A Comprehensive List of the Best Health and Fitness Apps
If you have ever tried to find a new fitness/health app to get back into shape, or just to change up your workouts, you know the deal. You’re met with about a million different apps, each promising to be the one solution to everything you need. Half an hour passes by and you still somehow have not found what you were looking for.
To save you some time, I took it upon myself to test as many apps as I possible could. The following apps are the ones that I thought really stood out and held up to their claims.
Best Fitness Apps
Couch to 5K
This is a great app for people who do not have a running background but want to get into the sport. This app offers a free eight-week program that gives users three workouts per week. This app will get you ready for your local Turkey Trot next year. (Free; iOS and Android)
Blogilates
Cassey Ho is a YouTube sensation who launched her own app. Downloading the Blogilates app gives you access to all of her videos, an online forum, and a monthly workout calendar. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
Zombies, Run!
If you complain that running is too boring — this app doesn’t give you that excuse anymore. This app creates audio quests for you to complete while you run. Even I found running to be more fun when you are carrying our missions, collecting materials, and saving the world from zombies. It’s a surprisingly immersive experience. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
Fitnet
This is a workout app for busy people. It offers a series of five- or seven-minute workouts that are very targeted to a particular muscle group. The app also has a unique form-checking feature that uses your camera to check how closely you are following the exercises on the screen. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
Sworkit
Put in the type of workout you’re looking for (strength, cardio, yoga, or stretching) and the amount of time you have (anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour). The app then creates a workout generated to make you work hard. I personally use Sworkit for stretching everyday. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
StrongLifts 5x5
This is a simple and clean way to track lifts, number of reps, and rest time at the gym. When you set up the app, you put in your current max weights and it will automatically generate an 8-week plan that will make you stronger and bigger.(Free with optional in-app purchases; iOSand Android)
Strava Running and Cycling
If you’re a serious runner or cyclist, you have probably heard of Strava. It gives you one place to keep track of your most recent runs and rides. The app can track distance, speed, elevation, calories burned, heard rate, power, and even cadence. It has great visualizations to synthesize all of this information into a few clean views.(Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
Spotify Running
Part of the Spotify app, Spotify measures your pace while you run and picks a song with the beats per minute to match your speed. It’s an interesting concept and adds something new to your run. (Free; iOS and Android)
Daily Yoga
I hate yoga, but this app allowed me to find some enjoyment in it. Downloading this app gives you access to more than 50 classes shot in HD. Each sequence has a specific focus, from increasing flexibility to strengthening your core. There’s also a library with more than 500 poses. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
Nike+ Training Club
Coming from Nike, you can correctly assume that this app is well-built. It has workouts designed by professional trainers and athletes, customizable fitness programs, and sharing capabilities (to showoff to your friends). (Free; iOS and Android)
Freeletics
Looking for insane bodyweight workouts? Freeletics has a ton that last anywhere from five minutes to half an hour. The workouts you will find in this app are the toughest I have ever seen coming out of an app. Enjoy! (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
Food and Nutrition
Fooducate
Fooducate makes grocery shopping fun (yeah, you read that correctly). Open the app, scan bar codes, and get information on how healthy each item is. The app also tracks sleep, mood, and hunger. Fooducate uses all of the data it collects to give you tips on how to meet your health and fitness goals. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
ShopWell
There’s no shortage of calorie-counters on the app store. However, I think that ShopWell is one of the better ones. This app is all about personalization. Enter your height, weight, age, allergies, etc. It then generates a score out of 100 for how healthy certain foods are for you. (Free; iOS and Android)
Thrive Market
This is one of the easiest ways to buy healthy foods for cheap. Think Costco but for natural and organic products. With Thrive Market, you pay a yearly fee of $59.95 which gets you access to deals on almost any healthy food you could imagine. Fill up your cart in the app and hit deliver — Thrive then sends your order right to your door. (Free; iOS)
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal has a database of 6 million foods which makes it one of the easiest apps to use when tracking your diet. MyFitnessPal also offers suggestions on what to eat based on your goals. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
Lifesum
Lifesum allows you to pick a goal (lost weight, bulk up, etc) and then sends you reminders (drink more water), feedback to improve your diet, and a way to see your progress. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
Noom Coach
In some cases, less information is more and that’s the approach that Noom has taken. Instead of helping you track your macro-s, Noom uses two colors, green and red to label good and bad foods. With a lot of social features, this app allows you to join other users and meet your health goals together. (Free with optional in-app purchases; iOS and Android)
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