9 Top Fitness Apps for Workouts, Sports Training and Weight Loss
Browsing the health and fitness category of your phone’s app store can be a bit overwhelming. To cut through some of the chaos, we’ve rounded up some of this year’s top free* health and fitness apps for you.
Workout/training apps
These apps contain a library of workouts that often you can do with your body weight alone, or little to no equipment. Remember, you can get into fantastic shape with nothing more than yourself and a small, safe square of floor, carpet or grass.
NTC+ (Nike Training Club)
Some NTC+ workouts are hosted by celebrity athletes like tennis star Serena Williams or soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo. You also can opt for a 4-week programs that are structured to help you reach your personal fitness goals.
Freeletics Body Weight
Freeletics offers 10- to 30-minute body-weight workouts (with video tutorials) that you can do anytime, anyplace. For a paid subscription, a virtual coach will assess your fitness level and create a fully customized body-weight workout plan for you.
Endomondo
Under Armor’s Endomondo app tests your current fitness level, logs and monitors your fitness goals, tracks your performance, and stores data to create progress reports. Many also appreciate the encouraging audio prompts and social sharing option that lets you connect and compete with others.
Sport-specific apps
Practicing yoga or just simple mindfulness are major fitness trends, and both are proven to increase your overall well-being. Walking and running combined are by far the most popular sport-specific exercises in the US, according to a recent American Time Use Survey. The same survey showed cycling was even more popular when looking solely at adults ages 25+. The app stores are brimming with offerings for yoga, meditation/mindfulness, running, and cycling.
Yoga Poses
This app delivers beautifully on what its title promises: A visual library of yoga poses, including short videos that can take you through your own yoga practice at home, on the road or at the gym.
Runkeeper
The Asics’ Runkeeper app effortlessly tracks where and how far you walk or run. Music lovers especially love that the app easily links to a Spotify account or an iTunes music library.
Strava
One of this cycling app’s most-loved features is the secret leader board, where you can see how you compare to friends, other riders, and even professional cyclists who’ve ridden the same road.
Lifestyle/weight-loss apps
Maybe you want to lose weight, make better choices with your time, or simply want to live a healthier lifestyle. If so, these apps represent just a tiny fraction of the established and/or new and notable options that can help you reach your goals.
Fitocracy
Fitocracy provides free workouts for all fitness levels and measures your progress with quests, challenges and duels—all to win points to reach the next level. It’s great fun and boasts an active community of “Fitocrats.”
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal has been around for a long time and makes the honor roll as one of the most comprehensive fitness apps available. It’s best known for its calorie-tracker (which includes an extensive library of food choices and brands) and its ability to track percentages of macronutrients such as fat, protein and carbs in your daily diet, which is key for people who "track their macros." This app also connects with several different wearable fitness trackers and other fitness apps to count your exercise into your daily fitness goals.
Life Cycle
This handy app works in the background of your phone’s operating system. Slip your phone into your pocket or bag, and the app will track your day's activities such as how much time you work, walk, commute, eat, and sleep, and more.
* Some offer “premium” upgrades or other in-app purchases.
Updated December 29, 2017
