When it comes to fitness, everyone has different goals and priorities. But for a lot of women, the most important ones are easy access, versatility, and privacy. You want to be able to get in shape anywhere, without having to commit to a gym membership or buy a bunch of equipment. And you also want to be able to do so without feeling like everyone else’s eyes are on you.
And that’s exactly where these apps come in. Each one of them is designed to give you an easy way to stay fit in settings where you can’t easily access a gym or fitness class. They’re also designed with women specifically in mind, making the process as easy and worry-free as possible.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Women’s Fitness
In the age of technology, it’s pretty easy to find an exercise app that allows you to train wherever you go. The right workout app will act as a virtual personal trainer to help you attain your fitness goals. If you’ve found yourself repeating the same workouts at the gym or you’re bored with your home workouts, a workout app may help spice up your routine.
The way these exercise apps work is pretty simple. You pay a subscription membership and in exchange you get access to a library of fitness content. With a wide variety of workout apps available and many not offering free trials, it can be challenging to know what each app offers or if it’s worth the investment. In this article, I’ll go over the best workout subscription apps for women, what you can expect from each and any outstanding features. (Although most of the apps listed here are targeted toward women and feature mostly women trainers, anyone can benefit from them — there’s no such thing as a gender-specific exercise.)Best for strength training: Tone and Sculpt$14.99 a month or $90.99 a year
App Store rating: 4.9 out of 5
Google Play rating: 4.7 out of 5
Tone and Sculpt is my go-to workout app. As a fitness enthusiast hitting the gym consistently for the past seven years, I’ve tried numerous workout programs and apps. Still, I always find myself coming back to Tone and Sculpt.
This app allows you to customize your fitness plan to the point that it seems like the program was personalized for you. You get to choose the trainer of your liking from women with different specialties like strength training, endurance, barre and yoga. You can also select the number of workout sessions you want to accomplish every week (three or five times per week), the level you are most comfortable with (beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert), equipment (you can also select if you will be working out from home or in a gym) and, lastly, nutrition preference. Depending on the program you select, you can expect the duration to be anywhere from eight weeks (yoga) to 67 weeks (strength training).
Once you’ve selected the program that best fits your goals and lifestyle, you’ll see your dashboard, where you can find your weekly planner showing the workout routines by days of the week. You can change the order of the workouts in your planner and add any workouts or challenges from the workout library. Short videos and descriptions accompany each exercise to help you do it correctly.
One of my favorite features of this app is the meal planner. You can choose from four different diet types: standard (best for omnivores), vegetarian, vegan and pescatarian. With the meal planner, you can input your own meals to track what you eat in a day, or you can ask the app to do it for you. If you let the app plan your meals, it will give you a shopping list and recipes for your meals. Most of these recipes are simple and easy to follow and they usually take 15 to 20 minutes to prep.
All in all, this app offers the right programs and nutrition plans if you’re looking to build muscle. If you would like to try it yourself, check out the 14-day free trial.
Pros:
- Fully customizable workout routines
- Variety of levels to choose from
- Includes nutrition plan
Cons:
- You have to click through every repetition of each set to get through your workout
App Store rating: 5 out of 5
Google Play rating: 4.9 out of 5
When my gym shut down right at the beginning of the pandemic, I made my way to the Melissa Wood Health Method. I’d followed the founder, Melissa Wood-Tepperberg, on Instagram for about two years before that moment and sporadically took Pilates classes she shared on her profile. Once I was left without a gym to attend, I thought that it was a good time to subscribe to her app since I enjoyed her classes and her inspiring content so much. I subscribed to the seven-day free trial and decided to keep my membership because of how good the workouts made me feel.
The MWH Method aims to help you sculpt long, lean lines by practicing controlled, low-impact movements. At the beginning of each practice, you’re prompted to set an intention for your workout. The idea behind the method is to work toward a stronger body and build a better relationship with yourself.
