The 9 Best Fitness Apps for health
Our smartphones, we’re told, are ruining our lives. You’ve no doubt heard the news stories by now (or, more likely, scrolled past the headlines on your phone) about how they’re destroying our cognitive resources, disrupting our sleep, giving us bent backs and kinked necks, and causing us to become anxious, depressed, antisocial weaklings while we obsessively scroll through our social media feeds 100 times a day.
But it’s not the phones themselves that are the problem, so much as how we use them. In fact, a whole category of health and fitness apps are poised to help make you fitter, stronger, leaner, looser and more relaxed than ever before—to fight back, in other words, against the creeping physical and mental ills of the Information Age. Taking advantage of today’s information-rich environment, they focus on putting personalized, coach- or trainer-built workouts at your fingertips, so you can get better results faster, whether you pump iron at the gym, do bodyweight HIIT routines or push the pace on outdoor runs.
1.For the Time-Pressed: Sworkit
An overpacked schedule is the most common barrier to fitness (never mind the nightly Netflix binge), but Sworkit’s customized programs allow you to fit a solid, targeted workout into whatever time you can find, whether that’s a trainer-recommended 40 minutes or 4 minutes between episodes of Stranger Things. Simply choose the kind of routine you want—strength, cardio, yoga or stretching—and enter how many minutes you have, and it outputs a video-guided, precision-timed, sports scientist-approved workout that’ll help you trim fat, pack on muscle or just loosen up, excuses be damned.
BUY NOW: FREE (IOS) BUY NOW: FREE (ANDROID)
2.For Those Who Like to Listen: Aaptiv
This audio-only workout app is best for those who learn from hearing, as well as visual learners who want to grasp workouts exclusively through their ears. Aaptiv lets you pick (and download) on-demand workouts so you can dabble in everything from stretching and yoga classes to boxing and weightlifting. New classes show up every week in the app. Pick the type of workout you want, the kind of music you like and then narrow your options down by how much time you have. Whether you’re traveling and need an exercise without any weights — or need some motivation on your next long run — Aaptiv has you covered.
BUY NOW: $15/MONTH (IOS) BUY NOW: $15/MONTH (ANDROID)
3.For Outdoor Cardio: Nike+ Run Club
From the company hell-bent for the past two decades on reviving American distance running comes the Nike+ Run Club, an innovative app that, in addition to tracking your runs via GPS, provides audio-guided runs for newbies and personalized coaching plans fit for hardcore racers. Each workout helps you build strength, speed and endurance, and there are motivational tools—from friendly leaderboards to weekly challenges to Spotify playlists tailored to the pace of each run—to keep you cranking toward a PR. If that’s not enough, you have the option of in-ear audio from coaches and athletes for an added oomph.
BUY NOW: FREE (IOS) BUY NOW: FREE (ANDROID)
4.For the Yoga-Curious: Asana Rebel
You know it’s good for you, but somehow you’ve still not gotten around to trying yoga. You’re either confused by all the different styles (what is the difference between Hatha, Ashtanga and Vinyasa, anyway?) or put off by the spirituality and om-ing gurus. Asana Rebel’s yoga-inspired fitness takes a different approach, combining traditional practices with exercises — like burpees, mountain climbers and LOTS of planks — straight out of HIIT class. Choose a category of yoga flow (like strength, fat burn or flexibility) to match your mood and energy level, then prepare to be worked.
($38 for 3-month training program)
BUY NOW: FREE (IOS) BUY NOW: FREE (ANDROID)
5.For Discovery: ClassPass
Group fitness popularity is skyrocketing, if for no other reason than we’ve collectively run out of ways to motivate ourselves to do the same tired old at-home routine (we’re looking at you, Shaun T). It also helps, of course, that you’re coached through a workout professionally designed for efficiency and maximum results, not to mention motivated by the group’s enthusiasm or, at the least, by a fear of looking weak and ridiculous in front of the fairer sex. But it’s still hard to commit full-time to a boutique studio, where you’ll plunk down $30 per class, sight unseen. ClassPass gives you ultimate flexibility, allowing you to sample book all sorts of classes — HIIT, barre, cycling, boxing, yoga, younameit — on the fly at studios all over your city, and at about half the normal price.
(membership starts from about $35/month, depending on where you live)
BUY NOW: FREE (IOS) BUY NOW: FREE (ANDROID)
6.For Quick-Hit Workouts: Keelo
When you’re looking to knock out a quick, effective full-body workout, HIIT is hard to beat. Keelo recommends intense, fast-paced workouts — each tweaked, based on your recent history, to hit compound muscle groups that are being ignored — that last between seven and 20 minutes. There’s a mix of bodyweight and free weight workouts, so you can stick to a three-a-week routine at home or on the road and still get results. BUY NOW: FREE (IOS) BUY NOW: FREE(ANDROID)
7.Nike Running
The app tracks your runs and highlights achievements. It also lets you compete with your friends on a leaderboard and keeps you motivated with the help of the Coach feature that you can use to train for marathons.
8.Cardiograph
Price: Rs. 120 (iOS); Free (Android)
The app saves your readings for future reference and you can also add multiple profiles of users and also add notes to every reading.
9.RunKeeper
Price: Free
Love running? Then, RunKeeper is one app that you must download and try out. The app can track all the details of your runs including your speed, distance and time. If you keep your headphones plugged in during your jog, the app will also regularly update you on your progress and provide tips on how to run better. RunKeeper also makes it easy to share your runs across social networks and lets your friends follow your runs live.
