A new patent filing by Apple shows the company wants to help people work out together though they might be half a world apart.

Apple filed for a patent "Interfacing Portable Media Devices And Sports Equipment" last October and according to the documents, the new technology would help owners of Apple's mobile products share data about their workouts and performance with each other regardless of their physical location. (The patent filing number is 20120028761.)

A user's speed or heart rate might appear in real time on a friend's handheld display along with their own, according to the filing. AppleInsider was first to report on the patent.

All that is needed is for both users to have Wi-Fi or cellular network connections.

Apple said in the patent filing that portable media players, such as the iPhone, have not only become popular distractions for people as they work out, but they are also a useful means to track performance data.

What's missing, however, is an easy way to insert the data into the handheld. Apple said in the patent filing it would like to wed exercise equipment in gyms to its handhelds.

"An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides sports equipment that is capable of writing workout data to a media player," Apple wrote. "The workout data may be data related to contemporaneous workout activity. The sports equipment may include a connector or connector insert for mating to a connector receptacle on a media player to form a communication link. The sports equipment may also have wireless or optical circuitry that may be used to establish a communication link with the media player.

"In various embodiments of the present invention," Apple continued in the filing, "media on the media player can be read by the sports equipment and provided to the user."