Excellent Apps for Exercise and Fitness

Guest Post by Ashlee McCullen:

I didn’t always keep track of my workouts and fitness habits. It was just too time-consuming to write down stuff like how long I’ve jogged, how many reps I’ve performed, and what I had just eaten.

However, smartphones and a group of clever apps makes it easier than ever to track all these statistics and more. I’m going to recommend a group of excellent apps for any dude looking to lose weight, add strength, or just be a healthier person.

My husband and I tested these apps together on our new HTC phones from T-Mobile, but they should work just fine on any Android phone as well as the iPhone.

FitnessBuilder and iFitness

Depending on how much you’re willing to invest in a strength training app, I would recommend either iFitness or FitnessBuilder.

Both apps are designed to help you build workouts and track your progress as you complete them. Both have built-in exercises that include photos, videos and text. Other handy features are rest timers and charts to visualize your progress.

iFitness costs just $1.99, and is adequate for many people. FitnessBuilder is a free download, but offers access to many hundreds of workouts and exercises through its $10 a month Pro subscription. Under the Pro plan, you’ll have access to far more material than you ever could with iFitness, plus the ability to send messages to personal trainers.

Overall, I prefer FitnessBuilder, and still think it is a good value at $10 a month, but I can also recommend iFitness.

RunKeeper

If your fitness plans includes running, you’ll love this app. Runkeeper does all the work of tracking your jogging routine for you. As you run, it will record your path, how much time you spent, how long your run took, and the pace you ran.

Better yet, you can break down your run to see where you slowed down and sped up, and work to improve your performance over time. With its simple navigation and visual approach, the app is unobtrusive and fun to use.

Nike Boom

Nike Boom isn’t so much of a workout tracker as it is a motivator. It’s a great tool for running, in particular. You can set the app to tell you (via audio) when to speed up and slow down for interval training. Plus, you’ll hear motivating messages from the likes of Lance Armstrong and Jerry Rice. Finally, you can program a playlist that matches the activity you’re undertaking.

Iron Man Magazine

Stay up-to-date on exercise and nutrition trends with this free, handy app. Based on the influential body building magazine, Iron Man Magazine is loaded with trustworthy articles that will help you refine your workout strategy and provide new ideas and inspiration. I check this app frequently for new blog posts, and use its reviews of supplements and fitness equipment to make smart purchases.

Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal

Let’s be honest: Calorie counting sucks. To pull it off, you used to have to guess the nutritional qualities of your meals and keep a tedious pen-and-paper notebook. You would typically spend tons of time researching foods and keeping detailed records, if you could even maintain a routine.

Fortunately, Calorie Counter makes it easy to input the foods you eat, understand their nutritional properties, and to keep track in the short and long run as you work to meet fitness goals.

Ashlee McCullen is a staff writer for ApronAddicts.com, a site about fashionable aprons and kitchen style.

image via Google Play

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