Train Like an Athlete
These platforms have also integrated seamlessly with popular fitness trackers like Fitbit, allowing users to synchronize their cardiovascular data with strength training metrics for a holistic view of their health. Community support and interaction are integral to the user experience in strength training apps, providing a platform for knowledge exchange and motivational feedback. A well-designed user interface facilitates this interaction, allowing athletes to share diet tips, training strategies, and personal milestones. This collaborative environment not only fosters a sense of camaraderie but also encourages users to remain accountable and engaged with their fitness goals.
Your coach will create your personalized training plan
For lifters who want the most variety at zero cost — especially bodyweight training — one app stands alone. Hevy takes a different approach to free — it’s the stronger choice if logging trumps coaching. Understanding why strength training helps isn’t just motivational — for women over 40, the science-backed case changes how you should choose an app. WeGLOW is currently the app most directly aligned with that clinical evidence base.
- This flexibility allows trainers to monetize their expertise effectively.
- Like most exercise programs, what you get out of a fitness app depends on what you put into it.
- These programs consider previous treadmill sessions, weightlifting achievements, and even recovery times to craft a regimen that evolves with the user.
- Every food is assigned a number of points based on its calories, fat and protein.
- Strength+ costs $10 per month, but it is free for anyone with an existing App+ or All-Access membership.
- From state-of-the-art equipment to innovative programs, we’ve got everything to kickstart your health journey.
Best for Apple Watch Lifters
Make sure that the app you choose offers multiple levels of expertise so that as you get fitter, you can challenge yourself and move on to the next level. Shred also offers full-length studio classes in yoga, boxing, HIIT, and more. “It creates running workouts with interval variations based on the time I want to exercise—great for mixing up my routine.”
Pay monthly
This combination of personal training with ongoing nutritional support empowers participants to achieve their long-term health and fitness objectives. The Caliber app is another completely free option, with a focus on strength training. Similar to the two apps above, it features a mix of training plans — targeted at both building muscle and cutting fat — on-demand video workouts and weekly lessons. If you want to track nutrition and build healthy habits, Yazio is the strongest option, with a database of over 4 million foods and a built-in intermittent fasting tracker. If you prefer structured workouts to drive weight loss, Sweat and Muscle Booster both offer progressive programmes that will help you build the consistency needed to see results.
Best for Variety
Nike Training Club (available on Android and iOS) is free and offers a wide variety of workout videos. Think exercises for late pregnancy, family-friendly activities, hour-long strength training sessions, and short yoga classes. High-intensity workouts designed to build strength, burn fat, and improve overall fitness in a motivating team environment. With expert coaching and scalable exercises, adults of all fitness levels can train like athletes and achieve real, lasting results.
Do workout apps really work?
For keeping tabs and everything from walks to hikes to mountain bike rides, I turn to the free version of the Strava app. My colleague Lee Bell is also a big fan of the free Gymshark Training app. And, if you’re more of a pavement pounder than a gym shark, check out the Runkeeper app.
Best for iPhone Users
Health professionals particularly appreciate Cronometer, with Cronometer Pro offering specialized features for dietitians and nutritionists to work with clients directly through the app. Research shows that just two strength sessions per week can boost brain function, improve metabolism, reduce aches, regulate stress hormones, and lower chronic inflammation. Strength Well makes achieving these benefits straightforward and measurable. Hevy syncs with Apple Health, which means your workout data flows to the Apple ecosystem — but Hevy does not have a native Apple Watch app for standalone logging. For dedicated internal guidance on progressive overload methods, see our guide to progressive overload for beginners. Choosing between them is a question of how deep you want your data to go.
Classpass offers a membership through an app that gives you access to various boutique fitness studios in your area. Instead of paying per class at one studio, with ClassPass, you’re paying a flat fee every month and have the option to choose from participating studios you’d like to check out for the month. Having used Classpass in the past, it makes booking classes easier based on your schedule and how often you’ll realistically get to a studio. The app includes programs for all levels and preferences, from high-intensity HIIT to low-impact strength training, barre, yoga, and specialized programs for pregnancy and postnatal recovery. Each program is led by an expert trainer who understands the unique challenges and goals women face. For anyone wanting intelligent workout tracking that goes beyond simple logging, Shred provides AI-powered coaching, expert programming, and comprehensive analytics at a fraction of personal training costs.
The new partners include Garmin, Amazfit, Runna, Whoop, 24 Hour Fitness (coming this summer) and more. Strava overhauled its strength training feature, allowing athletes to have one space to upload their running, cycling and lifting data. The Fiit workout app is one of the highest-rated options available for Apple or Android devices. And while Fiit has paid subscription tiers, there’s also a free one with plenty to offer.
Which are free apps like Strong?
Peloton also offers Strength+, a strength-focused app for home or gym equipment. It delivers programs tailored to the equipment you have, centr app review from barbells and kettlebells to cable machines and medicine balls. Strength+ costs $10 per month, but it is free for anyone with an existing App+ or All-Access membership.
FITNESS TRACKER DEALS OF THE WEEK
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). If you’re starting to work out and need a plan to follow, a fitness app can be a good way to start. A workout app can help you figure out exactly what to do when you exercise. Some of these apps let you customize your workout based on the space and equipment you have at home, your preferred exercises and your current fitness goals. There are some that even function as a personal trainer without having to set foot in a gym.
Coming from someone who worked for a competitor app who shall remain nameless, I did not hesitate to use KIC and pay for a yearly membership. The beginner programs are truly beginner friendly and you can feel and see the results. I haven’t experienced bugs, and I feel that everything essential is in there. Absolutely love this app and program and love to follow the founders’ bubbly and approachable personalities. Best of all, they are made to be inclusive and appeal to beginners and advanced athletes alike, no matter one’s fitness level or desired workout intensity. By the way, Fiit’s expert instructors are also seriously enjoyable to follow along with.
Best workout app for strength training
Tempo Move is their budget option – it’s just your iPhone with their special phone holder and AI software analyzing your form through the camera. And it still can’t replace in-person coaching for complex form issues. When I was learning Olympic lifts, video feedback wasn’t sufficient – I needed hands-on correction.
With a huge variety of guided workouts, Apple Fitness Plus is a great place to start something new – whether that’s yoga, or training towards a specific running distance. In 2025, there are so many fitness apps out there that knowing where to start can be really daunting. That’s why we test fitness apps and collate our picks to help you make the right decision. Testing the workout apps required doing a lot of planks, burpees, and mountain climbers in my living room. All in all, I’d recommend this to someone who knows they want to have a specific, thought-out program, but not someone who wants more flexibility with their workout app.
