Lia has a highly informative teaching style, making the platform great for all levels. I personally did not have much experience with Pilates prior to joining B The Method five years ago, and I was immediately hooked. I’ve seen a huge improvement in my posture and flexibility and gained a better understanding of my body—yet the workouts continue to virtual workout accountability challenge me, in the best way. As someone who only recently started training in the gym over the past couple of years, far and away my favorite feature of Fitness Online is the app’s 3D animated exercise demonstrations. I’ve tested other apps that simply show a picture or tell you the name of the exercise, and I’m always concerned about whether I’m using the correct form—so these animations are super helpful!
How do I choose the best fitness app for me?
Berg Movement represents the gold standard for influencer-led fitness programs. Created by professional handbalancer and movement specialist Sondre Berg, this app brings elite-level coaching directly to your pocket. The content is varied, ranging from 5-minute targeted sessions to 45-minute full-body routines. This flexibility allows you to fit mobility work around your schedule, whether it’s a quick morning routine or a thorough recovery session after intense training. They also have a premium offering of custom mobility coaching for anyone looking for more support during their mobility and movement training.
Top Fitness Apps for Busy People
This app helps you monitor the state of your emotional well-being and take necessary measures to stay positive. It has features that keep you motivated, improves your self-esteem, and minimize and help you cope with stress. It helps you monitor how long it took you to sleep, the duration of different sleep levels, as well as your waking time. It also provides recommendations for better quality of sleep (as experts keep saying it’s better if we are in bed before midnight). Sworkit has maintained its popularity ever since its introduction to the public years ago.
What our tester says:
- As someone who only recently started training in the gym over the past couple of years, far and away my favorite feature of Fitness Online is the app’s 3D animated exercise demonstrations.
- Every exercise includes clear instructions, targeted muscle groups, and difficulty ratings.
- Whether you’re looking for structured workout programs, real-time feedback, or a bit of inspiration for the new year, we’ve done the heavy lifting to bring you the apps worth downloading.
- To earn a 4- or 5-star rating, the trial needs to last for seven days (some apps offer 14 days) and either doesn’t require your credit card to sign up or sends a reminder that your trial is about to end.
- Consider an app that provides evidence-based workout routines that’ll help you achieve your goals.
- To help you start the new year on the right foot, we’ve rounded up the best workout apps of 2024.
“My coach had me weigh in and take progress photos weekly, which I didn’t love,” our tester said. This may not be appropriate for athletes but that being said, it may be helpful for some. We did give the accountability a 3 out of 5, though, as our tester wasn’t able to really find a defined community in the app. 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.
Best App For Women’s Health Diehards: All/Out Studio
You can submit videos of your exercises and receive feedback from certified ATG coaches within 24 hours. This level of support ensures you’re performing movements correctly and progressing safely. The in-app messaging allows you to communicate with your coach anytime, receiving responses typically within a few hours. This accessibility provides accountability while offering flexibility better than scheduled in-person sessions.
User-Friendly Features for Efficient Workout Planning
For beginner and experienced yogis alike, Alo Moves can be an excellent download offering over 170 flows and sessions across a wide range of yoga categories. Additionally, the app has other programming for pilates, barre, HIIT, and strength training with new modules being added daily. With this app, the venerable Nike offers free training plans created by professional trainers. It is particularly well-suited for those who prefer exercising at home, with specialized routines for low-energy, lazy days and engaging dance-based workouts and is a great workout app for women. With its holistic approach, JustFit ensures that there is something for everyone, regardless of fitness level or preference.
Track progress
Over the years, I’ve done the Begin Again, Alive & Thrive, and New Beginnings challenges to keep me on track with easy-to-follow weekly breakdowns. Many fitness apps offer bodyweight exercises, meaning you don’t need fancy equipment or even a ton of space. In today’s fast-paced world, staying active can be a real challenge—especially for professionals balancing work, travel, and personal life. With the right fitness apps, you can stay consistent, build strength, and even enjoy a complete workout at home without needing a gym. With an online fitness subscription, you’ll get access to a ton of information and workouts, but it’ll require a lot of discipline to complete the programs on your own.
If you’re new to workout apps, or fitness in general, Aaptiv can be a great choice. It offers beginner-friendly workouts for a variety of goals, which means you can try a few different disciplines or modalities to see what you like. JuggernautAI is not just designed with your stats in mind—it’s structured to help you move the needle on your strength. While we think this is the best overall workout app, it’s really meant for athletes who want to follow pre-made programs rather than those who simply want an app to track their existing workouts. It’s good, but it’s a little limiting for those who want to make their own training plan.
Take Your Workout to the Next Level
People interested in using an app to help them work out should consider the features most important to them. For example, some apps may also allow a person to track their diet and keep a food journal. Some may measure multiple types of physical activity, whereas others may focus on one activity. This app best suits people with higher body weights, disabilities, or those new to exercise.
The brand is unapologetically designed for women (by women) and comes with an army of loyal customers who swear by the workouts and programs. For anyone wanting intelligent workout tracking that goes beyond simple logging, Shred provides AI-powered coaching, expert programming, and comprehensive analytics at a fraction of personal training costs. The free version provides access to basic workouts and workout tracking functionality, allowing you to test the platform before subscribing.
Strong (iOS, Android)
I particularly love the trainer Kayla Itsines and her High Intensity Zero Equipment program. The workouts are around 40 minutes in total and always leave me feeling challenged, stronger, and yes, dripping with sweat. The workouts are usually broken into a few circuits to keep things interesting and fast paced. The app shows you exactly how to do every move with a looping video of the trainer demonstrating. You can also play your favorite music simultaneously with the app going.
Calm + Fitness Integration
The app supports freestyling your workout too, which is a nice touch; I was able to start a blank workout and add exercise types and reps/sets as I went. Hevy also worked nicely with my Apple Watch, which meant I didn’t have to hold—or keep checking—my phone the whole time. For example, it showed me roughly how many sets it thought it would take for me to see progress (or as the app puts it, enter the “growth zone”). That’s a great way to make training feel more rewarding and sustainable, rather than a never-ending slog. But when paired with a Fitbit device, you get a lot more from the Fitbit app—including much more accurate activity tracking.