When you have eight hundred things to tackle on your to-do list, sometimes going to the gym can seem like an impossible time-sucking venture. So why not time-manage like a true citizen of the modern world and app your way into fitness? In the era of the smartphone all excuses are useless. These days with just one swipe or click, we can instantly and easily access a personal trainer, a nutritionist and a heart rate monitor—practically every tool we need to get a basic fitness regimen into gear. Instead of texting, browsing, e-mailing and Facebook lurking, start using your phone as your go-to Fitness tool.
According to recent research by the American Heart Association, overweight individuals who used electronic tracking devices did better at staying on their diets and exercise routines than those who didn’t. This clearly tells us that dynamic, integrative high-tech fitness is this decade’s step aerobics class. And when we say fitness, we don’t just mean exercise. We mean physical, mental and nutritional fitness, which is why our hit list covers each of those bases.
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Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker (Free)
This app is a PC Magazine Editor’s Choice selection and a Wired magazine’s Editor Pick for Lifestyle Apps. With over 1.1 million foods listed, this calorie counter has one of the largest food databases.
Daily Workout (Free)
This app provides solid 10-30 minute daily workout routines. You can also target different areas of the body, such as just arms and shoulders, thighs and legs or buttocks.
Fitbit ($99.95)
This pricey app for serious exercise aficionados will continuously customize your diet and exercise plans for you. A new feature provides BMI, body fat percentage and overall body weight data, to a user’s profile on the Fitbit website.
GAIN (Free)
By letting this app know exactly how much time you have to work out and the gear you have around you, it generates a custom workout for you using those variables, along with your overall fitness goals.
Instant Heart Rate Monitor by Azumio (Free)
This app allows you to track your own heart rate, which we all know is the key to tracking the progress of our cardio workouts. Users report that it is surprisingly accurate.
Nike+ Running (Free)
Besides giving you actual motivation, this app maps your runs and tracks your progress. Every time your friends like or comment on your run status you hear cheers in the middle of your run. You can also play Nike+ Tag and try to outrun your friends.
Pocket Yoga ($2.99)
It’s nice to think that a mere $2.99 gives you access to 24/7 yoga instruction, especially as yoga memberships becomes increasingly expensive, and for some, just plain unaffordable.
Thin-Cam (.99)
Nutritionists have been preaching about food diaries for years. People are typically inaccurate when it comes to reporting the portion sizes of the meals they’ve eaten. With Thin-Cam, you snap a photo of your meal before you eat it. Then the photo is uploaded to Thin-site, the app’s paid membership website, and analyzed by nutritionists. The app also has fitness, diet and weight loss related news and tips.
Weight Watchers Mobile (Included with subscription to WW)
If it aint broke don’t fix it. Just make an app out of it. If you happen to be one of the multitudes that ascribe to the Holy Grail that is Weight Watchers, log yourself in to better melt yourself off.
Yogaglo (Included with membership to site)
Yogaglo offers over 1000 yoga classes, ranging in styles and levels; a $15 membership allows you to access the site—and hence a whole yoga class—right to your phone.
