Future
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With a multitude of fitness apps on the market, finding one that meets your exact needs can be tough. For some, an app that showcases a few exercise moves and records calories burned is enough. Others might want full access to a whole suite of metrics including resting and active heart rates, elevation gain and distance covered to name a few. Or, you might be looking for a highly customizable app or one that grants you access to chat with certified personal trainers and coaches when needed.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the Apple Watch or other fitness trackers like Suunto, Garmin and Fitbit, most fitness apps have the ability to sync up with devices to make data tracking as easy as putting on your device and powering it up. Plus, almost every fitness app is designed to meet you at your current fitness level, whether you’ve been doing the sporadic home workout here and there or have been training at the gym for years. Making your way through tons of reviews to find pros and cons for each fitness app can be overwhelming, which is why we’ve taken all of the hard work out of the search process. From apps that offer live classes, to individualized training and education on things like nutrition, these are the best fitness apps of the year.
Our Picks for the Best Fitness Apps:
Future
If you’re looking for an intuitive and completely personalized fitness app, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything better than Future. Future pairs you with a certified trainer who coaches you through the personalized workout plans they create specifically for you. You get to choose your coach from a number of experts who have different areas of focus so you’re highly likely to match with someone who can help you achieve all of your fitness goals. Plus, if you’d like to try working with someone else, Future lets you swap trainers easily at no extra cost.
Future, ($149/month, future.co)
Customization
Every week, Future users will receive a custom workout plan geared toward targeting specific areas and goals that have previously been discussed with their trainer. Your coach will check in on our progress and offer advice on how to improve your form and optimize each workout.
Read our full Future fitness app review here!
What Else to Consider
With Future, you have unlimited access to your trainer. Whether you need a little extra support and motivation or want advice on how to tweak a move or entire workout, the Future app is designed to put your needs first. It’s worth noting that as of publish time, Future is only compatible with Apple devices.
Cost
As of publish time, Future is offering your first month for 50% off plus a full refund if you decide to cancel. After this promotion, a Future subscription costs $149/month.
Best Budget Fitness App: Nike Training Club
Nike
Think of Nike Training Club as the ultimate training partner. This free app provides you with hundreds of high-energy, fun workout videos that you can follow along with. It also offers fitness and wellness guidance in the form of a dedicated “expert tips” tab so that while you learn new exercises and increase your strength, you also learn how certain workouts are designed to target specific muscles for better stamina, endurance and overall performance. To top it all off, Nike Training Club also offers multi-week training programs that include workouts and nutrition tips to help you build healthy habits—even when you’re asleep.
Customization
Nike Training Club doesn’t offer much in the way of customization. But you can pick and choose which classes you like best, which provides you with tools and building blocks to help you learn and establish exercise and nutrition routines for a healthier lifestyle.
What Else to Consider
Compatible with both Android and iOS, the Nike Training Club app receives high marks for how easy it is to use and because it’s a good fit for novices and advanced athletes. Nike Training Club is a great starter fitness app to test out because of its robust offerings and the fact that it’s completely free.
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Cost
Nike Training Club is free.
Best Fitness App for Cardio: Strava
Strava
Beloved by runners and cyclists alike, Strava offers a fun interface for tracking your workouts in real time—and seeing how you stack up against your fellow athletes. In addition to logging your runs and rides, Strava also offers the option to track different activities including swims, weight training, using a stair stepper and yoga. Strava lets users see all of their training progress in one place in addition to analyzing the performance metrics imported from devices, such as smart watches that track things like your heart rate.
Customization
Strava offers customized workouts that get delivered daily right to your inbox. These custom training plans are only available with a paid subscription and include plans for both runners and cyclists. Among the options offered for runners are 5K, half- and full marathon plans and 90-second sprint and 30-minute climb for cyclists.
What Else to Consider
If you have a competitive streak in you, you’ll love that you can compete with other users on Strava segments and earn the top spot on Strava leaderboards. You can also automatically match runs and rides you’ve completed along the same routes to see your improvement over time.
Cost
A basic Strava subscription is free; Strava Premium is $60/year.
Best Fitness App for Weightlifting: Jefit
Jefit
With Jefit, you can train and seamlessly log each workout whether you get your sweat on in the gym or at home. Users track workout time and the amount of weight they’re lifting in addition to setting target muscle groups and body measurements. Jefit also offers workout plans designed by both experts and other Jefit members. If you want to replace the pen and notebook you use to track your sets and reps, try Jefit. While the paid version offers nice perks including an ad-free experience and access to premium workout plans, the free version works well for basic tracking and logging.
Customization
Jefit users have the option to create their own custom exercises in the app and on the website. Once an exercise has been created, you can track it using the weight/rep recording page and add it to your routines. Plus, Jefit lets users adjust the number of sets and reps per workout so you can tailor each session to your needs as you progress and get stronger.
Those who want an app that provides some type of coaching should check out alternative options, since Jefit doesn’t offer coach access.
What Else to Consider
Jefit is a solid choice for those who want an easy way to keep track of their exercise and strength training progression. If you want a fitness app that provides insights such as training reports that show you metrics like total weight lifted from previous workouts, we recommend giving Jefit a try.
