While we all know that staying healthy and active are important habits to take up, the struggles and stress associated with college life often introduce many challenges to achieving this wellbeing. From spending late nights out on the town to reaching for that extra slice of pizza in the dining hall, your four years at university are rife with temptations and activities that have the potential to add extra inches to your waistline. But what if it didn’t have to be this way? What if you could enjoy all the fun of the college experience and still maintain your overall fitness? To help you out, we rounded up a list of the top FREE apps catered to keeping you happy and healthy:
Health
One of the most basic, yet useful, apps to help you reach your fitness goals is Apple’s Health. Built right into the iPhone, the Health app automatically tracks activity such as the number of steps you’ve taken, miles walked, and the flights of stairs climbed during any given day. It also gives you the ability to manually enter and track a ton of other stats and info like height and weight, diet and exercise and nightly sleep. This combination of stats can help you paint a more complete picture of your overall health and fitness. While the calculations made by Health aren’t as reliable as other more advanced fitness tracking devices on the market, the app is a budget friendly way to kickstart healthy habits.
RunKeeper
RunKeeper uses your phone’s GPS to monitor the time and duration of your favorite outdoor exercise activities from running and cycling, to snowshoeing and rollerblading. If poor weather keeps your workout indoors, you can manually enter the stats, so your activity log stays up to date. After each workout, you are given a summary that highlights any progress you’ve made compared to earlier entries; this makes it clear to see how your level of fitness is improving over time. Often, RunKeeper’s sponsors will create workout challenges that you can complete to earn coupons or rewards. Previous examples include running 5k anytime during the month of January to earn 25% off a new pair of Asics sneakers, or setting a new personal record to enter a drawing for a Pebble smartwatch. While the free version of the app is sufficient for tracking your active lifestyle, a subscription to the service lets you join activity groups with other users to keep you motivated and create custom training plans to enhance your performance. Available for both iPhone and Android.
MyWater
Staying hydrated is a major key to keeping your body functioning to its full potential. With the MyWater app, you can set a goal amount of water you want to intake each day and record each glass as you drink. Your measurements don’t have to be limited to the standard eight-ounce cup; you can personalize your unique “cup” size to accommodate your favorite water bottle or canteen. The app also lets you set reminders throughout the day to ensure you meet the recommended daily intake. This app is available only through the Apple App Store.
Sworkit
One of the hardest parts of staying fit is maintaining the motivation to get a good workout in from time to time. Luckily, the Sworkit app provides you with a variety of personalized video workouts to choose from, ensuring you will always have a new way to feel the burn each time you hit the gym. Whether you are looking for strength training, cardio, yoga, or stretching, Sworkit’s extensive library of over two hundred 5 to 60-minute workouts has something for everybody. There are even options that don’t have to be done in the gym and don’t require any extra equipment, making it easy to get your sweat on from the comfort of your dorm room. Available both on Android and iPhone.
While staying healthy in college still proves to be a real challenge, utilizing these free and efficient apps will keep you steady on the path to fitness success!