This app has an extensive selection of workouts to choose from, and every Monday a new workout is uploaded. Most of the MWH Method videos are 10 to 30 minutes long and combine low-impact Pilates and yoga movements. Don’t be fooled by the “low-impact” wording — that does not mean easy or low-effort. The subtle movements and prolonged repetition will have your muscles burning. She also occasionally mixes in dance movements as part of the warmups to get you in the mood for working out. In addition to the regular workouts, the program offers guided meditations, pre- and post-natal exercises and beginner workouts.
Pros:
- Workout library is highly organized
- Inclusive routines for all body types and levels of experience
- Short workouts that you can bundle to create your own routine
Cons:
- No long-term program to follow
- No tools for tracking progress
SEE AT MELISSA WOOD HEALTHBest for holistic health: StrongHer$14.99 per month / $38.99 per quarter / $89.99 per year
App Store rating: 4.7 out of 5
Google Play rating: 4.7 out of 5
StrongHer was created by Melissa Chalmers when she began a fitness journey for her wedding. As she started seeing results and the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle, she decided to share what she had learned with the rest of the world. This fitness and nutrition program aims to provide a personal trainer that you can take anywhere with you through an app. What I like about the app is that you get personal training and fully customizable nutrition plans tied to your goals. The nutrition plan is just that, a plan with meals you can create with the recipes they provide (no meals will be delivered to your home).
When you download the app, the first thing you’ll do is set your objectives — it could be to lose weight, tone your muscles or build muscle mass. Then you’ll be asked about whether you’ll be working out at home or at a gym and the type of workouts you enjoy most, followed by a series of questions about things like height, weight and lifestyle.
You can customize your nutrition plan to your liking, choosing from a standard diet (no allergies or restrictions), keto or vegetarian. To all my fellow vegans, worry not. Even though there isn’t an official vegan option, if you select the vegetarian option, you can exclude foods like honey, milk and eggs to make your plan vegan-friendly. Similarly to Weight Watchers, StrongHer has a point system for the foods in your nutrition plan. Every food is assigned a number of points based on its calories, fat and protein. The number of points you have in your daily budget will depend on your personalized nutrition plan.
What sets this workout app apart from the rest is the ability to track your progress through time. For example, suppose you started with 5-pound weights for bicep curls, and in two months you are able to lift 10 pounds. If you document it in the app, it’ll show you historical data about your physical activity progress, calorie intake and water intake.
As for the workouts, I found them to be fun and you can make them as challenging as you want. The app will not recommend the amount of weight to use; instead, you decide what feels right or challenging enough for you. There is a quick outline and a short video demonstration for each exercise in case the movement is new to you or you wish to have more guidance on your form.
Pros:
- New workouts added to the library every week
- Ability to track progress over time
- Personalized meal plans
Cons:
- Aggressive ads to upgrade membership
- Users on the App Store have reported slow customer service response
SEE AT STRONGHERBest for yoga: Alo Moves$20 per month or $199 per year (14-day free trial)
App Store rating: 4.9 out of 5
Google Play rating: 4.3 out of 5
Alo Moves is a yoga app from parent company Alo Yoga — yes, the trendy brand responsible for getting us all hooked on the famous Alo Yoga Goddess Leggings. The app essentially connects you with yoga instructors through an extensive array of classes.
What I like most about this app is that it’s not limited to only yoga classes. With your membership, you get access to four different workout categories: fitness (Barre, HIIT, Core, Pilates, Stretching and Stretch), yoga (ashtanga, vinyasa, kundalini, hatha, restorative and prenatal), mindfulness (breathwork, meditation, personal growth and sound bath) and skills (focuses on inversions, mobility, poses and flexibility).
As with many other fitness apps, you’ll be asked several questions about your skill level, goals and preferred workout methods upon signing up for Alo Moves. This will narrow down the app’s recommended classes for your specific goals. Most classes range from 20 to 60 minutes long and you can choose from over 70 instructors. Something I found particularly interesting about this app is how it suggests classes you should take based on your answers and classes you’ve taken. Think of it like how Netflix recommends watching certain shows or movies based on what you previously watched.
