There’s little doubt at least one of your New Year’s resolutions involves healthier living.
Whether you want to drop weight, add muscle, complete a marathon or just maintain a healthy lifestyle, beginning on the path to a happier, healthier you can be intimidating. At least it used to be.
But the saying is true, “There’s an app for that.” And that includes apps to strengthen our fitness fortitude through our phones, tablets and computers. Apps range in functionality from monitoring our progress and counting calories in a healthy diet to providing safety when we go on those evening runs.
To help get your New Year off on the right foot, figuratively and literally, we’ve scoured tech magazines, websites and phone apps to find a few suggestions to get you started on a healthy path in 2014.
All of the apps listed below can be downloaded through the Apple store or Google Play on your mobile device for free.
MyFitnessPal
Since a majority of New Year’s Resolutions involve weight loss, it makes sense to start with a healthy diet. But where, exactly, should we start once that holiday candy and half-gallons of eggnog finally vacate our refrigerators?
Thankfully there’s the MyFitnessPal app, which is free for all devices.
The application allows users to reach weight loss goals by creating an easy-to-read calorie counter on the screen. It’s adjustable numbers let you set daily calorie goals and record daily food intake.
Not sure how many calories you need to achieve your goal? No problem. The app gives a recommended amount, but it can be adjusted if you have a specific target in mind. Are you unsure how many calories are hiding in that yogurt parfait you’re eyeing at the local cafe? Find specific items in the list of foods loaded in the app or scan in foods with the barcode scanner.
MyFitness Pall tallies your overall caloric intake and even breaks down your food consumption by carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
It even includes a diary to track exercise habits. Of course, the app won’t do the heavy lifting (or running) for you. But it’s easy to use diary lets you keep a fitness journal and track your progress while letting you hit each small goal one at a time.
Do you need additional motivation? The app connects to an online community so you can get support and ideas easily.
MapMyRun
Trainers everywhere will tell you that increasing your heart rate is the best way to burn calories. But how far should you run? If you don’t want to stay chained to a treadmill, how do you figure out the best outdoor route?
Well, the tech geniuses thought about all of that.
MapMyRun is a fitness tracking application that enables you to use the built-in GPS of your mobile device to track all of your fitness activities, specifically your running. Record your workout details, including duration, distance, pace, speed, elevation, calories burned, and route traveled on an interactive map. You can even effortlessly save and upload your workout data to MapMyRun where you can view your route workout data, and comprehensive workout history.
It even includes access to maps created by other users, elevation maps and a nutrition log. This is another free lap that works on both Apple and Android devices.
When you’re ready to run, click “Record and then Start.” The “Record” is a handy feature that gives you a pre-programmed time (usually 10 seconds) to put away your phone before the app starts tracking your run. When you complete your run, press “Pause/Stop” and “Save” your workout, if you want to evaluate it later or program the route.
Users can share the success of their run via Facebook or Twitter to compare routes and times with other running enthusiasts.
Running not your thing? Check out its sister app for cycling enthusiasts, MapMyRide.
GymGoal ABC/TotalGym Fitness
Nutrition and Cardio are definitely important to staying healthy. But probably the most intimidating New Year’s Resolution for a lot of us is the gym. Once you buy the membership, where do you start? Trainers are great, but what happens after that first session when you’re thrown out on the gym floor to workout on your own?
Fortunately, there’s GymGoal ABC, which, as its name suggests, gives you the simple ABCs of weightlifting. The app is only available for Apple devices. So if you’re an Android user, you may want to check out TotalGym Fitness, which has similar functions.
Not only do both apps offer nutrition tips, they give you workouts, challenges and a guide to more than 250 exercises and 50-plus workout routines.
Besides offering you animations and step-by-step instructions on how to work out properly and effectively, both apps offer challenges to improve your fitness goals weekly by reminding you of your past goals and encouraging you to surpass them.
The apps are so popular that Men’s Fitness has highlighted both as must-haves for tech savvy beginners at the gym.
Getting into shape takes more than just gym routines and nutrition. It also takes patience and a commitment to monitoring your body mass index (BMI). Both apps have easy ways to calculate your BMI and offers tips on how to best reach your ideal number.
