Remember those resolutions you made at the beginning of the year? You know the ones: study more, procrastinate less, eat healthier, exercise daily. Become the best YOU you can be.
Something tells us that following through on those resolutions didn’t work out too well. For the first month, give or take a few weeks, we all stand strong in our resolutions. But they usually start crumbling as the tests start creeping up, you swap the gym for binge-watching Parenthood on Netflix, and Chick-fil-A once again makes multiple appearances in your weekly diet. That ‘get healthy’ resolution is always the real monster of the bunch.
Well, since summer is right around the corner, now is the time to get back on the wagon! You can maintain your healthy lifestyle and get that bikini body simply by grabbing your phone. There are so many fitness apps it’s actually alarming. And overwhelming, if we’re being honest.
So, we’ve done the hard work and compiled a list of our top 7 workout apps you can download to help with your success (bonus –most of them are free!):
1. From Couch to 5K
This one is completely free. There IS a $1.99 version if you’re so inclined, but the free app is wonderful and gets the job done.
This is the ultimate app for beginners. For those of us who find it hard to separate ourselves from the couch, this app tells you exactly what to do.
You start out slow, gradually adding more and more running to your workouts. The app lets you listen to your own playlists, while telling you exactly when to walk and when to run. Every week you go farther and farther and run longer and longer until you’re fit enough to run –you guessed it –a 5K! It may seem impossible now, but you can do it. We believe in you.
2. MyFitnessPal
Okay, so this one technically isn’t a workout app. But it is essential to your fitness app collection. You enter weight goals and current information, and MyFitnessPal tells you how many calories you should consume on a daily basis to achieve your goal.
You enter all your meals and how much you work out in order to keep track of your progress. It’ll tell you if you’re under your suggested calorie intake for the day, or over –which keeps you accountable.
We all know the shame that comes with knowing you’ve overeaten. This app is one of our favorites, and we’re sure it’ll become one of yours, too!
3. Sworkit Pro
Besides having a pretty cool name, this app is a great personal training app. With four categories to choose from –strength, cardio, yoga, and stretching –you can create your own custom workouts.
You choose everything from the type of workout, to the intensity, to how long you want the workout to last. It’s made for you, by you, depending on your needs. It’s all-encompassing so you can change it up. Get to it!
4. Human
Human doesn’t have workout videos or custom personal training exercises. This app is much simpler. It tracks your physical activity and keeps you accountable for physically moving at least 30 minutes every day.
You can customize your daily goal and create “clubs” with friends and family to compare and work together towards your goals! Every time you go for a bike ride, a walk, or a run, Human logs your time. You don’t have to do 30 minutes at a time, you just need to get up and get moving.
5. 7-Minute Workout Challenge
Sometimes there really aren’t enough hours in the day. When our schedules get packed, our workout time starts to dwindle into nothingness. We just don’t always have an hour to dedicate to the gym everyday. The 7-Minute Workout Challenge is the best way to make sure you’re working fitness into your life every day. It’s truly only seven minutes. EVERYBODY has seven minutes. Those ten minutes every morning you spend hitting the snooze button? Make the most of them and get your workout done for the day!
The seven-minute workout takes you through several high intensity exercises with only ten seconds of rest in between. Depending on how much time you have, you can choose the number of cycles you do per workout. It’s an hour’s worth of butt-busting in under ten minutes. You can do it! Because we all know we’re actually only pretend-sleeping. No matter how much we lie to ourselves.
6. Popsugar Active
Popsugar is a goldmine for workout videos, nutrition tips, celebrity gossip, etc. It’s the melting pot of pop culture. And the site has apps to make your guilty pleasures all the more accessible.
Popsugar Active isn’t a guilty pleasure, though. It is 100% guilt free and full of great videos to make you sweat. With videos ranging from 5 minutes to 40 minutes, they’ve got something for everyone. Even the laziest of the lazy can get something out of these videos. The Lazy-Girl videos promise you don’t even have to change out of your sweatpants.
7. Zombies, Run!
This is the only app on our list that isn’t free. It’s $3.99, or $1.99 for the 5K version, but it’s completely worth it!
For those of us who find running on the treadmill to be cruel and unusual punishment (or for fans of The Walking Dead), Zombies, Run! provides a fun, interactive running-for-your-life experience.
Through your headphones, you’re given missions and trying to get to safe places. But beware of the hordes of zombies that you hear trailing behind you. The app plays your own music, occasionally interrupted with a radio controller yelling at you to run, or fun faster. Now RUN!
So, it’s time to put Netflix on pause. Or, you know, finish that episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and THEN pause it. We understand. With a positive attitude, you’ll be on your way to that bikini body in no time. You’ve got this.