One thing that stands out from this app is the instructors’ energy and how it varies from one class to another. Most of my instructors from the restorative yoga series had such a calming and soothing presence that I made taking a yoga class part of my morning routine. On the other hand, the teachers from the kundalini or vinyasa classes radiate so much energy that you finish the class ready to take on the day. It’s safe to say that there is a class for every type of mood. I should point out that for the most part instructors will describe the poses, but others assume that you know the pose they call out. This might make classes challenging to follow for beginners. Taking classes with Alo Moves is comparable to taking a class in a studio, with the flexibility of going at your own pace.
Pros:
- Class recommendations tailored to you
- Extensive workout library
Cons:
- More expensive than most workout subscription services
- Beginners might not find the classes descriptive enough
SEE AT ALO MOVESBest for experienced trainers: Sweat$19.99 a month (with a seven-day free trial) or $119.94 a year
App Store rating: 4.6 out of 5
Google Play rating: 4.3 out of 5
The Sweat App was founded by Kayla Itsines, an Australian fitness guru who gained popularity on social media with her High Intensity with Kayla (formerly known as BBG) e-books back in 2015. Since then, the fitness program has evolved from digital book to fitness app, raking up over 1 million users every month.
It’s not hard to see why this workout app is a fan favorite; it offers over 30 programs — all designed to fit multiple workout preferences and achieve different results. Some of the most notable plans include at-home workouts, gym training plans, post-pregnancy programs and zero-equipment workouts. Even when you finish a program, there are so many other options to explore that it’s doubtful you’ll ever get bored with a routine. And like any other well-designed fitness app, Sweat strives to provide you with a personal trainer 24/7 right in the palm of your hand, along with a nutrition plan to help you reach your goals.
Before beginning your workout, you can set up your playlist (through Spotify or Apple Music) and select the equipment you have available. Based on your equipment selection, the app will recommend a routine that you can follow. I found this particularly helpful since most workout apps have fixed routines, and often you don’t have the right equipment to complete them. Every exercise is paired with a video and description if you’re unsure how to execute specific movements.
I think this app is best for experienced trainers because of how challenging the PWR program is. PWR focuses on muscle growth and body strength through hypertrophy, which is essentially an increase in muscle size that is achieved through progressive weight lifting. The workouts range from 45 to 60 minutes long and are meant to be performed in a gym. If you’re into strength training but don’t have access to a gym, you can opt for the PWR At Home program.
The nutrition plan is pretty on par with what other workout apps offer. It plans out your meals for the week and has recipes that you can follow to create at home. Sweat takes the planning out of your workouts and nutrition. Overall, the app is straightforward and really user-friendly.
Pros:
- Spotify and Apple music integrated into the app
- Ability to customize your weekly workout plan
- Each exercise has an alternative exercise if the one suggested is too challenging
Cons:
- Pricier than other apps with similar features
- Exercises are pretty repetitive throughout the workouts
best fitness apps for android
What are the best fitness apps for Android?
- FITNOTES
Fitnotes Hero
(Image credit: Jordan Palmer / Android Central)
Upfront, I have to admit that I’ve been a FitNotes user for years. It’s been my go-to workout tracker as I’ve jumped gyms, moved across the country, recovered from injury, and restarted getting back into shape and achieving my goals. Yes, the UI is still stuck in the Holo era (#holoyolo), but it remains pleasant to look at and gets the job done.
That’s all you can ask for in a workout tracker. It comes with a pre-built list of exercises split up by muscle group. You can easily add in your own movements, too — I tend to do a lot of atypical exercises to target my muscles in different or unique ways or to get those smaller, more troublesome ones (looking at you, rhomboids). Tracking your weight and reps is super easy, and you can edit your records if you make a mistake.
You can also track cardio workouts, see a monthly view of your training sessions, track your body weight and fat percentage, get a nice analysis of what you’ve accomplished, and backup your logs to Google Drive or Dropbox if you’re switching or moving between phones. It’s a powerful app and a must-have for anyone serious about bodybuilding and powerlifting or just weightlifting in general. Best of all, it’s completely and totally free, and there is no account required whatsoever.
