Health & Fitness iPhone Apps

iPhone Fitness

Our cellphones, iPads, and other ‘necessary’ gadgets keep us in-touch and in-formed, but did you know they can also keep you in-shape? Read on to learn more on the Socks4Life.com team’s favorite iPhone apps for fitness, nutrition and health!

Nutrition Apps

MyFitnessPal (free) is a well-known tool used to track exercise and nutrition. This app has a huge food database so you rarely need to create custom foods. Frequently used foods are stored and you can even reuse entire meals. Plus, the newest update allows users to scan food barcodes to add them to your record. MyFitnessPal features over 350 exercises and also gives you the ability to create custom exercises or enter calories manually. You can set fitness goals, track your progress and analyze your data on your phone or their website as your information is automatically synced to the web. The MyFitnessPal online community is large and loves to provide motivation for users should you chose to publicize your data.

Lose It! (free) sets nutritional goals and establishes a daily calorie budget that will allow you to meet those goals. The program is straightforward and recording food and exercise is fairly simple. The app has a comprehensive list of foods and exercises so users are generally able to find their food or exercise and quickly add it to their record. In addition to calorie tracking, nutrients such as protein, fat and carbohydrates are monitored.

Daily Burn (free) is another great app for tracking diet and exercise with the unique ability to create nutritional plans based on your goal whether it’s losing weight, maintaining a low carbohydrates or low fat diet, or even bodybuilding. The app also features a Food Scanner that allows you to scan barcodes for quicker logging. The DailyBurn has an extensive online community that will provide motivation to those who upload their data to the website. Finally, this app includes a number of training plans for people who enjoy having all their fitness needs met in one program.

Cardio Apps

iTreadmill ($.99) is a fantastic app for basic step counting. Just drop you iPhone or iPod touch in your pocket and the (surprisingly accurate) accelerometer will measure your step count, distance, calories burned, pace and time elapsed. The app even works on the treadmill or elliptical! The program stores your data so you can set goals and monitor your progress. I would recommend this app if you want an idea of your daily energy expenditure; it was certainly motivation for me to park a little farther away.

Couch to 5K ($2.99) is a popular app for beginning runners. The 9 week program eases you into running and schedules workouts so that you incrementally build up stamina. The 5K plan is structured around 30 to 40 minute long workouts 3 days per week. Each session uses audio alerts to tell you when to alternate between walking and running. The app keeps a history of each run’s distance, pace, weight and calories burned. You can also listen to you own music without leaving the app or share your progress on Facebook or Twitter.

RunKeeper (free) is the ideal program for regular runners. The app uses your device’s GPA to record your fitness activity by tracking distance, time, pace, calories burned and path traveled. When your run is finished the data is synced to the Runkeeper website where you can review all of your stats. A popular feature is the interval coaching during workouts to help you keep your desired pace. The app also allows iPod integration so you can listen to music and change tracks without leaving the program.

Edomondo Sports Tracker (free) is another great app for distance-based fitness including cycling, walking and running. The app tracks duration, distance, speed and calories burned during an exercise bout and uploads the data to their website automatically. The program gives audio feedback for every mile, and friends who use Endomondo can send you messages during your workout. Finally, manually entering a treadmill run, spinning, swimming or weight training session is simple and will be included in your stats.

Exercise Apps

iSometrics ($.99) is a unique app that allows you exercise virtually anywhere. Isometric fitness is a form of resistance training in which muscles contract without significant movement—so no expensive equipment or large area needed. The app has exercise guides that target major muscle groups with built-in timers for each exercise.  You can track your fitness and workouts using the planner. Squeezing in a few iSometric exercises throughout the work day reduces stress and breaks up the day.

GymGoal ($1.99) is a great tool for tracking exercise–especially for gym rats.  The app features 280 exercises with animations and instructions to ensure proper form and equipment use. There are over 50 workout routines to follow or you can create your own. The app has programs for strength, muscle size or weight loss—a great feature for novice gym goers. The app tracks your workout history and shows muscles that have been neglected during past workouts.

Authentic Yoga ($1.99) is a wonderful app for all yoga students. The program includes instructional poses and videos for beginners to experts.  Each pose is demonstrated and has audio and visual instructions too. The actual photos, as opposed to simple animations or descriptions, put this app above other yoga apps. The program also includes yoga video lessons that range from strength building and flexibility, to stress reduction and relaxation.

Got your iPhone loaded up with apps? Head to the Exercise Apparel Guide to figure out what gear you’ll need to start your exercise program!