Top Apps to Help You Conquer Your New Year’s Fitness Goals
#1 Nike+ Running (Free)
Whether you’re new to running or not, the Nike Running Club app is the best running app out there. The app has a wide selection of audio-guided running workouts with Nike coaches and athletes that help you develop your running skills and push you to achieve your goals. The app also offers personalized coaching plans to schedule your running and keep you motivated—this is extremely helpful if preparing for a race. If you’re getting fit with friends this new year, the app also allows you to connect with friends and even cheer each other on during runs.
#2 Nike Training Club (Free)
If your goal this new year is to get toned and build strength, this app is the perfect place to start. The app features 185+ free workouts from strength and endurance to mobility and yoga, created by the Nike training masters. If that sounds overwhelming, Nike provides structured personalized training plans that make it incredibly easy to get started and to ensure you’re getting a workout plan that is most tailored to your goals. Workout times range from 15-45 minutes and many are body-weight only, making it easy to get your workout in anywhere and anytime.
#3 Down Dog (Freemium)
This app is great for all levels of yoga. Unlike yoga on Youtube, where you follow the same pre-recorded videos over and over, Down Dog provides you with a new sequence every time.. Not only are the videos easy to follow, but the app also allows you to personalize the workouts according to level, type (full practice, quick flow, no flow, and restorative), length, voice, music, pace of instruction, and the comprehensiveness of instruction. The app also features an offline mode, which is advantageous if you like to practice yoga outside.
#4 Stratva Tracker (Free)
This app helps you to record your running, cycling and swimming. It tracks your distance, maps your route, and allows you to challenge and compete with others. Stratva provides detailed statistics for distance, pace, speed, elevation gain, and calories burned. The app also compares your current workout with your past workouts, and awards you with achievements when you are, for example, running the hill up to your house the fastest yet, or completing your quickest 10km.
#5 Sweat: Kayla Itsines Fitness (Subscription)
Kayla Itsines is the OG Instagram fitness star and this app is an extension of her wildly successful Bikini Body Guide (BBG). The app includes the BBG program which is described as high-intensity plyometric training that uses minimal space and equipment. The workouts are quick (just 28 minutes), but each one packs a punch. The workouts increase in difficulty each week, but don’t worry, if you’re completing the program as prescribed you will feel yourself getting stronger and will have no trouble (no more usual) keeping up with the increased difficulty. The app also provides resources for healthy eating and meal preparation.
Honourable Mention: Spotify Workout Playlists
If you’re a person who doesn’t need any help at the gym, the Spotify workout playlists are a great way to elevate your workout and stay motivated to push through those extra reps. There are a wide range of playlists for different types of workouts. If you’re a runner, the Nike Spotify pace playlists are timed by beats per minute, this helps to ensure that every song matches the tempo of your run—there is nothing worse than a slow song coming on when you are trying to crush that last mile!