While we're advocates for truly getting outdoors and disconnecting, we also know that sometimes your motivation, workout or direction needs a helping hand.
For those of you who don't want to pay for a trainer, want to get moving but aren't sure where to start, or are looking for a fresh way to revamp your routines, we recommend looking into our ten favorite workout and lifestyle apps below.
1. Strava - If running, cycling or swimming is your niche, then you've probably heard of Strava. Strava is one of the most popular workout assisting apps. Essentially, Strava will track your workouts for you as you run, swim or cycle and upload your workout to your phone so you can analyze how it went, where your fastest and slowest miles were, and so on. Strava also allows you to connect with other people and share your workouts, transforming it into a social network, which will keep you motivated to move with everyone else.
2. Nike Training Club - NTC offers you fully-guided workouts through your phone from Nike-approved guides, starting from 15+ minutes depending on your schedule. You can browse their 100+ workouts by choosing filters specific to you, such as specific muscle groups, long-term body goals, or amount of equipment available to you. Plus, you can create a plan designed to your schedule, which makes it easy to commit to, and easy to follow along with.
3. C25K - C25K, or Couch to 5K, is a fully-serviced guide that takes you from the couch to being able to complete a 5km run. This is perfect for beginners or anyone wanting to get into running. The guide will establish 30 minute workouts, 3 times per week, for a total of 8 weeks, with the end-goal of your 5km finish line success! To begin with, you will alternate walking and running, which is the perfect introduction to building your fitness properly and safely, too.
4. Zones for Training - Zones tracks your Heart Rate and exercise intensity for you, and then visualizes it on your app in a way that is understandable and meaningful in terms of your own goals. Not only that, Zones also has the ability to track intensity across over 70 different types of movement, so it can change its mind with you.
5. Freeletics Bodyweight - Freeletics offers HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts on your phone that require no equipment other than enough space to move! The benefit of HIIT style exercise is that it elevates your heart rate and gets you working up a sweat, but doesn't take a chunk of time out of your day. Freeletics allows you to personalize your plans and goals, and has created workouts that can be done anywhere, from a hotel room to an outdoor space!
6. Map My Run - Similar to Strava, MMR tracks your workouts (in this case, running and walking primarily), allowing you to share, analyze and configure different workouts as desired. What's uniquely helpful about this app, however, is that your account also connects to their website, so you can pre-plan your runs easily on your laptop or desktop, save the route, and then send it directly to your phone so you have it guiding you on-the-go.
7. CharityMiles - Whether you choose to walk or run, Charity Miles allows you to turn your miles covered into monetary donations to a charity of your choosing. Supported by big-name corporate companies, you can track your workouts and support others at the same time!
8. Fabulous - Motivate Me - Designed to help you build sustainable, healthy habits, Fabulous offers a 19-day step-by-step program to interactively track and establish the habits you desire, from exercising to mindfulness.
9. WaterMinder - WaterMinder is exactly what it sounds like: an app to remind you to keep drinking enough water every day! No matter what your health and fitness goals, sufficient water intake is essential. The app itself does cost $4.99, however if you have an Apple Watch, the $4.99 won't go astray, as you can receive your reminders and fulfill your daily goals directly from your watch.
10. Shine - A simple concept, Shine offers daily inspirational and motivational quotes on your phone. You can choose the time of day to receive your dose of positivity -- right when you wake up, or at your 3pm slump -- and each daily quote also offers an article link to read and explore positive concepts further if you choose.