Whether your goal is to lose a few pounds, get a lean and fit body, or dreaming to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger of solid gold muscles, then procrastinating on that workout routine is a big NO. You need to find time to sweat out those calories and burn those unwanted fats if you ever want to live a healthy and fit lifestyle.
We all know that this is easier said than done. If only Netflix and chill equals to weight loss then we would all be sexy beasts by now, given the assortment of movies and shows available on the streaming service.
Regardless, there’s no excuse not to move your butt off of the couch and take it to the exercise mat. Whether you prefer to work out outdoors, at the gym or at home, then personal trainers are there for a reason. These trainers can be your paid instructor or they could come in the form of a fitness app.
Fitness apps give you no excuse to miss a few minutes or hours of exercise. They are literally available at the palm of your hand and works any time of the day and the week.
Now, if only you know which app works best for you and your workout needs. To save you the hassle of having to go through the choices available on Android and iOS, we have listed down 15 of the best fitness apps to get you started on your fitness journey.
Nike+ Training Club
Want to work out like your favorite celebrity? Then the Nike+Training Club (NTC) is “your ultimate personal trainer.” This fitness app contains 185+ of exercise routines designed by professional athletes and celebrities, the likes of decathlete Ashton Eaton, tennis pro Serena Williams, football star Cristiano Ronaldo, and even from actor Kevin Hart.
The workouts focus on mobility, endurance, and strength and come in three levels of intensity. You have an option to choose the duration from short 15-minute exercises to hours-long workouts that really break the sweat. You can also go equipment-free if you so want.
Contrary to other fitness apps, the NTC lets you focus on the routine than on the video through audio cues. But if you prefer, you can stream videos to Google Chromecast or Apple TV.
Moreover, it synchronizes with the Nike + Run Club to keep track of your runs and allows for manual input of all your other activities. Whether you went out for a quick basketball game or to a yoga session, they all count.
The NTC is able to balance your fitness routine no matter your physical activities. This app also contains other cool features including social sharing of milestones and customized photos with the Nike+ community.
Probably the best feature is the rewards program. NTC gives its members exclusive Nike products and experiences for staying on track. And oh did I mention that the workouts are completely free?
Strava
Strava is the lord of all fitness apps for cyclists, runners, and triathletes. It packs “features for athletes, made by athletes.”
This app not only tracks the distance, speed, course traveled, and time of your run. It also incorporates leaderboards of achievements to motivate you and lists challenges or competitions to up your game. It lets you choose routes or explore segments already covered by members so you can compare statistics.
This fitness app syncs with your Android or iOS smartphone, with GPS and fitness trackers, and most running trackers not limited to Apple Watch and Android Wear, including Fitbit, Garmin, Suunto, and more. It records just about any performance metric, from heart rate to power output, so you can track and analyze data afterward.
Strava prides itself for being the social network for athletes because of its sharing feature. Users can upload as many photos and captions of their routes, workouts, and races and they can leave comments on each other’s activities. Members can choose to join a group activity or form a club to organize activities.
For a paid subscription, you get live feedback, custom coaching program, and the function called Beacon. This feature helps friends and family know your location real time so they know where to reach you in cases of emergencies.
Keelo
High-Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT workouts, are best for when you want to lose weight, develop muscles, stay fit, or increase overall endurance, mobility, and muscle strength. It incorporates cardiovascular exercises in short alternating periods and paired with short intervals of active rest.
HIIT workouts are characterized by a short but intense burst of physical activity that burns more fat in less time. These exercises are not for the faint of heart because it keeps your heart rate up, so extreme caution is required, and proper guidance is necessary to avoid health problems.
This is where the Keelo comes in. This fitness app caters those who are looking to build their strength, stamina, and endurance. It provides you with 90+ of quick and effective full body workouts that incorporate strength, cardio, and conditioning in one. These movements enhance your body’s cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and central nervous system.
The exercises usually last between seven and twenty minutes. It promises to deliver results if followed religiously per schedule and done three times a week.
The Keelo offers a complete program for beginners and experts and provides instructions from body-weight to gym equipment (dumbbells, barbell, and more) routines. It lets you tick out unavailable equipment and the workout adjusts accordingly.
This app incorporates videos to help keep instructions simple and better to understand. It also keeps track of the areas you’ve exercised, count calories burned, and it creates a comparison data of your metrics to motivate you to beat your previous score.
The Keelo is free to use for a simple HIIT workout involving jumping jacks, mountain climbers, and jump squats. But a premium subscription of $12.99 per month lets you unlock extra features including chat coaching and a personalized strength and conditioning program complete with warm up and cool down.
Aaptiv
Aaptiv provides unlimited access to 3,000 audio-based workouts with 40 new ones added weekly. You can try the app for seven days but a paid monthly membership of $9.99 gives you exclusive customized programs that cater to your fitness goal.
It allows you to choose the exercise you prefer and lets you customize workout styles according to duration, distance, and fitness level. Be it for endurance, weight loss, and strength building, this fitness app finds the best workout styles for you.
