Although you should never wish the year away, we are quickly coming towards the end of 2016, which means that the New Year will soon be upon us. Over the coming months however, getting in shape and/or staying in shape will prove to be incredibly difficult for many reasons. To begin with we have the colder weather, which means we become less active, comfort eat, and worry less and less about our appearance. Then of course, we have the holiday season which involves copious amounts of unhealthy food and drink, and again, a distinct lack of exercise and physical activity. We then have the New Year, which again, involves parties, bad food, alcohol, and excess. Come January 2nd however, once everybody’s hangovers have worn off and they finally work up the courage to step onto the scales, or to try and fasten their jeans, people decide to attempt to follow up on their New Year’s resolutions, which are, more often than not, based around losing weight and getting fit. Modern technology nowadays however, has made life far easier for people looking to get fit and healthy, thanks mainly to smart technology, and more specifically, apps. There are currently countless smart phone and tablet apps out there designed to help people get fit and healthy, yet not all of them are that beneficial, and some of them can actually be considered counter-productive. Here we’ll be taking a look at 4 fitness apps for 2016 that look set to be the best of the best, and are almost guaranteed to help anybody using them to meet their various health and fitness goals for the New Year. So, let’s take a look at which apps are going to be big in 2016.
MyFitnessPal
When it comes to health and fitness apps, you simply can’t go wrong with MyFitnessPal (App Store, Google Play), as the app has consistently been one of the best FREE apps currently available. The app is ideal as it allows you to easily keep a track of your daily macronutrient targets, by setting goals to begin with. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, you put this as your goal, enter some basic info about yourself, and the app will then give you a daily target for calories, fats, carbs, and protein, which, providing you hit and don’t go over, will allow you to safely and healthily lose weight. You can even manually enter your workouts by stating what you did, and, if you know, how many calories you burnt off. Currently, although you can enter weigh training workouts, there is no way of knowing how many calories that activity burnt off, but even so, it is still useful. To keep track of what you’ve consumed you can scan barcodes of foods and drinks and enter the weight/quantity you consumed, or you can select from a list of foods manually.
Nike+ running
For those of you who happen to enjoy running, the Nike+ (App Store, Google Play) running app is absolutely ideal. The app will allow runners to meet their various goals and targets, to focus on either distance, or speed, and to even achieve rewards in the form of digital trophies as new milestones are reached. The app comes complete with time tracking capabilities and GPS, and even a calorie counter, so you can track your route, your time, and how many calories you’ve burnt off. As if that wasn’t enough, there are also a number of training programs integrated within the app, which range from everything from 5ks, to full on marathons. The app even syncs with your music so you can program what are known as “power songs” which will help provide additional motivation when you really need a lift. You can also pair up with friends and other users of the app so you essentially have your very own virtual workout partner.
Stronglifts 5×5
As you can probably guess by the name, this app is more centred around bodybuilders and those with an interest in weight, strength, and resistance training. It is ideal for tracking your workouts and is designed to be far more effective and quicker than having to write everything down with a pen and paper. The app comes complete with what is known as the “stronglifts principle” which is three exercises for five reps, for five working sets. You can even time your rest periods with the app, as well as your growth and strength progress as well. If strength and/or muscle growth are your goals, this is the perfect app to make use of in 2016, as well as right now for that matter. (App Store, Google Play)
IWOD Pro
Crossfit is now insanely popular, and if recent trends are anything to go by, crossfit gyms and performance centres in 2016, are going to be absolutely stocked to the gills of new members. For this reason, the IWOD Pro app is a crossfitter’s best friend for the New Year. The app comes complete with more than 1000 WODs (workouts of the day) so you will have more than enough variation when it comes to your workouts. The great thing about crossfit, is that, thanks to their WOD principles, no two workouts are exactly alike, so you will always be doing something new, which keeps things fresh and exciting. As if that wasn’t all, there are also more than 50,000 paleo-friendly food recipes so you can not only exercise right, but eat right at the same time. There’s an integrated timer, as well as video instructions for each workout, so you know exactly what you’re doing when you train. Just to add the icing to the cake, as it were, a protein cake of course, there is also a number of listed paleo and CrossFit sites on the app, so if you do for some reason, feel like looking elsewhere for inspiration or motivation, you can simply select from the list of sites in the app.
