With so many fitness apps from which to choose, here’s a list of the top 10 that could help up your game and reach those fitness goals!
Fitness apps are the perfect fit
From blogs to YouTube videos, increasingly we are seeing fitness enthusiasts sharing their workout tips and plans online. Another growing lifestyle trend is the use of smart technology in the form of health and fitness apps.
“From healthy shopping and cooking apps, sleep pattern management and vitals monitoring, to fitness and exercise information forums and apps, there is an abundance of high quality, affordable tools now available to the average person, to assist in leading a healthier balanced lifestyle,” says Gareth Powell, National Marketing Coordinator at Ultimate Sports Nutrition (USN).
Gone are the days of slow and unreliable technology! “The more rapidly that software and technology innovation advances, as does the intuitiveness, practical integration and overall potential for the real and positive impact of these applications on health and fitness,” says Powell.
How to choose the right fitness app
With an influx of health and fitness apps in marketplace, choosing the correct app may seem overwhelming. To help you decide, Powell recommends the following 10 fitness apps to help you reach your health and fitness goals:
- Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal: deemed the world’s most popular health and fitness app, Calorie Counter makes it easier to keep track of your calorie intake – keeping that extra weight off. When downloaded, a personalised diet and exercise programme is created for you – providing insights to healthier alternatives. Calorie Counter hosts a database of over five million foods.
- Runtastic – a personal tracking app is for not only running, but also biking and other sport activities – it utilises GPS to map routes in real-time as well as monitor your exercise progress.
- Endomondo – this app makes your fitness routine fun by serving as a personal trainer and partner. Your routes are tracked and performances analysed. It also allows you to share real time audio pep talks from friends and has an audio coach to motivate you when need be.
- BodySpace – Social Fitness App: this app provides a personal trainer platform and connects you with one of the world’s largest online fitness communities, where connections can comment on, like and share results and fitness activities. You can pick a training programme that suits you and your current fitness goals. You can also shop for accessories and products via the app’s online store.
- Move Tracker – a configurable main screen provides GPS based training that tracks speed, distance, time, pulse, pace and altitude. Although simple, many commend this app for great and easy usability.
- Daily Ab Workout – this app provides you with two different five to ten minute ab-sculpting workouts, complemented with videos showing how each exercise is done. On screen instructions are also provided.
- Withings Health Mate – tapping into the more ‘wellness’ side of health and fitness, Health Mate provides aid to anyone wanting to monitor their weight, blood pressure, exercise progress and sleeping patterns.
- S health – hosted on Samsung smart phones, this app allows you to manage your fitness goals and keep track of your overall health.
- Garmin Fit – available in a variety of languages, Garmin Fit automatically uploads your fitness stats for you to view whenever need be to check your progress. Information on current speed and calories burned is also provided.
- My Diet Couch – with the aim of keeping you motivated and on track, My Diet Couch assists you in resisting food cravings, as well as avoid skipping a day at the gym by providing motivational arguments, guidelines and virtual rewards for achievements.
“Health and fitness goals have certainly been brought closer and made more attainable through the use of apps,” says Powell. “While adapting to a healthy balanced lifestyle requires commitment and discipline, utilising these smart tools will make it easier and more fun to achieve your end goal,” he concludes.