I put a call out on my Facebook community group (join us!) for members to share their favorite fitness apps. I received some great feedback and wanted to share the suggestions in a round-up style post. I know many of you love and regularly use fitness apps so I hope that this is a helpful resource for you!
AAPTIV
READER RECOMMENDATION: “Aaptiv!! The coached running is amazing! Makes treadmill running fly by (or at least really tolerable) and I’m running faster paces for longer distances than I’d have ever even tried on my own.” – Betsey W.
OVERVIEW: Apptiv is an audio-based fitness app that offers workouts and programs guided by certified trainers. There are thousands of workouts to choose from that include indoor and outdoor running, cycling, strength training, yoga, elliptical and more.
COOL FEATURE: Aaptiv offers programs like prenatal fitness and training for specific race distances like 5K and half marathon.
COST: $14.99/month or bill annually and get a lower rate. 30-day free trial.
STRAVA
READER RECOMMENDATION: “Strava has been great for motivation and accountability. I don’t want to give up on my workout because then I’ll have to tell all my fitness friends that I did.” – Jenny C.
OVERVIEW: Strava tracks workout performance and stats and gives you insights into the data. It’s a social network for runners and cyclists. When you record an activity, it goes to your Strava feed. Friends can follow along, share their own activities and comment on each other’s workouts.
COOL FEATURE: Turn on Beacon and your location will be shared in real-time with the person of your choice. What a great safety feature!!!
COST: The base level is free. Strava also offers “packs” where you can get Training, Safety and Analysis. Each is $2 or $5 for all three.
BEACHBODY ON DEMAND
READER RECOMMENDATION: “I use Beachbody on Demand 5x/week. I’ve done all kinds of workouts from the app but I love being able to workout at home and still lift weights! My favorite programs are Autumn Calabrese’s. Currently doing 80 Day Obsession, but replacing the cardio days with runs.” – Ann D.
OVERVIEW: Beachbody on Demand offers access to hundreds of workouts like bodybuidling, yoga and HIIT that are led by trainers like Autumn Calabrese, Tony Horton and Shaun T. Workouts range in length from 10 to 90 minutes.
COOL FEATURE: I have two to share! First, you can AirPlay to an Apple TV or Cast to a Chromecast device to stream the workout videos on your TV. Second, they offer an Apple Watch app that allows you to see your calorie burn and heartrate on screen so that you can adjust your effort to match your workout goals!
COST: 3-months for $39, 6-months for $59 and 12-months for $99
GYMBOSS TIMER
READER RECOMMENDATION: “Great for tabata or any timing needs! There are pre-sets but you can customize and save multiple timer combinations too.” – Shannon K
OVERVIEW: This app is a programmable interval timer. It’s great for running, HIIT, tabata, CrossFit, etc workout where you need to time intervals.
COOL FEATURE: GymBoss actually makes a physical timing device that is small and easy to take along to the gym or on runs. I have cracked my phone screen before while using a tabata timer so if you don’t want to carry your phone onto the gym floor, this is a great option!
COST: FREE
CLASS PASS GO
READER RECOMMENDATION: “I just started using ClassPass Go! It’s a free app with a bunch of free workout audio files (also has free music) for spinning, running, yoga, meditation.” – Haley W.
OVERVIEW: ClassPass Go is another audio workout app that offers classes taught by top trainers. They offer running, cycling, yoga, strength and more. The best part? It’s FREE and they add 150 new workouts each month.
COOL FEATURE: There is a visual exercise library for those needing a demonstration of how to do specific exercises.
COST: FREE
NIKE TRAINING CLUB
READER RECOMMENDATION: “The Nike Training Club App is pretty great!”- Adrianna H.
OVERVIEW: This app offers over 180 workouts that include audio and visual guidance. Nike Training Club also offers personal plans that guide you towards your goals. It also offers Apple Watch functionality where you can advance to the next drill, pause the workout, skip things, monitor your heart rate, etc.
COOL FEATURE: The app becomes more personalized to your needs with frequent use. If you miss a day it will get you back on track and when you hit a peak or goal it will up the intensity for you!
COST: FREE
YOUR TURN
I’d love to do a part two of this post. Please share any fitness apps that you use and love and tell us why!
Just to add, the base level of Strava is free, and is so handy for keeping a training calendar (mainly for running for me, but it has lots of other sports profiles too and syncs with Garmin/Suunto/Polar watches). My running club has a “group” where we can see and support each other’s training, and I also love that I can use it to keep count of the mileage on each pair of my running shoes.
I was going to mention the same thing about Strava being free for the basics. I use it regularly and if I hadn’t, this would’ve been a little misleading 🙂 otherwise great highlights, thanks Jenn!
I updated the post. Thanks for the correction ladies!
I’d add BodySpace — I had some friends show me around the weight room one day, and then used this app after that to get into weight lifting. It’s great when you are new to lifting, since each exercise has pictures, a written description, and a video to watch for the exercise. It allows you to track your weight and reps and when you do the activity again, it will show you what you did before. It helped me get much more comfortable with lifting weights!
Alomoves! It’s how I survive after leaving the Charlotte yoga community ❤️
This is a great post! I can’t wait to see what else is out there I don’t know about. I use Tone It Up, Lekfit and Peloton apps.
Tone It Up was created by two trainers in LA who have a nutrition plan as well (purchased separately). Workouts are preset for the week to give you a full body workout. The app has an on demand feature and daily moves. You can also chat with other girls before/after class in the app. Although they have grown their company tremendously in the past few years and it’s different than when I first joined, there is an obscene support group that comes from being part of the community you can easily connect to by using IG #tiuteam or #tiu(your city). It’s amazing to see so many women lifting each other up! I purchased a 1 year subscription for $60 during a promotion.
Lekfit uses VHX to stream workouts. It’s cardio/sculpt fitness on a rebounder. Lauren is a trained dancer who worked under Tracy Anderson. Her classes are a fusion of dance and sculpt. Set in the garage in her LA house, her classes leave me wiped out and feeling like I can conquer the world at the same time. $19.99 a month but SO worth it. Busy Phillips is a huge fan. Lauren also connects with her followers by hosting an IG chat weekly where you can ask anything!
I use the Peloton app as a hack. I can’t justify the price of the bike, but I purchased a sweet Cycle Ops Club Pro bike from Play it Again Sports last year for $200. The app is $12.99 a month. I love they offer such a variety of music and timed classes on demand and live. They’ve also added treadmill, yoga, hitt and more recently.
I don’t belong to a gym because I don’t live near a decent one, but purchased a 55″ tv for the garage (so first world I know) and use AirPlay for all apps.
I would add Studio Sweat. They have great spin classes to do at home that make you feel like you are in the studio. They also have a variety of other classes, like TRX, HIIT, weight training, etc. You can stream the workouts (they’re anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour) and download some of them to use when you are offline. I joined for the year and got a great rate.
I love using the jillian michaels app! It was especially helpful when I was 6 months post partum and I felt like I would never get back to my pre pregnancy fitness level 🙁 but once I tried a few of her programs (great mixes of cardio and strength) it really really helped! I also really enjoy some of her recipes!
Have a great weekend!
PS I also love strava for runs and Garmin Connect to see more info from my watch.
I am loving Victorious! Live group classes where the instructor can see when you are logged in and they actually acknowledge you. Basically takes group fitness right to your living room.