The home fitness app market has transformed from a niche solution to mainstream necessity, accelerated by pandemic-driven changes and sustained by consumer preference for flexibility. Recent data shows that 74% of Americans use at least one fitness app, while 60% have completely replaced gym memberships with app-based workouts. Even more striking, 80% of users now prefer home workouts over gym sessions, indicating a permanent shift in fitness behavior. Used thoughtfully, a food tracking app can support weight loss, but it’s most effective when paired with personalized, expert guidance. “Food tracking apps are a tool for consumers that can help them meet a variety of health, nutrition, and body composition goals,” explains California-based registered dietitian Yasi Ansari, M.S., R.D.N., C.S.S.D.
Related Workouts
MapMyRide allows users to create, find, and track rides and routes for more than 600 different types of activities. However, it lacks the depth of other apps like Strava, but it’s still plenty for the casual user. MapMyRide is part of the Under Armour fitness ecosystem, which has seen a number of improvements in recent years.
She notes there is a supportive online community, challenges you can join, and the ability to add your workout program to your calendar. When you use the calendar option, your workouts come up as appointments with calendar reminders, which is ideal for anyone establishing a routine. The Aaptiv fitness app is a great pick for women (or anyone, really) because it offers a variety of quality workouts, multiple methods of accountability, and a reasonable monthly subscription fee of $14.99. The level of personalization, modification, versatility, and accountability you get for the price is, quite frankly, insane.
You can use any bike in your own home or at the gym and follow along with the famous cycling workouts. Push notifications keep you on track, multiple viewing options give you different perspectives, and new updates allow you to export your monthly diary as a PDF, so sharing your progress is a breeze. Prices will vary and it will depend on what other equipment is necessary to get the full subscription experience. Second, just like the fitness DVDs and VHS tapes of yore, you can work out wherever and whenever you want.
Factors to consider when choosing a workout app
If you’re looking for a free workout app that’s focused on strength training, Boostcamp is your best option. Gymverse also offers really great wearable connectivity; when I tested it with my Apple Watch, I could start, track, and end workouts on my watch rather than needing to open the app on my phone. And if that’s not enough, Gymverse offers calorie tracking when paired with a wearable, which is a nice addition and helps you get a better view of your overall fitness.
Social Workout Apps to Exercise With Friends and Meet Fitness Goals Together
You’ve probably heard of Centr because it’s a workout program created by actor Chris Hemsworth. The app has various experts and coaches on staff who teach strength, HIIT, cardio, Pilates, meditation classes and more. You’ll also receive wellness advice and recipes to support your fitness journey.
Best Budget Fitness Tracker Under $100: FitBit Inspire 3
With hundreds of fitness apps and online programs available, finding the right one can feel like a workout in itself. Some focus on yoga and recovery, others on AI-powered strength programming or personal coaching. The app also offers detailed progress tracking, including personal records and visual graphs, helping users stay consistent and measure improvements over time. Hevy supports a wide range of exercises and allows customization, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced lifters.
- It’s ultimately based on a study by the Lebanese American University, among others, that suggests seven minutes of exercise per day is all we need to change our body composition.
- You can connect your Zwift account and indoor bike to Strava as well, so indoor rides populate the app as well.
- This article explores workout and fitness apps in further detail, including how they can help and how to choose one.
- For everything else, the Google Play Store offers an extensive library of apps and watch faces.
- The app gamifies your workouts, pitting you against yourself, your friends, and fellow Zwift users in races, group rides, and targeted workouts.
- IFit also has an app with cross-training options, such as yoga, and you can also use the app on your TV.
How we test the best workout apps
This prevents you from losing track during your workout and mentally prepares you for the next exercise. The app also connects to your Apple Watch to provide health metrics such as your heart rate and logs your activities. The app allows you to stream classes in 10 different categories (cycling, running, bootcamp, outdoor, strength, and more) anywhere, with live studio classes uploaded daily to an extant library of over 10,000. We especially love attending the live classes, because you get the actual push from those around you and from Peloton’s lineup of fitness-celebrity trainers. Others help you to track your activity and diet, giving you new insight to your nutrition.
What do I need to consider before I get started with a fitness program?
Workout apps come with various pricing options, from free versions with basic features to premium subscriptions strength training for busy people or one-time purchases. Assess your budget and compare the value offered by each app, such as workout variety, coaching options, and additional perks like meal planning or community access. Every app we’ve tested offers a free trial, which you can use to help you decide before committing.
Personalization
I am a VR enthusiast and I’ve experienced working in a virtual reality company as a Virtual Reality Programmer. Nowadays, my focus is to share my knowledge and experience on VR to others especially to the newbies. This app will let you step into a virtual studio and feel like you’re right there with the instructor, experiencing Pilates in a whole new way. Pricing is typically around £8 to £12 per month or in the region of £99.99 for the year, depending on whether you apply any promotions. However, the partnership didn’t last and the workouts were removed from Netflix in March 2024, according to What’s on Netflix.
Cons of using workout apps
The only thing you’ll be missing is some of the Pro plans, as well as advanced training stats and analytics. As a general fitness tracker, the metrics aren’t super comprehensive; it tracks PRs/PBs and workout length. PUSH isn’t your best choice if you want to track more cardio fitness-type metrics like HR, or if consistent strength training just isn’t a priority for you.
What is the best fitness app for home workouts?
Sessions run from just 7 minutes up to 30, which makes it easy to fit a session in regardless of how busy the day gets. I found the shorter sessions surprisingly effective, and the variety meant I rarely felt like I was doing the same thing twice. Beyond the famous skills, the app includes comprehensive strength programs, mobility work, and conditioning routines. This holistic approach ensures balanced development rather than focusing solely on impressive party tricks. The app’s intuitive design makes logging workouts simple and effective, with gamification elements that keep motivation high.
It features a gorgeous layout and interface, intuitive plan building, and great workout tracking. From more advanced sleep tracking to workouts and mindfulness exercises, Fitbit Premium offers a little of everything. Its killer feature, however, is the Daily Readiness Score which helps pool all of your data into a single figure that shows just how fatigued you are, and whether you need to take a rest or not. Loaded metrics, long battery life, and outdoor tools are at the forefront. Apple runs smoothly with your phone, calls, music, and everything that fills the hours outside workouts, while still providing solid fitness tracking—but in general, Apple is more lifestyle-focused. ARE YOU TEAM Garmin or Team Apple Watch—it’s a question many fitness fiends have asked over the years.