by Emma Hyatt
“Be what you want to become”
Mobile apps are the 21st century’s addition to the endless array of tools designed to help you meet your health and fitness goals. With any tool, you must remember that they are designed to help you achieve a goal. They don’t do it for you. So if you think these 5 fun fitness apps are going to solve all of your problems where others have failed before, they won’t. You are the only thing that’s going to help you “be 1% better every day,” as Mike Dolce says.
Fitness Buddy and Instant Fitness
If you have ever dreamed of a pocket-sized encyclopedia of strength training moves, this is it. No longer shall fitness magazine pages rot in the bottom of your bag or degrade in your fragile memory. You will always have a fresh routine ready with countless exercises for home workouts using minimal equipment or for taking to the gym. These two apps share a lot of content, but Fitness Buddy is more extensive for home or gym, and Instant Fitness is a better fit for the home. There are several pre-set routines rated easy to expert, or you can choreograph your own. It is great for noobs who need some direction or for veterans who want some new material on the go.
Nike Run
There are a lot of apps out there that track your running route with GPS or use your mobile device as a pedometer, but Nike Run has some other fun features you’d expect from a big brand. On top of keeping track of your progress, it also has the benefit of an online community you can compete with and be inspired by. You can also tell a story with your run by taking pictures along the way and sharing it with your friends.
MyFitnessPal
MFP is perfect for anyone struggling with not having supportive friends and family. To experience everything this app has to offer, you must first set up your account online, then log on through the app. MFP is designed to keep track of your nutrition and exercise regime amidst a supportive network of fitness pals. You will be surprised just how open perfect strangers are to helping you through this journey. MFP allows you to share and discuss each other’s goals, techniques, recipes, successes and failures. You motivate and learn from each other, and give each other a swift kick when you see someone going off track.
Happy Cow
“The world’s premier online vegetarian, vegan, and veg friendly restaurant guide,” as they say, helps you find a restaurant that’s more likely to meet the Dolce Diet principles. Restaurants that cater specifically to vegetarians are much more likely to have a good nutritional balance of macro nutrients and have more organic options.
Fitness+
This app could be criticized for trying to do too much, but I must credit it for helping people get educated on the basics of fitness science and technique. There is an ocean of fitness tips, tricks, and study findings out there. Trying to navigate it all can seem daunting. Many people might prefer to remain blissfully ignorant, but ignorance could leave you injured, bored and confused to the point of giving up! Education is the key to staying safe, being creative, being effective, and to taking responsibility for your own success. While I highly recommend staying up to date in the health and fitness literature of industry experts, Fitness+ is a crash course in all of the key insights into basic fitness.
These are just a few of my favourites among a library of popular apps. They have helped both myself and my friends in fitness, but may not work for you. Search around and experiment with themes that get you excited!
About the Author
Fitness and nutrition has been a passion of mine since I was a teenager fighting obesity. Unfortunately, I was going about it all wrong for soooo many years, under eating and over training. In the past year I’ve adopted the Dolce lifestyle without even realizing it, deciding to fuel my body on nutritious unprocessed foods, stop being a cardio whore and push my strength training limits. I’ve recovered my metabolism, love for life, made incredible strength gains and just want to share with the world. Currently I’m a big mouth on My Fitness Pal trying to spread the “Eat More to Weigh Less” mantra.