My friend, and former high school boat-mate, Kendall, inspired this post…  A couple of days ago she texted me asking if I knew of any good apps for tracking how far you run.  The funny thing about her text, was I was actually on a run, and using my favorite fitness app when she sent it!  As soon as I finished my workout, I sent her some information about the Nike+Running App…which I am obsessesed with.  After responding to her, it occurred to me, why not write an entire post about the coolest and and most helpful health and fitness apps!?  So for all you fitness geeks like me out there, here you go!  Enjoy

1. Nike+Running App

 Like I said earlier, “Nike+Running” hands-down is my favorite app.  I use it more than any of the other health/fitness apps I have.  First you create your own profile so every time you use the app, it tracks your runs.  Not only does it record your individual runs, but it also records your fastest 1k, fastest 1 mile, farthest run, longest run, and fastest 5k.  You can check your “activity” any time, and see breakdowns of each individual run.  When you look at the individual run, it shows a map of where you ran, your average mile pace, calroies burned, how long your workout was, how you felt during that workout, what type of terrain you ran on, and even what Nike shoes you wore.  You can also share all of your runs on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, so everyone can follow your progress.  I like to post on Facebook that I am about to start a Nike+ run, so when my Facebook friends “like” my activity, I actually get a loud applause and cheer during my workout!  Pretty fun and motivatingfeauture!  Another cool feature the app has is the the ability for you to pick your own music playlist to run to.  It also has “powersongs” you can program.  A powersong is a song you choose to play any time you need a little extra motivation during your run.  I also like the competitive feature this app has.  You can invite friends to play a game of “tag” with you.  You and your friends can choose to run either for distance or for time.  Then, whoever runs either the slowest mile, or the shortest distance, is “it!”  It helps keep me excited about working out…and I always love competition 😉�   Again, this is easily my favorite app.  Download it now and challenge me to a game of tag!

2. Fitocracy

“Fitocracy” is an app that turns working out and fitness into a competitive game.  You track your workouts by entering the weight and reps of exercises you performed that day.  You can also monitor your workouts overtime, and create your own workout routines.  Fitocracy becomes a fun game by having levels, achievements, quests, challenges, and duels for you to try.  You progress through levels based on the points you receive per exercise.  You are awarded achievement badges for various things such as completing your first 5k, lifting a certain percentage of your body weight, etc.  Quests help keep you motivated and usually consist of multiple exercises; for example, “try four different leg exercises within one week.”  Fitocracy involves other people by allowing you to have duels (a competition between you and another member on Fitocracy) and challenges (competition that takes place amongst groups you can join).  You can also tag all of your workouts and encourage your friends to joinso they can see all of your hard work.

3. Gain Fitness

“Gain Fitness” is a great app that allows you to customize just about everything.  You tell it what days you want to workout, what time of day you want to workout, and how long you want your workout to last.  Once you create your personalized workout calender, you will receive push notifications to help you stick to your goal and stay on track.  You also choose the type of exercise you want to do.  The options are endless.  They range from strength training, yoga, to even sport sport specific workouts.  Once you finalize those settings, you are matched with a digital personal trainer.  They motivate you throughout your workout, keep you on pace, and tell you tips and hints for making sure you are using proper technique.  There are even animations and pictures to help you remember how to perform the exercise or movement.  After your workout is completed, you can track it and share it!  Just another awesome app to help you stay accountable and motivated.

4. Lose It!

“Lose It!” is the perfect app for those who need help creating and sticking with a diet plan.  First you set a goal weight for yourself, and a date that you want to reach that weight.  Then, the app creates a “calorie budget” for you to follow every day based off of your weight loss goals.  “Lose It!” has a pretty large food database which makes calorie counting easy.  Did you eat 3 eggs for breakfast?  Just search Lose It!, find eggs, and enter how many you ate.  The app will do the math for you, and subtract what you eat from your total allowed daily calories.  This way, after everything you eat or drink, you will know how many more calories you can consume during the rest of the day.  You can even scan the barcode on your food and it will be added to your food log – pretty neat feature.  There is also a support group available 24/7 to help keep you focused on your goals!

throws in a 30 second break every two to three exercises.  Again, for a no-thinking-involved workout, just launch this app and get started!

Hope you find these apps as useful as I have!  Maybe after all the St. Patrick’s Day parties you can get started with some of these 😉�

Your Turn: -Do you have any other apps you recommend? -Have you tried these apps that I listed? -Do you have any big plans for St. Patrick’s Day?

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