There’s no doubt about it: the fitness revolution is well and truly underway. In an age of superfoods, fusion classes and increasingly rigorous workouts, it’s rare to come across someone who doesn’t take part in some kind of exercise regime.
Thanks to technological advances, this obsession with shaping up and trimming down has spawned a range of new fitness apps, purposely created so people can keep tabs on their personal health and fitness - without the help of a professional.
These are 10 of the best fitness apps currently on the market:
-
Zova: Designed exclusively for women by women, Zova delivers professional workouts to the palm of your hand. There is a routine to suit every lifestyle, timeframe and fitness level - each of which is combined with custom music to achieve optimum results.
-
Freeletics: This app offers an individual training plan and specialises in high-intensity workouts. It has a community component, so you track the progress of other users, as well as gain motivation and advice from its 2,000,000 (and growing) members.
-
Bupa Boost: This free fitness app provides targeted workouts within a four-week plan. Suitable for all ages and levels of fitness, the exercises are simple enough to be done at home and target four key areas of fitness: flexibility, core stability, balance and strength. It’s not yet available in Australia, but keep your eyes peeled for this one.
-
Hot5 Fitness: Built on the idea of quick, efficient workouts, Hot5 Fitness offers five-minute programs based around five exercises. The videos are designed by top personal trainers and are guaranteed to torch serious calories.
-
Map My Fitness: This GPS-based app is a great way for runners in particular to keep track of their health and fitness improvements. It can be used to map routes, track activity, log food intake, and even share results with friends - they call it healthy competition for a reason!
-
Teemo: the fitness adventure game!: This app helps users to make good use of their spare time by offering fun ways to get fit. Its 10 different ‘adventure’ options involve short, simple exercises, making exercise playful and effective.
-
Zombies, Run!: Created for runners lacking a little motivation, this game requires you to escape a horde of flesh-eating zombies. The immersive, action-packed app takes account of your music and fitness levels to encourage you to run (or walk) longer, harder and faster than before.
-
TempoRun: This app automatically pulls tunes from your personal playlist that match your workout. It categorises your music into levels from one to ten based on tempo (level one is a walk, and so on).
-
CARROT Fit: The self-proclaimed ‘judgemental fitness overlord’, CARROT Fit is designed for those who like a side of attitude with their workout. For example, if you make the app angry (by gaining weight or cancelling a workout), it will automatically activate ‘calorie shaming’ punishment. Be prepared to get yelled at.
-
My Fitness Pal: This is an easy-to-use calorie counting program. It calculates your weight loss progress by assessing your food intake (which you log in the digital diary) and exercise.