Jefit is compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Cost
Jefit offers a basic version for free as well as Jefit Elite for $12.99/month or $69.99/year.
Best Yoga Fitness App: Alo Moves
Alo Moves
Alo Moves brings the yoga studio into your home. Members can participate in yoga, Pilates and meditation sessions taught by expert instructors from various disciplines, including HIIT and barre. Plus, subscribers who like variety will appreciate that this fitness app offers over 20 styles of classes like Vinyasa and Core.
Customization
Alo Moves is a bit sparse in terms of customization but does let users choose classes based on their available time, target areas and level of difficulty.
What Else to Consider
Alo Moves is a leader in the yoga fitness app field thanks to its robust offering of more than 2,500 classes taught by over 60 certified instructors. Those seeking an app that offers live classes should be aware that Alo Moves only offers live classes on laptops and desktop setups but not in-app. App users will still get full access to all of Alo Moves’ on-demand classes.
Alo Moves is compatible with iOS and Android devices.
Cost
Alo Moves offers new users a 14-day free trial that can be canceled at any time within that period; if you don’t cancel, your subscription will automatically roll over into an active, paid membership after the initial 14 days. Alo Moves costs $20/month or $99 for the first year of membership for new subscribers. After the promotional year, an annual subscription will cost $199/year.
Best Fitness App for Beginners: Sworkit
Sworkit
Sworkit aims to help everyone at every age and every level of fitness achieve their goals. Whether you’re looking for a fitness app to help you improve flexibility, work on muscle gain, lose weight or help build endurance, Sworkit’s easy-to-follow programs will get you there. Sworkit, derived from the words ‘simply work it,’ offers over 500 workouts and 900 exercises. Users can receive recommendations on workout plans designed for their individual goals, and if you need support or have questions about workouts or nutrition, certified trainers are on hand to help.
Customization
Sworkit lets members adjust their in-app settings to turn warmups on or off and has the option to toggle the exercise shuffle feature so you can either manually choose the order of your workouts or let the app choose for you. Other customization features include the ability to change the length of the transitions between exercise moves as well as the length of time the app will ask you to hold or perform an exercise.
What Else to Consider
Sworkit offers routines specifically for kids and young adults of various ages. The workouts are designed for specific age groups such as ‘Stretch It Out’ for kids aged 4-7, ‘Quick Burst Energy Release’ for kids aged 7-11, ‘Full Body Strength’ for kids aged 11-15, and ‘Conditioning Cardio’ for kids aged 15-18. All of these workouts are available on the Sworkit website and app completely free of charge.
Cost
Users can opt for one of two Sworkit memberships: a $9.99/month or a $59.99/year subscription. Sworkit is free for educators and kids.
Best Fitness App for Live Classes: Peloton
Peloton
Those curious about trying out Peloton’s fitness app can breathe easy knowing that you don’t have to invest in the brand’s stationary bike or treadmill to participate in Peloton classes. Offering a variety of no-equipment needed on-demand and live classes, the Peloton App has a library featuring thousands of classes led by expert instructors accompanied by curated music to keep you pushing through each session.
Customization
Users can choose class types that include categories such as body weight, upper body, core, resistance bands and strength for runners. Users are also able to filter class types by music, duration of class and difficulty.
What Else to Consider
The Peloton App mentioned here should not be confused with the Peloton All-Access membership. While the Peloton App will grant subscribers access to tons of engaging classes, users will not be able to watch or participate in Peloton Tread and cycling classes (which are only available with Peloton All-Access).
The Peloton App is compatible with iOS and Android devices and can be accessed on Fire TVs and Peloton’s website.
Cost
As of publish time, new members can get three months of Peloton App access for $12.99 with the limited-time Summer Pass. After the three month promotional period, the Peloton App fee gets charged monthly at $12.99 per month.
Best Fitness App for Tracking Calories: MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal
For those who are calorie-conscious, MyFitnessPal can help you be more mindful of what you’re consuming. The app really shines in terms of the tools it offers to help people reach their goals and stay motivated. MyFitnessPal offers coaching by way of fitness and nutrition plans that users choose which are designed to help them create healthier lifestyles and set fitness goals. In addition to daily meal recommendations, users will receive actionable tips and education that runs the gamut across several topics including reaching calorie goals, learning what macros are and how to track them, and strengthening and toning target areas like your glutes, thighs and upper body.
Customization
MyFitnessPal allows you to adjust your goals within the app if, for example, your doctor or nutritionist creates a plan for you to follow. Premium subscribers have the ability to set goals with high precision by adjusting gram increments for proteins, carbs and fat. Additionally, the premium version of the app also lets subscribers set custom goals on a specific day of the week.
What Else to Consider
Some international users and non-native English speakers might have a hard time navigating MyFitnessPal since currently, plans are only available to users who have their language set to English. If you’re considering joining MyFitnessPal specifically for the premium plans, it’s worth noting that you can only join one plan at a time; this is designed to help you stay focused and motivated on the plan at hand.
MyFitnessPal is compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Cost
As of publish time, MyFitnessPal offers a one month free trial. After the trial period ends, subscribers can opt for a $19.99/month or $79.99/year membership.
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