Image
Track your workouts without the hassle
In our opinion, FitNotes is the king of workout tracker apps. It’s free, easy on the eyes, and is packed full of features to make sure you keep on track with your weight and cardio training. It even has a backup feature.
Free at Google Play
- NIKE RUN CLUB
I’m not much of a runner, but when I do have the itch or desire to try to get into it, Nike Run Club is my constant partner and friend along the way. NRC is one of the best running apps for Android I could find — it’s free, it lets me track my stats, gamify my attempts at running, and compete with other people via leaderboards.
There’s Wear OS support, audio-guided runs with Nike coaches, and challenges to keep you entertained and interested. It’s a dope app and one I think every runner should have. But, even with all of the things that it does, Nike Run Club is totally free.
Yep, whereas Strava, Runtastic, and Runkeeper all have subscription services for the good stuff, NRC is entirely free. As a result, it’s an excellent and above-average app.
Image
Excellent — and it’s all free
Nike Run Club would already have a spot on this list because of its suite of features, but because it does it all for free, it’s one of our top picks. While not the most robust out there, it gets the job done and does it well.
Free at Google Play
- JEFIT
Rounding out our top three picks is JEFIT. Like FitNotes, you can use the app to track your workouts with a heavy focus on weightlifting as a whole. Where it separates itself from FitNotes, however, is in the number of features and training ideas it packs in. It tries to do a lot more than our top contender, but we feel it doesn’t quite match the standard that FitNotes sets.
That said, JEFIT is still an excellent option if you want something a bit more robust. It offers different programs with a bodybuilding slant, such as 5×5, 3-day splits, strength plans, and at-home and bodyweight workouts. It features a built-in database of exercises (with videos) to ensure you’re tracking exactly what you’re doing.
It also has cross-platform support between the app and the web, so you can keep track and analyze your results wherever you are. It also sports monthly fitness challenges, goal setting, and a friend system to help you stay motivated and accountable. It does, however, contain ads and a subscription option.
Image
Workout tracking and programs galore
JEFIT sets itself apart as a workout tracker with many features like an interval timer, workout programs, and a vast database of exercises with how-to videos. It’s a robust app that looks nice and does its job well. In our opinion, it’s held back by its subscription model, putting it behind FitNotes and NRC.
Free w/ IAP at Google Play
Other great options
Though they didn’t quite make it into our top three, here are some other excellent fitness apps for you to try out.
GOOGLE FIT
Google Fit Smartwatch Lifestyle
(Image credit: Chris Wedel / Android Central)
Google Fit is a staple on Android. It’s Google’s attempt at making an app that encourages you to stay fit, using what it calls Heart Points. You earn these points by doing activities: going for a walk, finishing a workout, etc. You can also track sleep, heart rate, and body weight.
Fit also integrates with other apps, including Strava, Runkeeper, and so on. It’s a straightforward app with not too much going on. I hardly use it in my day-to-day life, mainly just to track my steps. It lacks many robust feature sets of other apps on this list, but it’s a good, free option for tracking your health goals.
Image
Simple, clean, efficient
Google Fit doesn’t have too much going on, and its features are somewhat limited. However, its Heart Points system is an excellent way of gamifying fitness into something fun and motivating. It does have a step counter, heart rate tracking, and sleep tracking, too.
Free at Google Play
FITBIT
Fitbit Versa 3 Heart Rate
(Image credit: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central)
While Fitbit is a necessity if you own one of the best Fitbits, it can function on its own as a fitness app. Even without signing up for Fitbit Premium, you can use the app to find different workouts and nutritional programs, and even use it to help keep track of your sleep. But then, there’s the obvious syncing with Google Fit and other options on this list.
Of course, the Fitbit app is best when used in conjunction with a Fitbit smartwatch or fitness tracker. You’ll be able to keep track of your workouts, watch your steps, and get in-depth sleep analysis.
Image
Not just for wearables
Even if you don’t own a Fitbit, you can use the Fitbit app to track your workouts and even compete with your friends.
Free w/ IAP at Google Play
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Check out other publications to gain access to more digital resources if you are just starting out with Flux Resource.
Also contact us today to optimize your business(s)/Brand(s) for Search Engines