Staying fit can be extremely challenging during the cold winter months. Fortunately, mobile technology brings into your fitness routine several terrific mobile apps that help you do just that. These top fitness apps don’t replace your routine, but they make it a lot easier to keep yourself on track and motivated.
Nike Training Club
Who hasn’t heard of Nike? It’s no wonder this free iPhone app is one of the most popular fitness apps downloads for iOS devices. It’s name-recognition factor boosts its profile tremendously. Fortunately, the fitness experts at Nike who were instrumental in developing this app loaded it with 60 customizable work-outs, an electronic personal trainer who prods, encourages and even instructs, and with visual demonstration mini-videos on proper performance of exercises. Stuffed with both strength and cardiovascular exercises, Nike Training Club iOS app’s $0 cost seems too good to be true. Everyday of the week, though the price and the app are just right.
Pocket Yoga
While most people think of something like Nike Training Club when thinking of fitness apps, thousands depend on yoga for strength, endurance and flexibility. Pocket Yoga offers three difficulty levels and durations and 27 do-anywhere sessions. Audio prompts help focus breathing and poses while visual aids point to posture corrections.
Made for Blackberry, Android and iOS mobile phones, Pocket Yoga comes with a price tag of $2.99.
CardioTrainer Pro
Some might consider this Android app’s price of $9.95 too steep, but to those who want mobile help loosing weight, it’s a reasonable one. Users choose six interval-training programs and 20 difficulty levels. While it cannot replace your own effort, the GPS, pedometer and several other tools included, CardioTrainer Pro easily slides into its role as an extension of the popular CardioTrainer app that is celebrating its two-year anniversary. Stay focused with audio and visual prompts and set new Personal Bests with the Race Against Yourself function.
Adidas MiCoach
For BlackBerry or iPhone users who want or need that extra touch of motivation, Adidas MiCoach is the perfect smartphone app. Like Nike’s app, above, this offers a mobile coach approach that can track your performance. Its primary difference is that it avoids “exercise routines” and, instead, offers “activities.” Instead of opting for running for miles, for instance, opt for “tennis” or “basketball” or “bike riding,” sliding “work” into “play.” Once you have chosen your “activity,” your “work-out” is then tailored to your daily goals. This app even tracks your preferred method of coaching, for no one listens to an incompatible coach for long. Using this app a time or two a week offers a nice counterpoint to your normal exercise routine, helping you stay motivated all winter long. It’s free price doesn’t hurt either.
Interval Trainer GO Matrix
This $4.99 iPhone app ensures your alternate your cardio routine for maximum benefit. Customize your work-out, your fitness level and goals, then follow the plan this app outlines. Take your basic cardiovascular workout to new levels, one interval at a time. Use this app two to three times per week and alternate with strengthening exercises, and you’ll soon see more progress and higher levels of fitness than you’d thought you see by springtime.
Written by Jaye Ryan, a freelance author who likes writing about mobile apps.
What is your favorite mobile fitness app? Share your favorite mobile fitness apps with us in the comments below.