Whether we like it or not, exercise is essential for the well-being of our body and mind. Most of us have correlated physical activity with the gym. However, the gym can get boring fast, and many of us will quit going two months into our prepaid and non-refundable 2-year subscription. On this guide, we will take a look at the best free fitness apps and workout apps on Android, to get a decent workout by ourselves.
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Before anything, consult with a specialist
Physical exercise is generally beneficial. However, some of us may have health issues that preclude us from specific workouts or demand special treatment. What is worse, we might not even be aware of these issues, if we didn't lead an active lifestyle before.
So, before adopting an unsupervised workout regiment through a mobile app, it is essential that we consult with our physician or a personal trainer. Their advice and expertise can spare us from unnecessary injury, or even severe health problems.
In any case, PCsteps and its stuff are not in any way responsible for any adverse effects from the use of the following apps and services.
Workout Apps
Working out shouldn't be equivalent to spending money, or feeling tired and bored. On the contrary, it should be easy, fun, and free.
Fitness apps are constantly evolving over the years. There is a wide variety to choose between, providing different options to our workout routine.
Below we’ll see the best workout apps for Android, as well as what each of them has to offer.
Fitness Apps for Activity Monitoring
The first category we are going to explore is the workout apps that help us monitor our physical activity. We can use these apps to regulate and track how active we were while working out.
Most of these apps are for walking, running, and cycling.
Charity Miles Walk&Run Tracker
Play Store Rating: 4.2★
We chose to start with Charity Miles Walk&Run Tracker since it's an app that converts working out to charity.
Charity Miles registers the time and distance that we walk and run. Furthermore, every step we take is equivalent to a specific amount of money.
All we have to do is to choose the charity of our liking. Right now there are 40 organizations registered in Charity Miles.
Afterwards, we have to allow the app to track our workout and distance before we start our walk or run.
When we finish with our workout, we can stop the timer. The distance that we covered will convert into money.
Once we select the organization, Charity Miles will donate the amount we earned.
The donated money comes from sponsor companies from all around the world, such as Johnson & Johnson, MasterCard, and CVS Health, among others.
The app can work in the background, and it keeps a history of our workouts.
Obviously, Charity Miles Walk&Run Tracker isn't just a simple fitness app, but it also motivates us to run for a good cause.
Google Fit
Play Store Rating: 3.9★
Google Fit is a reliable Google app that has a significant number of downloads. The rating, on the other hand, isn't that high.
Despite this, Google Fit is still one of the best workout apps on Android. With this app we can track our walking, running, and cycling.
Google Fit keeps a history of our workouts, offers detailed data analysis, and tracks the course we took.
With the app, we can set goals that we want to achieve. All the Google Fit's data can sync with any Android Wear.
Finally, it offers data sync with other fitness apps that let us monitor our physical condition.
Run with Map My Run
Play Store Rating: 4.5★
Run with Map My Run is one of the best workout apps. It's free, but it also has a subscription service that offers more features.
With Run With Map My Run, we can track our activity with more than 600 ways of working out. It doesn't matter if we want to lose weight or train for a marathon, this app can help us on both.
Through Run with Map My Run, we can create an exercise plan that suits our needs. Besides, we can review our progress with the detailed history and statistics that it creates.
It's worth mentioning that we can compete with our friends and other users. Run With Map My Run also allows user communication through the social media.
Our data can sync with most of the Android Wear devices, and more than 400 fitness or calorie tracking apps.
The most interesting feature of the app is that it allows us to create or choose a random course for our exercise.
So, we can select courses that other users submitted, or we can create our own.
This way we don't have to repeat the same route, which would be rather dull.
Runtastic Running & Fitness
Play Store Rating: 4.5★
Speaking of fitness apps, Runtastic Running & Fitness has a record regarding how many times users downloaded it.
Runtastic Running & Fitness is all about running, walking and cycling. Nevertheless, Runtastic has developed and offers different workout apps for many types of exercise.
With this application, we can track our activity, create workout plans, or choose one of the app's defaults. Moreover, the ranking system offers competition, and the voice coach helps us push through.
Sadly, Runtastic Running & Fitness syncs only with a few Android Wear devices, as well as with Google Fit and MyFitnessPal.
Among the various data the app provides, it also records the calories we burnt during the exercise.
The free version offers many options, but the features of Runtastic Running & Fitness expand massively with the PRO version.
Runkeeper - GPS Track Run Walk
Play Store Rating: 4.5★
After checking many workout apps, we have to admit, Runkeeper is one of the simplest.
Runkeeper has limited features which prove that the developers created an app only for running.
Runkeeper records our running, walking, and cycling sessions. Also, it can track our progress and route.
We can also set goals and achieve challenges.
The app also syncs with Android Wear devices and has a voice coach.
Strava Running and Cycling GPS
Play Store Rating: 4.6★
Another great app is Strava Running and Cycling GPS. We can record running or cycling with the app, complete challenges, and compete with our friends.
Strava has a unique way to record our exercise. The app allows us to add photos from our activities and share them on social media with our friends.
