No matter what your flavour of exercise is, there’s most likely a great app to help you achieve your goals.
So to remove the guesswork, we’ve broken down our favourite apps for Running, Cycling, Gym Training, Yoga, and our favourite all-rounder.
Let’s get sweaty.
- Strava - running + cycling
- Ladder - Gym training
- Glo - Yoga
- MyFitnessPal - All Rounder
Strava - Best for Running & Cycling
First on the list is Strava, which is great for running and cycling. Now, we might be a little biased here at Gamify as we all use it on a daily basis, but let that be a testament to how good it really is.
Strava is THE go-to app for 76 million users. Whether you’re a runner or a cyclist, Strava is a great solution for activity tracking, goal setting, and finding community.
And community is where Strava shines. With an Instagram-style feed, and “kudos” feature in place of “likes”, the feeling of exploring Strava has a familiarity that keeps you going back for more, even if you haven’t tracked an activity.
Where Strava may fall short for some users is in its user-driven nature. In comparison to other fitness apps that focus on motivating you to exercise more consistently and achieving your fitness or weight goals within a timeframe, Strava fits more into a tool for athletes rather than a personal coach.
If you’re looking for a personal coach-style app for running, then Nike Training Club app may be a better fit for you.
Ladder - Best for Gym Training
If you’re looking for some accountability, personalisation, and a custom approach to your gym training then the Ladder app could be your answer!
Ladder is the closest thing you can get to having a personal trainer without the cost of actually having one. To make it even more appealing, when you sign up you’re assigned with a certified trainer to help you come up with a fitness program based on what you enjoy and the equipment you already have at home.
Where Ladder shines in its use of gamification is in its weekly plan which is catered for you. Whilst a trackable planner is not something new to fitness apps, the simplicity in Ladder’s approach to this is why the app works so well - keeping you consistent & accountable on the way to reaching your fitness goals.
Glo - Best for Yoga
Although Yoga can be traced back 5,000 years, it’s never been so popular as it is now. And if you’re one of the millions of people who have found Yoga as your favourite workout but you’re struggling to get to a class you’re in luck!
Glo is Gamify’s pick for the best app when it comes to Yoga. Whether you're an avid yogi or meditation beginner, this yoga-based app with over 4,000 classes has content for every level and intensity.
Glo’s app is not only great to use but its functionality and elegant use of gamification is where it stood out for us. Interactive goal tracking, time filtering, and gamified icons to display difficulty are just some of the ways that Glo has incorporated gamification into its app.
And Glo doesn’t stop at Yoga. The app offers works and sessions for meditation, pilates, and general fitness!
MyFitnessPal - Best All-Rounder
If you’re looking for an app that does it all, it’s hard to look past MyFitnessPal. From setting up and tracking a nutrition plan to guided workouts perfect for your level of fitness, over 200 million users are using this app to reach their fitness goals.
Where MyFitnessPal is hard to beat is in its huge food nutrients database - with over 14 million nutrients logged.
This means that when you’re out shopping and want to understand more about a specific food, you can literally scan the product barcode with your phone and MyFitnessPal will break down its nutrients and whether it fits in your fitness plan - which is by far our favourite use of user immersion within a fitness app.
Conclusion
That wraps up our video for today. Have you used an app to achieve your fitness goals?
We’d love to hear about it in the comments. And as always, for more info about gamification, you can read more here.
