When you find yourself in a fitness rut, is it because you become bored or because you don’t sense any progress? Fitness apps are a convenient and inexpensive way to spice up your routine and keep precise track of your progress. Whatever your goals are, the following apps can help you get there.
Nike Training Club
This free app generates workouts for you based on your fitness level and goals. The detailed instructions and videos for the exercises come in handy if you want to try something new. Workout categories include “get lean,” “get toned,” “get strong,” and “get focused.” You can even play music from your device as you sweat it out. With the excellent resolution and large screens on Android phones, you can easily watch the videos and mimic the exercises. One review calls this, “a fantastic app for people who want to get a workout in without any prior planning. The workouts that are available can fit into any schedule and lifestyle.”
Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro
Image via Flickr by will ockenden
For those of you who like to get out and go, Endomondo Pro is a fantastic app exclusive to Android that helps you track your distance, speed, and calories burned. First you pick your activity — biking, running, etc. — and then you choose your goal; whether it’s completing a distance within a certain timeframe or besting a workout recently logged by one of your friends.
You can upload information about your completed workouts to the Endomondo site or Facebook so you friends can cheer you on (or wish they weren’t sitting on the sofa eating potato chips).
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal calculates and motivates to help you get or stay fit. Based on your goals and activity level, it recommends daily calorie consumption for you. You can record your meals throughout the day; the app has a huge database of foods. Scan barcodes on foods you eat, tell the app how many servings you had, and it will log the food for you. The amount of dishes and products in its database are astounding, so you can bet that you can find all the nutritional info on whatever you order out or buy.
When you record an exercise, your calorie allowance for that day increases. Its many useful features put this app “over the top,” as a review at google.about.com puts it.
The app syncs with the MyFitnessPal website, where you have even more access to helpful information and motivation. If you don’t have a reliable Internet connection at home, consider looking into reviews for satellite Internet or other service providers so you can take full advantage of the MyFitnessPal experience.
Fitocracy
Having other people on board the fitness wagon with you is a great way to make your workouts fun and fresh and keep you motivated. Fitocracy connects you with other fitness enthusiasts and puts you in a friendly competition with them. The app rewards you with points after workouts, and you can even “level up” as you do on many RPG video games. Friends can extend encouragement and props to one another.
There are various groups that deal with different aspects of fitness, so you can engage in lively fitness discussions and learn from your workout peers.
The above apps are just a sample of the wonderful world of fitness apps available for Android, but they’re among the best. So go ahead, turn on your smart phone, lace up your running shoes, pump up the music, and go get sweaty.