Finally, it syncs with Android Wear devices, but sadly the personal coach is a paid feature.
Virtual Coach
If we want to create our exercise plan we have two options. Either write down everything on a notepad or use workout apps to help us set up and follow our fitness program.
Below we'll see the best apps to schedule and track our workout routine.
Endomondo - Running & Walking
Play Store Rating: 4.5★
Let's start with the queen of fitness apps which is Endomondo - Running & Walking. This app is a multi tool since it can do almost everything. It tracks our activity, keeps a workout history, and can analyze our performance.
With Endomondo we can create our exercise routine or choose one that other members have created. We can also track our workout program and share it with our friends.
If we wanted to go one step further, we could set goals and finish challenges.
The stats Endomondo keeps are very detailed, and it can sync with many devices and fitness apps.
The app has many features, with one of them being the voice coach.
Fitstar Personal Trainer
Play Store Rating: 4.7★
The next app in our list is Fitstar Personal Trainer.
Fitstar Personal Trainer is another multi tool that helps us exercise with a plan.
The app has a virtual coach that motivates us with the aid of videos and tips, so we can organize our workout routine and choose from a vast list of exercises.
This app has many features. Among them, we can say that the ability to choose a specific fitness plan, that varies from 7 to 50 minutes, really stands out.
Last but not least, we have to mention that it's compatible with Fitbit devices, but also syncs with plenty of workout apps.
JEFIT Workout Tracker Gym Log
Play Store Rating: 4.6★
If this isn't your first visit in the fitness apps world, then you probably already heard of JEFIT.
JEFIT is one of the best workout apps to create and monitor our fitness plan.
The UI is straightforward and easy to use. It offers the ability to create an exercise plan, and it records our data daily.
While creating a plan, we can choose exercises from a wide variety.
For each exercise, we can read the information about it and watch step-by-step animated instructions.
If we want to exercise and we know a few things about working out, then JEFIT can help us learn more and get us organized.
Progression Fitness Tracker
Play Store Rating: 4.3★
The last app of this category is Progression Fitness Tracker.
Fitness apps can have many tools. However, we might not want an all in one app, but rather looking for an assistant.
Progression Fitness Tracker is our best choice when it comes to organizing our workout routine.
With this app, we can keep a record of our exercises and create a fitness plan using the built-in calendar.
If we're looking for a workout calendar that offers more than just recordings, then Progression Fitness Tracker is the right choice for us.
Interval Timers - Tabata - HIIT
High-intensity interval training or HIIT is a term that can cause us a headache. It's a form of exercising that targets on concrete results.
Our goal here isn't to explain what exactly HIIT is though. We are here to show you the best apps for this purpose.
Most of the apps in this category are like an advanced stopwatch that allows us to create an HIIT plan, and their UI is straightforward and easy to use.
However, every creator is trying to provide something different for the user, and this is what we're going to focus below.
Seconds - HIIT Interval Timer
Play Store Rating: 4.6.★
The developers of Seconds - HIIT Interval Timer have added a great list of pre-made HIIT plans.
Even if we don't know anything about HIIT workouts or not, we can just choose a plan from this list.
Also, through the Seconds' menu, we can set different sounds for each exercise.
Interval Timer
Play Store Rating: 4.8★
The simplest of all the timer apps we can find in Play Store is Interval Timer. The feature that makes this app to stand out is the clean UI that takes up the entire screen.
The app is pretty straightforward since we only have to determine the number of sets, the interval of each set, and the break time.
Tabata Timer and HIIT Timer
Play Store Rating: 4.7★
Our last timer is Tabata Timer and HIIT Timer. It's an incredibly well-developed app, and it can help us with details for our workout.
This app shines for the ability to run while the screen is locked, and for making a sound during the last seconds of every interval.
It's marathon time
Some of us probably thought at some point in our lives to run a marathon, which is a good way to challenge ourselves or contribute to a noble cause.
Few of us stopped before even starting, while others started but lost the track, and of course, a percentage of us crossed the finish line.
Among the fitness apps, there is the category of marathon training too.
These apps follow a particular workout routine and help us cross the finish line.
Couch to 5K
Play Store Rating: 4.6★
If you're training for a marathon, one of the top workout apps is Couch to 5K.
It's an app that motivates us to get off our couch and start exercising for the next marathon, and it has two unique features.
The first one is the voice coach, as it lets us choose the trainer we prefer from an interesting - yet weird - list.
The second and more important feature is that it provides updates for the upcoming marathons around the globe. It also allows us to search for marathons based on our location.
One of the advantages of this app is the progress records and the data analysis through charts.
In contrast to most companies in this field, ACTIVE Network LLC has only developed marathon apps for 5K and 10K training. If we want to prepare for a 10K marathon, we can find the 5K to 10K app here.
Couch to 10K Running Trainer
Play Store Rating: 4.6★
Let's continue with Couch to 10K Running Trainer, an app that helps us train for a 10k marathon.