It’s like joining a fitness class but at the comfort of your home. It lets you choose from a variety of classes including indoor cycling, yoga, elliptical and treadmill sessions, HIIT classes, meditation, and even 5k and marathon training. What’s more, it makes the experience fun, lively and dynamic with custom music playlists.
Just like any fitness class, expert trainers are there to guide you along the way. Twenty-five instructors are there to give techniques and tips and provide encouragement on your progress.
The sessions can also be downloaded for later or offline use. And as with other fitness apps, the Aaptiv lets you share photos of your sweaty but happy self with other users.
Freeletics Bodyweight
If going to the gym is not your cup of tea and you prefer to workout at home or outdoors, then you had better get your hands on the Freeletics Bodyweight fitness app. As its name entails, it doesn’t require any workout equipment to burn calories or build muscles since it solely relies on your body weight.
Prepare yourself for a variety of squats, lunges, push-ups, and HIIT workouts that you can follow through video and audio guides. Premium users can unlock training plans, customized workout goals, and performance analysis.
Outside of the fitness training, Freeletics also offer nutritional guides to help you achieve your weight goal. It comes with meal plans tailored to your needs and a digital coach that provides encouragement and scientific-based recommendations.
The saying “no pain, no gain” is immortalized in the Freeletics Bodyweight fitness app. The burn is more intense than when working out using gym equipment. However, you’ll find in the end that the benefits outweigh all the physical strains.
Fitocracy
Fitocracy makes exercising fun and entertaining. This fitness app follows a reward point system to motivate users to challenge their personal scores.
It calls itself the “online game and social network” that uses game mechanics to improve fitness. Launched in 2011 in New York, it has so far garnered over 12 million subscribers.
What makes this app interesting is its “level up” scheme. The more workouts you complete, the more points you earn. When you reach the points thresholds, you can proceed to another milestone where you can unlock achievement badges and other challenges.
These challenges or quests typically consist of related activities based on the user’s workout style of choice. Some of these exercises include running and weightlifting and members log details such as distance run or weight lifted.
The Fitocracy is free if you are not looking for customized workouts. The app provides you with a selection of activities based on your fitness goal and experience level. You also get to unlock special achievements, view your progress, and join the online community.
However, a premium account of $1 a day gets you a private coach who works with you daily in assessing your needs, progress, and guides you through your fitness goal. You also get a customized nutrition plan.
Sworkit
Squeezing in a few minutes of exercise has never been easy with Sworkit. This fitness app promises to deliver results in just six weeks and in as little as 5-15 minutes of video-guided exercise.
It lets you create your own custom workouts from over 300 exercises that target specific areas of the body. You have an option to choose the workout type, duration, intensity, and even the quietness of the exercises to avoid disturbance.
You have a choice among yoga, stretching, abs exercises, full body workouts, quick exercises, and more. The app even offers a workout that takes as little as one minute, literally.
A paid membership lets you speak with a real personal trainer for 24/7 assistance, view workout history, and save custom workouts. However, if you don’t want to be bothered with a DIY workout plan, then you can have the trainers create a personalized workout program that suits your fitness goal.
Sworkit even has a workout plan for the youth as part of its goal to lessen the number of obesity cases in the U.S. by 50 percent by 2026. There are exercises available for elementary, middle, and high school students.
Teachers with K-12 students have free access to the paid subscription. These means they have unlimited access to the app’s intensive library of exercises that they can use to promote healthy living.
Classpass
If you’re the type who prefers group workouts and live guides, then the Classpass makes it easy to book fitness classes. This mobile fitness app finds the best class according to your fitness goal near your area.
It offers you options and the flexibility to fit a class in your schedule, so there’s no excuse to miss out on a few exercises especially for those with hectic schedules. You can pick from a variety of activities from Pilates, yoga, strength training, boxing, martial arts, indoor cycling, and barre.
The Classpass provides you with a list of gyms and fitness studios where you can join a group workout. It provides reviews so you’d know where to go and gives recommendations in case you’re unsure which establishment to try.
Meanwhile, the social networking feature lets you invite friends to work out. You get rewarded in the process which makes the thought and effort meaningful.
A premium account with Classpass lets you stream interactive workouts live or on-demand. You also have free access to health clubs. However, prices vary depending on the location so best to check the membership rates to be informed.
ASICS Studio
From the same division that brought the Runkeeper comes the ASICS Studio, a mobile fitness app that gives users on-demand audio and trainer-led circuit workouts for outdoor running, stretching, yoga, strength training, elliptical, spinning, and more.
This app offers workouts that target specific areas of the body including the muscle groups, back and butt, core or abs, upper body, and more. It aims to replicate exercises at boutique fitness classes so expert trainers have curated all the workouts. Likewise, as with any workout class, a music playlist that complements the tone and energy accompanies the activity.
Outside of the audio guides, users can also access video and photo exercise tutorials for easy understanding and better execution. Audio and timer prompts are also available.
The ad-free app comes with a 14-day free trial, after which you’ll have to subscribe to enjoy all the perks of a trainer-guided fitness journey. The ASICS Studio vouches on the expertise of its Boston and LA-based teams to provide members with the best guidance and motivation in their fitness goal, be it for weight loss or muscle building.
