The 22 Best Health and Fitness Apps of the Year
(Photo by Getty Images)
Pricey personal trainers and detailed, handwritten training logs are all but a remnant of the past, now that anyone with a mobile device and a little motivation can track personal records, review detailed stats, and find customized workout videos and training plans at their fingertips. Here’s our list of our favorite new and updated apps, as well as those that simply continue to stand up to the test of time.
By Yael Grauer
Photo Courtesy of MyFitnessPal.com
RunKeeper
Why it’s great: This puppy uses your phone’s GPS to help you track the pace, workout distance, time, cadence, and elevation of your bikes, hikes, and runs — and it’s got built-in training plans to boot. [free; runkeeper.com]
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Nike + Running
Why it’s great: In addition to tracking your route, distance, pace, time, and calories burned, Nike + Running has all sorts of daily workouts and coaching programs, lets you share photos and progress with friends, and gives you audio coaching and feedback — as well as cheers from your friends — while you run.
[free; nike.com]
Couch-to-5K
Why it’s great: Most people who train for a 5K without much previous running experience do too much, too fast. This app uses an interactive coach to get you active while helping you avoid injuries with a reasonable schedule: three half-hour workouts a week for nine weeks.
[$2; active.com]
Photo Courtesy of CharityMiles.org
Charity Miles
Why it’s great: This app helps you change the world while you exercise: You’ll earn 25 cents a mile while walking or running (or 10 cents while cycling) for your choice of 31 charities — including Feeding America, the World Wildlife Fund, the ASPCA, Habitat for Humanity, and the Wounded Warrior Project. [free; charitymiles.org]
Strava Cycling
Why it’s great: It lets you track your bike rides’ maps and stats, challenge other cyclists to more challenging rides, set personal records, and track your progress. [free; strava.com]
Cyclemeter
Why it’s great: If you want to geek out on your cycling stats, this is the app to do it, because it’s incredibly easy to analyze your ride time, distance, speed, calories, elevation, and more. The elite version ($6) also includes activation via an earphone remote, and numerous additional features. [free for iOS; abvio.com/cyclemeter]
Moves
Why it’s great: Moves tracks your daily exercise and calculates your walks, runs, and bike rides — distance traveled, steps taken — in a visually appealing way. Plus, you don’t even need to do anything. And on the iPhone, it logs calories burned. [free; moves-app.com]
MyFitnessPal
Why it’s great: Not only does MyFitnessPal make it easy for you to log your daily meals and snacks, it also tracks your calories and nutrient information — including fat, protein, carbs, sugar, fiber, and more — and lets you see your weekly and monthly progress. [free; myfitnesspal.com]
Photo Courtesy of LoseIt.com
Lose It!
Why it’s great: This calorie-tracking app makes it easy to scan barcodes or enter food items from a vast database. Lose It! lets you know whether you’re within your calorie budget for the week, based on your goals. [free; loseit.com]
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CARROT Fit
Why it’s great: Tired of overly peppy and oh-so-enthusiastic fitness apps that remind you of that annoying aerobics instructor you wanted to punch? CARROT Fit’s bodyweight workouts are coupled with a delightful dose of criticism, instead — with snark that is both motivational and hilarious. [$3 for iOS; meetcarrot.com/fit]
Fitocracy
Why it’s great: This app gamifies your workout, so you can earn more points and reach new levels by working hard in the gym. And its social component lets you keep up with your buddies.
[free; fitocracy.com]
The Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout
Why it’s great: This app provides a wide variety of fun, challenging, body-weight HIIT workouts tailored to your fitness level, which are great for when you’re traveling or can’t make it to the gym. (Despite the name, 21- and 24-minute workouts are also included.) [free; 7minuteworkout.jnj.com]
Endomondo
Why it’s great: It lets you select from over 50 activities, set distance or heart rate targets, and receive real-time audio feedback. [free; endomondo.com]
Photo Courtesy of GainFitness.com
GAIN Fitness Cross Trainer
Why it’s great: This app offers hundreds of exercises tailored to your goals, complete with motion images and voice commands based on your available equipment, fitness level, schedule, and goals. It also offers progress tracking. (Training packs are available for an additional fee.)
[free for iOS; gainfitness.com]
DailyBurn
Why it’s great: You get to select among multiple 20-, 40-, or 60-minute trainer-led video workout options that are tailored to your age, fitness level, and goals. [free; tracker.dailyburn.com/apps]
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FitStar
Why it’s great: You can watch workout videos from Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, and it customizes your sessions based on ratings of activities from its fitness test. [free for iOS; fitstar.com]
Tabata Timer
Why it’s great: It takes the pain out of trying to set up a timer for your brutal four-minute Tabata workouts.
[free; tabatatimer.com]
QuickStart Fitness
Why it’s great: All you need to do is type in how much time you have, what equipment you have on hand, and how much of a challenge you’re looking for, and QuickStart Fitness takes care of the rest. It’s a great app for quick workouts on the road. [$5; virtualtrainerapps.com]
myWOD
Why it’s great: If you’re big on CrossFit, this app helps you pull workouts from the main CrossFit site or your favorite box, track and share your workouts (WODs), and log your records. [$2 for iOS; dreamworkshopapps.com/mywod]
Photo Courtesy of Fitbit.com
Fitbit
Why it’s great: If you don’t want to splurge for a “real” Fitbit, this app will let you track the basics anyway: steps taken, miles walked, calories eaten, calories burned, and even how much water you’ve had. [free; fitbit.com]
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Argus
Why it’s great: If you have too many apps and devices and want one place to make sense of all of the information you’re collecting, Argus can help: Your sleep, weight, food, hydration, calories, workouts, and heart rate can all sync into one place or be entered manually. Plus, it’s easy to see trends and interact with your data.
[free for iOS; azumio.com/argus]
Sleep Cycle
Why it’s great: Sleep Cycle uses your phone’s built-in accelerometer to monitor your sleep patterns, and it signals for your body to wake up when you’re in your lightest sleep — up to 30 minutes before your alarm time. It also provides useful stats on sleep quality and your time in bed. [$1; sleepcycle.com]
