The new school year is kicking off in full force, and you may be feeling overwhelmed. If you’re like me, starting a healthy lifestyle is probably not on your top list of priorities with everything else going on in your life. But nothing has gotten me to the WoodPec as much as my iPhone full of apps that act like my little personal trainer right in the palm of my hand.
1. COUCH25K (C25K) is an amazing app for any of you who aspire to be runners, but haven’t been able to jog for more than 30 seconds before feeling like you’re about to drop. The app plans your running workouts for 8 weeks through coaching you in running intervals by alerting you to walk, run, walk, run and so on. A cool aspect about it is that it allows you to control your music without exiting the app or pausing your workout.
2. Nike+ Running is one app that is unique in the fact that you can set challenges with your friends and motivate each other to reach certain goals based on distance or time. This app lets you track your progress on the trail or streets with the iPhone’s GPS and by rating how you feel post run to see how your endurance has increased over time.
3. Fitbit is one app that has been growing in popularity. Anyone can download the app, but for it to work you need to buy the fitbit device. What has made the fitbit such a popular pedometer is the ability to compare your weekly steps to your friends and family. You can cheer them on or taunt them and compare your average steps to theirs. Fitbit even has an online community where you can join groups based on different forums. For example, you could join a group for fitbit users in Atlanta in order to meet others nearby and compete for the highest number of steps for the week.
4. Sleep Pillow is one app that you may not consider would be on this list, but sleep is a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle. Although we may not always be able to get a full 7-8 hours, the sleep we do get should be good quality. This app is all about creating soothing sounds to help you fall asleep faster and enjoy a more restful sleep. You can choose from the pre-existing list of sounds, or create mixed sounds by putting together different ones. And if you’re afraid of killing your phone battery and just want to use the sounds to help you fall asleep, you can use the timer feature to automatically turn off the sounds.
5. Simply Yoga is an app for those of you who want to get into Yoga, but are nervous about actually stepping into a class. The app doesn’t necessarily have a ton of free features, but the few that it does allow you to practice a variety of poses that you would encounter in a class. The great thing about this app is that you can watch a person doing the moves as the narrator explains in detail what you should be doing.
So download these apps and get moving!