A paid subscription varies depending on the country and auto-renewal is available for either monthly or yearly.
MyFitnessPal
Exercise isn’t the only thing important if you want to lose weight. Having healthy eating habits are also necessary and this is where the MyFitnessPal comes handy.
This fitness app keeps track of your calorie and nutrient intake based on its vast database of over six million foods (and growing). It’s as easy as using a barcode scanner to breakdown and count the ingredient content of the food. It counts fat, carbs, protein, cholesterol, sodium content, and more depending on your fitness and health goal.
Probably the best feature with the MyFitnesPal is its meal customization. You can input personal recipes, keeping in mind the nutritional content of the ingredients.
However, you can also try some of the nutritionist-approved meals or recipes from the app’s affiliated blog. There you can see recipes for a quick low-calorie breakfast meal and more. You also have an option to try meal plans for specific diets including the South Beach Diet, the Zone, Atkins, and more.
The app also keeps track of the calories you burned through any activity, be it by exercise or housework. You need to input details such as weight and duration to be able to get an estimate. This app contains an intensive list of exercises and activities you can choose from including crunches, cycling, aerobics, boxing, cycling, judo, kayaking, and more.
The MyFitnessPal is compatible with over 50 apps so you can further keep track of your weight loss and fitness journey. These include Garmin, Samsung Health, Apple Healthkit, Fitbit, and more.
Trifecta
Take your exercise anywhere be it at the gym, at the park, or anywhere in the great outdoors. The Trifecta is your on-the-go fitness app with its all-in-one fitness, nutrition, and tracking features.
It calls itself a “powerful content engine” that keeps a record of all your daily fitness information: from workout routines, nutritional intakes, and even your personal records. It’s a functional mobile fitness trainer that specializes in the workouts and diets of CrossFitters, so you can be sure to find beneficial uses not found in any other app.
It helps keep track of your daily calorie intake and adds weekly and monthly consumption. You can also log in water intake and customize meals. Just like the MyFitnessPal, easily scan barcodes and the app picks up nutritional details from its large database of over six million food items.
Trifecta also offers over a thousand video-guided workouts programmed by a celebrity trainer. Be it for cardio or strength training and more, the app has it. Moreover, charts and graphs make tracking your progress engaging and colorful.
Workout Trainer by Skimble
Skimble’s Workout Trainer is a mobile fitness coach that offers thousands of free workouts curated by fitness experts. It provides timed step-by-step audio, video, and photo tutorials that makes you feel like you have a live personal trainer.
The exercises cater to all levels. Whether you are a beginner learning a new move or an advanced or experienced athlete looking to keep fit and healthy, then this app delivers.
The Workout Trainer works with a heart rate monitor like Wear Smartwatch, Bluetooth LE, Apple Healthkit, S Health, and more, so you can track heart rate and analyze graphs and data afterward. You can also project workout videos to the big screen with your Apple TV and more.
The workouts are free but an in-app subscription gives you personalized online training with one of the coaches. With a premium account, you get customized programs specific to your fitness goal.
8fit
Similar to the Trifecta, the 8fit workout app does more than provide a diverse of free workout activities and healthy meals. It goes more into detail about your workout preferences.
It asks the number of exercises you’d like to do weekly, your fitness goals, how many times you’d like to eat in a day, how you want your food prepared, and if you want nutritional variety in your meals.
The exercises are rooted in High-Intensity Interval Training and are customized according to your fitness level. The list includes all the workouts you can imagine, from cycling, running, martial arts, and even any sexual activity.
As for the meals, nutritionists carefully plan what food you eat and makes sure it packs all the needed macros: carbs, fats, and proteins. The app even gives you a shopping list based on the recipe that you want to prepare, which saves you the trouble of forgetting ingredients.
Moreover, the 8fit offers a tracking system where you can monitor your workouts, overall progress, and milestones. It records activities and meals outside of your personalized plan and gives challenges and tips for daily motivation.
Sleep Time - Cycle Alarm Timer
Sleep is important for many reasons but when it comes to exercise, it’s a must for recovery. Most fitness trackers these days have a sleep monitor feature, which is handy for everyone, gym buffs or not.
However, you can also rely on the Sleep Time app. It uses an accurate algorithm to track your sleeping habits. It monitors your movements during sleep and provides an alarm that wakes you at the proper time.
The alarm calculates when you need to wake up or sleep depending on a specific time. It makes sure to wake you up when you have had a fitful sleep so you wake up feeling rejuvenated. This app also includes a sleep notification, so you don’t miss out on those Zzz’s.
Fitness Buddy
Fitness Buddy is a general fitness tracking app that offers workouts and meals that suit your fitness goal. It provides over one thousand target-specific exercises that are curated by fitness experts.
Whether you are building muscles, want to lose weight, or simply looking to achieve a lean and fit physique, then this app does all. It provides step-by-step photo and video instructions and exercises for all gym equipment.
The exercises are also tailored according to body stats and intensity level. Moreover, it provides delicious meal plans and recipes that cater to specific diets like Keto, Paleo, and more.
The Fitness Buddy has other features including calorie and heart rate tracker, bodyweight and metrics tracker, and a comprehensive workout history and insight.
