If you’re a runner who regularly uses a treadmill and wants a more dynamic, interactive workout, a premium NordicTrack Treadmill in partnership with the iFit app is your best bet. On their own, NordicTrack treadmills are excellent pieces of cardio equipment because they’re cushioned for impact, durable, and offer many high-tech features. Now add iFIT programming and the world is at your feet—kind of literally, as you have the ability to run trails all over the globe from the comfort of home. It’s been around for a few years now and is one of the easiest fitness apps to sign up for as an Apple user. Plus, new sessions will be added every week, and each runs from anywhere between five and 45 minutes.

Zing Coach

Paid fitness apps become more valuable when you want structure, progression, coaching, and better personalization. A subscription usually unlocks full training plans, larger video libraries, form cues, wearable integrations, custom workout recommendations, recovery guidance, nutrition tools, or direct coach feedback. Many workout apps now offer programs that use only bodyweight exercises, making it easy to work out with no equipment. Others focus more on strength training with weights, including dumbbells, kettlebells, or gym machines. Some apps offer cardio sessions that can be done on any equipment, while others, like Peloton, connect with their own machines to provide more detailed metrics and insights.

Is there an app that tells me what to do at the gym?

They also noted that the instructors were clear and easy to follow along with, and appreciated how upfront they were with equipment requirements prior to the session. The workouts are easy to follow, though you do have to rewind the videos if you miss a move. In testing, we appreciated the assortment of available on-demand workouts and programs, but admittedly focused on the 171 available yoga flows.

• This accessibility provides accountability while offering flexibility better than scheduled in-person sessions.
• A good place to start is by searching your App Store and seeing what free workout apps it has to offer.
• The Amazfit Active 2 is a slender and comfortable smartwatch with a thin metal case, onboard GPS, over 160 sports tracking profiles, nearly a week of battery and support for offline maps.
• Your coach will then create a customized workout plan for you that you can follow through the app and track your progress over time.
• The turn-by-turn navigational feature also proved utterly unreliable in testing.
• Poor mobility causes compensatory movement patterns, increases injury risk, and limits performance.

Data Linked to You

You likely have some Nike gear that you rock at the gym—so it might feel right to work out with the Swoosh, too. The Nike Training Club app features more than 180 routines from trainers in categories like yoga, strength training, and more. In terms of training with Juggernaut AI, you get a good mix of challenge and progress. The app tailors your prescribed weights, reps, and sets to your responses in your readiness prompt, so there are limited opportunities for overtraining or failing a lift.

While the workout library isn’t as dense as some other apps, the app is high quality and you can personalize your training programs when creating fitness goals. Personally, I love the filter in the search tab for this app, allowing you to pick and choose your preferred workout modality, available equipment, length, etc. The app is generally easy to use and follow, including easy-to-follow exercise videos for the non-live workouts.

Do I need equipment to use workout apps?

Will Porter is an LA-based freelance writer covering golf, tech, and travel. In addition to Men’s Health, his work has been published in GQ, Gear Patrol, The Strategist, and others. When he’s not writing, you’ll find him running the trails at Griffith Park or trying to catch every new movie in IMAX at the local movie theater.

Best for lifting weights

Depending on your mood, you can select your runs by trainer, length or type, and intensity. The iFIT workouts are streamed to your treadmill via an HD touchscreen and your stats are recorded in real-time. You can also interact with other iFIT users and access healthy recipe suggestions from nutritionists and registered dietitians. Through science and psychology, Noom helps you better understand your relationship with food so you can make long-lasting changes that actually stick. Noom takes your age, sex, and current weight and height into consideration when creating personalized approaches to weight loss, so you can get the support you need for your specific body. I feel like pretty much everyone has had Strava at some point in their fitness career.

Running Events

Yet despite these stereotypes, there are still a few good eggs in the app store — like Nike Training Club. For anyone looking to improve their relationship with food, build healthier eating patterns, lose weight sustainably, or simply gain awareness of their nutrition, Yazio provides friendly, effective guidance. The recipe section is exceptional, with new healthy meal ideas added weekly. Recipes filter by dietary preference (low-carb, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free) and include nutritional breakdowns and step-by-step instructions. The onboarding process is thoughtful, sprinkling helpful tips and realistic expectations throughout.

Since “best” is up to you, how do you go about finding an app that’s motivating and effective at smashing your goals? In general, you’ll want an app with enough variety to keep you interested, enough curation to take off decision fatigue, and engaging workouts. Most apps worth their salt will have a basic program and notifications to keep you honest.

Apple One: The Best of Apple. All in one.

The classes are designed to be 30 minutes or shorter, but if you have extra time, we recommend taking advantage of the stretching and foam rolling videos as well. It’s also a favorite of tester Kelli McGrane, MS, RD, who appreciates that the large selection of 20-minute classes makes it easy (and fun) to squeeze a sweat session into her day. Fortunately, many of these sessions are now available for free in the Nike Training Club app. In late 2022, Netflix added a range of Nike Training Club workouts to its library. You could access these for free (so long as you have a Netflix subscription) and do the 10 or 20-minute sessions wherever you are. We’ve tried these apps ourselves to see if they’re easy to use, fun, and worth the money you need to pay in subscription fees.

Best workout app for running

As stated before, Reverse Health is primarily focused on supporting older women through health and wellness, especially athletes nearing or currently in menopausal stages. As such, this information may not be ideal or relevant for individuals identifying as male, or those yet to enter those stages of life. That said, though, the attention given to this group of app users is worthwhile enough for us to name Reverse Health as one of our favorite weight loss programs for women. As far as user experience is concerned, we experienced no bugs or lagging when navigating tai chi exercises the app features. Our tester also appreciated how Future can be used across their smartwatch for added convenience during training.

Best Workout App Overall: Future

Now you have access to various workout programs that can be done at home or in the gym, such as yoga, strength and Pilates, all taught by different women personal trainers. The app also offers meal plan options if you’re looking for healthy recipe ideas. Because of this, it can be really helpful for fitness apps to offer ways to personalize your fitness plan. Examples of this include one-on-one coaching, individualized workouts, and offering a wide variety of classes.