts or features that make sense to add to it. Like I said, I'm not an expert here, so I'm wide open to suggestions!

Ordeal: tap to count rounds. That's it. No subscription. No account. No ads. Nothing leaves your phone. Five workouts pre-loaded (Cindy, Chelsea, Mary, Nate, Daniela) and a custom builder for everything else. $2.99 once.

Once I realized I wanted to try to raise money for Bo with it, I also had to figure out how to set up an LLC so the money flows cleanly and separately from my personal finances. None of that was in my wheelhouse either; but it was a cool learning experience.

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My nephew Bo Meier was a three-sport state championship athlete in high school; hockey, football, and baseball. He went on to pitch at Iowa Western, and at the end of his freshman year an accident in May 2025 left him with a severe traumatic brain injury. He requires 24/7 care now, and the costs insurance and Medicaid won't cover are staggering.

Every dollar from Ordeal goes directly to Bo's family for his care and the experimental therapies that we're hoping can help get his recovery as far as possible as fast as possible.

His story:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bolieve_boknows

🤍 CaringBridge: https://www.caringbridge.org/site/a809b3a0-2ec4-11f0-a76e-a5c0b61b6790

📲 Ordeal on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ordeal-amrap-tracker/id6762562368

No pressure; just making it available and seeing if I can help my nephew with it.

Looking for recommendations, Reddit subs or other forums, where it’s appropriate to dig into current research, experimental therapies, and care approaches for severe TBI. Specifically interested in spaces where clinicians, researchers, or well-informed caregivers discuss topics like emerging PM&R protocols, neuromodulation, or neuroplasticity-based interventions at a level that goes beyond general support communities.

Also looking for some confirmation that we’re thinking about neuroplasticity window in a manner consistent with what current research and studies say.

Looking for recommendations, Reddit subs or other forums, where it’s appropriate to dig into current research, experimental therapies, and care approaches for severe TBI. Specifically interested in spaces where clinicians, researchers, or well-informed caregivers discuss topics like emerging PM&R protocols, neuromodulation, or neuroplasticity-based interventions at a level that goes beyond general support communities.

My nephew Bo is fighting to recover from a severe traumatic brain injury. Every dollar from my app goes directly to his family for care and experimental therapies insurance won't cover.

📲 Ordeal on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ordeal-amrap-tracker/id6762562368

*tap to count rounds. No subscription. No account. No ads. Nothing leaves your phone. Five workouts pre-loaded (Cindy, Chelsea, Mary, Nate, Daniela) and a custom builder for everything else. $2.99 once.

I'm not a developer. I'm a guy turning 56 who's been a nerd since Commodore 64 in the early 80s. Spent 30 years on corporate career and family, and more recently got serious about longevity and fitness; in as lazy and easy a way as possible. I weave crossfit workouts into my training and kept losing count mid-workout or wrestling with apps that wanted a subscription just to count rounds. Couldn't find what I wanted so I taught myself enough to build it.

Once I decided to raise money for Bo with it, I also had to figure out how to set up an LLC so the money flows cleanly. None of that was in my wheelhouse either, but here we are. Challenges are opportunities and this old dog has discovered that he likes learning new tricks.

My nephew Bo Meier was a three-sport state championship athlete in high school; hockey, football, and baseball. He went on to pitch at Iowa Western with MLB dreams. At the end of his freshman year, an accident in May 2025 left him with a severe traumatic brain injury. He requires 24/7 care now as he works to reconnect his mind and body.

His fight, from the day we got the call and rushed to Omaha for his emergency surgery, to every day since, is what drives this.

📸 https://www.instagram.com/bolieve_boknows

🤍 https://www.caringbridge.org/site/a809b3a0-2ec4-11f0-a76e-a5c0b61b6790

After early adoption of the first Fitbit way back when, then moving to Apple and having multiple Apple Watches over the years, last year I switched back to Fitbit, and not only that, one of the cheapest ones- the Inspire. I can’t recall another instance where I’ve been so happy with what on paper looks like a massive downgrade. The inspire seems to do most of what I used the Apple Watch for (call/txt notifications, timers/alarms, workout tracking, etc) but the battery lasts like a week, i can barely tell I’m wearing anything, and seems to have excellent sleep tracking. Am I missing something, or is this a fairly common experience and I was just oblivious to it? Or maybe I just never used the Apple Watch features that would have made it worth the extra weight and daily charging? Fitbit includes some basic CrossFit workout tracking, but seems about on par with what the Apple did.