The Worst Fitness Apps

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Fitness apps have become an increasingly popular way for people to stay in shape and are one of the primary means for doing so. But not all fitness apps offer equal results.

The best fitness apps can hold you accountable with push notifications, calendar workouts, community boards or coaching check-ins; the worst may do more harm than good.

Table of Contents

1. Peloton

Peloton offers more workout options at an economical cost than many of its rivals, from cycling classes and strength sessions, yoga, treadmill running and virtual race training to virtual races and power zone training. But this equipment-heavy service requires iOS phones only.

This app boasts an expansive roster of instructors with varied teaching styles, musical preferences and class length preferences – offering plenty of variety both live and on-demand classes with difficulty levels ranging from beginner to advanced.

Over the weekend, FitBit unveiled several of its latest features that won’t become available until later in 2017. Many are significant; among them are being able to mute personal stats during classes as well as more metrics for power zones and theme rides.

2. Runna

This app focuses on helping runners set and meet running goals, from couch to 5k training plans all the way through marathon preparation, with weekly mileage/pace targets provided as part of those plans. Plus, PBs are celebrated and there’s even an in-app community where users can talk about progress!

Signing up requires providing some basic information about your running history and performance levels as well as preferred exercise days (you can alter these in settings). From here, an exercise plan including speed and interval training will be created specifically for you.

Runna may allow users to skip week-by-week plans, but an annual subscription is required in order to access its full workout schedule and maximize its use. Furthermore, Runna lacks some insights available from competing apps and does not support Healthkit integration.

3. Strava

Strava is one of the leading fitness apps, designed to connect runners and cyclists, compete against each other, track their activity and stay informed. This app features maps for route planning, training logs, club search functionality as well as compatibility with popular smartwatches.

Users can upload workouts directly from their phone, tablet, or computer and receive a detailed breakdown of their progress – including relative effort (measured by heart rate, power, or Perceived Exertion), time, distance, elevation segments goals. They can even track mileage with gear like shoes or bikes and receive notifications when it’s time to replace them.

This app boasts an active community and extensive content library – such as guided meditations and workouts from popular athletes – but seems less focused on nutrition or mindset as important areas for getting fit.

4. Apple Fitness Plus

Apple Fitness Plus should be considered essential if you own an Apple Watch; however, the $9.99 monthly subscription might not be worthwhile if you are still getting started in fitness. But it could provide a useful way of breaking into fitness with classes designed to be manageable both in length and difficulty levels.

Peloton offers excellent workouts for those without equipment but who still desire group classes to keep motivated and energized, but its workouts don’t provide quite the same variety or excitement of group exercise classes like these ones do. Unfortunately, however, the app lacks as much diversity in its collection workouts than Peloton does and its workouts tend to be somewhat monotonous and uninspiring compared to Peloton – more categories like weight training or guided running sessions would greatly expand its offerings as would more 45 minute workouts so they could offer more workouts that don’t just repeat themselves every few seconds of every minute – more like Peloton does with each class session!

5. FitnessAI

FitnessAI uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assist users in meeting their fitness goals. It takes into account an individual’s current strength level, preferences for exercises and physical attributes when creating an effective muscle-building workout program that will pack on muscle mass efficiently.

This app also offers a full body workout designed to increase strength while decreasing injury risks, although some individuals may prefer working with an in-person personal trainer who provides accountability and motivation.

Notably, this app charges a monthly subscription fee of $15. Considering its functionality and investment potential for many individuals, this could well make sense as an option to boost strength and build muscle without using weight machines at gym.