The UI is pleasant, and it has a built-in music player.
The app syncs with many devices, fitness training, and calorie counter apps.
The creators of Couch to 10K Running Trainer have developed some of the best marathon training apps. However, they still haven't developed an app for 5K training.
Zombies, Run!
Play Store Rating: 4.3★
For many of us, even when we decide to get ready for a marathon, it seems hard to complete even one training.
That's what the developers of Zombies, Run! had in mind, and decided to turn exercise into fun.
Zombies, Run! is something between an app and a game. The developers thought that anyone who is training to run a marathon needs a real motivation.
Thus, they added a unique feature to their app. While running, we're chased by zombies who are going to stop only when we reach the finish line.
It's truly a weird way to get motivated, but sure enough, it's fun, and it helps us forget that we're training. It makes working out into a survival game.
Yoga and Pilates
The last couple of years Yoga and Pilates have gained a lot of fans. As expected, there is an increasing need for apps for that purpose.
Yoga
Yoga isn't just a way of exercising. Of course, we're not here to cover the philosophy of this activity but to see the best yoga apps, which sadly are only a few, but good nonetheless.
Yoga Studio
Play Store Rating: 4.8★
First on our list is Yoga Studio, an award-winning app on Play Store with more than 10.000 downloads.
Yoga Studio helps us create our workout plan, and offers tutorial videos.
In this app, we'll find more than 65 pre-made routines, and a library with more than 280 yoga poses.
In case we do yoga, and we don't mind paying the app, Yoga Studio is the best choice.
Daily Yoga- Yoga Fitness Plans
Play Store Rating: 4.2★
The second app we're going to mention is Daily Yoga - Yoga Fitness Plans. It's a free solution for anyone that likes yoga and wants an assistant in their hands.
Daily Yoga is easy to use and also helps us to create our routine.
We have the ability to choose from a huge list of 500 and more poses. Each pose has its instruction video.
If we don't want to create a new plan, Daily Yoga offers a list of more than 100 premade classes and sessions from 7 to 50 minutes each.
Pilates
Pilates is a relatively modern way of working out, and it focuses mostly on strengthening and improving our physical condition.
Thankfully, the developers of fitness apps didn't forget about us who do Pilates.
Pilates - Lumowell
Play Store Rating: 4.7★
One of the best fitness apps for Pilates is Pilates - Lumowell.
Pilates - Lumowell isn't just an app that helps us organize our workout. It's an exercise library with visual instructions that help us avoid mistakes.
It also has a virtual coach, challenges, and diet planning. These are the features that made Lumowell the best Pilates app.
Challenges
For some of us, simple workout apps aren't enough, probably because we tend to give up trying, especially when we aren't motivated.
Having that in mind, the developers created apps to challenge us achieving our goals.
30-Day Fitness Challenge
Play Store Rating: 4.8★
The first app we choose to see is 30-Day Fitness Challenge. This app has a single target, challenging us to complete a workout plan of 30 days.
30-Days Fitness Challenge has in total 30 different ways of exercising, with various difficulty levels.
Every plan has 30 packages of activities. Our goal is to complete the easiest task package so that we can move on to the next level.
Seven - 7 Minute Workout
Play Store Rating: 4.4★
Seven - 7 Minute Workout is a different workout app. It has a huge variety of exercise plans.
Every program consists of 10 exercises, 7 minutes each. The primary goal is to achieve working out 7 minutes, every day, for 7 months.
The goals the app sets for us are plenty, with the greatest of them all to work out daily for 7 minutes, 35 months in a row.
This app challenges us more with the penalty system. It offers us three hearts that they get renewed every month.
If we skip a day and don't work out, then we'll lose a heart. It allows us to skip only three days in a month.
Games that get us moving
Our goal is to cover every different way of exercising. Among us, some people don't like any of the fitness apps we mentioned.
Even for those who refuse to work out, we can find some unique games in Play Store. The two most known are developed by Niantic.
Ingress
Play Store Rating: 4.3★
Niantic developed Ingress a few years ago, and we can play the game only if we're on the streets. Our goal is to capture the portals located on actual places around the world.
The portals are traceable through a map on the app, which is an actual imprint of our world, and it's created with the help of Google Maps.
We don't plan to write every single detail about this game; it would be meaningless to do so. The fact is that to go to the portals, we have to start walking or at least get on a bicycle.
It might not be strictly among the fitness apps, but it will give us a motive to go out and move.
Pokemon GO
Play Store Rating: 4.1★
Niantic's Pokemon GO is way more famous than Ingress. The basics of the game are essentially the same, with the only difference being that portals are now gyms and we try to capture them.
Furthermore, on Pokemon Go, the goal is to catch all the Pokemon. This might be a good reason for some of us to get off the couch.
Do you know other workout apps?
These are the best fitness apps for Android that we could find through our research, but they are definitely not the only ones.
Do you work out or do you think the gym is too expensive? Have you tried any of the workout apps we suggested? Do you use an app that we didn't mention?
Share your knowledge with our readers in the comments.
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