These apps make it easier than ever to squeeze exercise into your day (and in some cases, work out with a celebrity) Here are 5 trendy choices to match your fitness goals – and your personality.
Who needs a fancy gym or a personal trainer when you’ve got a smartphone? The best new fitness apps make it easy to take your workout anywhere – even when you’re traveling or working out of a home office and have only 15 minutes to spare. Many provide cool features, like accountability buddies, celebrity trainers or digital nudges to help you stay committed.
Nike+ Training Club
Featuring exercise sessions designed by pro athletes (a popular one is Perfect Alignment with Olympian Gabby Douglas), these workouts focus on strength, endurance, or mobility (you pick) and offer three levels of difficulty. The app can be streamed onto a bigger screen using Apple TV, Chromecast or an HDMI cable. Users can share photos with the Nike+ community.
Yoga Wake Up
Part alarm clock, part yoga workout, this app uses soothing sounds to gently get you up and moving, leading you through a 10-minute guided yoga or meditation sequence that begins in bed. Choose from a variety of routines – from slow, relaxed ones that you can do while snuggled under the covers to versions that give you a burst of energy.
Kineticoach
On the road again? No sweat. This app is specially designed to help road warriors stay fit and in peak condition with full-body functional movements that improve overall fitness. It offers custom workout plans that you can tap into anytime, anywhere. Build your routine from a library of more than 1,000 workouts, select your available time, fitness goals and level, and get moving!
You Are Your Own Gym
Based on U.S. Special Ops trainer Mark Lauren’s exercise system, the free app provides workout plans, simple routines, warm-ups and cooldowns, all using your own body weight, not special equipment. Pay extra for exercises. One favorite: the Y Cuff, a variation of the standard push-up; done on the floor, it helps improve shoulder mobility and head positioning for better posture.
Jump Rope Workout
Simply attach your iPhone to your waist, thigh or arm (with an armband), and start jumping, using a rope that’s the right length for your height. As your heart rate elevates, the app will use the accelerometer in your phone to track your jumps. If you enter your heart rate and weight, you can also track how many calories you’re burning.
© matthew leete
