Fitness

Put technology to work for your health

Activity trackers and health and fitness apps can help you improve your well-being.

Couple looking at their activity trackers and smartphone health apps

Technology isn’t all bad. In fact, there are a slew of new apps that can encourage people to get off the couch and get moving.

“A good way to motivate people is for them to physically see how many steps they have taken throughout the day, or how many calories they have burned during exercise,” says Eric Lemkin, a certified personal trainer in Sylvania, Ohio.

Here’s how smart technology can help you make small changes that add up to a big difference in your overall health.

HEALTH & FITNESS APPS

What they can do for you: There’s a slew of apps for your smartphone or tablet that make it easy to log your meals, count your calories, chart your daily physical activity, look up exercises, track your shut-eye, and even scan barcodes to find nutritional information about certain foods.

Who they help the most: Anyone who’s set a goal of making their health a priority will benefit from these apps.

Try these:

Food and Exercise

1. MyFitnessPal (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Premium upgrade (prices vary)

  • MyFitnessPal allows you to track your meals, water intake, and exercise, and helps you stay motivated through community forums (for tips and advice) and personalized progress reports.

2. 8fit Workouts & Meal Planner (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Pro upgrade (prices vary)

  • 8fit helps you build workout plans and provides comprehensive nutrition guides and detailed meal plans, all tailored to help you meet your chosen goal.

Food

3. Lifesum (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Premium upgrade (prices vary)

  • Lifesum allows you to create a diet plan best suited to your life and goals. This includes a barcode scanner for food recording, a macro tracker to help you balance your daily protein, carb, and fat intake, and a library of recipes to add variety to your diet.

4. Lose It! - Calorie Counter (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Lose It! Premium upgrade ($39.99 yearly)

  • Lose It! helps you lose weight through calorie tracking. There’s a barcode scanner and camera feature to track what you’ve eaten, meal calorie targets and recipes to help you plan your meals, and more.

5. Daily Water Tracker Reminder (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Pro upgrade (prices vary)

  • Daily Water Tracker helps you set and reach your daily water intake goal with routine reminders.

Exercise

6. Nike Run Club (iOS; Android): Free

  • Nike Run Club encourages you to just run, with coach- and athlete-led, audio-guided, and music-matched runs. They also have challenges you can participate in, plans you can follow to achieve your goals, and motivating features including trophies, leaderboards, and audio cheers from friends.

7. Sworkit Fitness (iOS; Android): Free three-workout trial, then subscription-based (prices vary)

  • Sworkit helps you work towards your exercise goals through six-week programs that include a variety of workout types, customizability features, individual assistance from certified personal trainers, and more.

8. Daily Yoga (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Silver Pro upgrade (prices vary)

  • Daily Yoga targets your mind and body with a variety of guided classes, workout plans, and coach-led workshops, suited for a wide range of skill levels. Receive inspiration and ideas from the app’s community.

Mental Health

9. Headspace: Meditation & Sleep (iOS; Android): Free 10-lesson Basics course, with optional subscription (prices vary)

  • Headspace helps you de-stress and relax with meditation and mindfulness sessions. You can also use the sleep sounds and sleep meditation features to help you fall asleep.

10. Happify (iOS; Android): Free for some tracks, with optional Premium upgrade (prices vary)

  • Happify, as the name suggests, works to improve your mood and make you happier, using science-backed activities and games.

11. Calm (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Calm Premium upgrade (prices vary)

  • Calm helps you relax through guided meditations. The short sessions are designed to fit your schedule, and the bedtime stories can help lull you to sleep.

Sleep

​​​​​​​12. Sleep Cycle (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Sleep Cycle Premium upgrade (prices vary) ​​​​​​​

  • Sleep Cycle targets your sleep patterns to help you rest and wake up better. The alarm goes off when you’re in your lightest sleep phase, and your sleep patterns are analyzed to help you learn more about your sleep.

13. Sleep Time (iOS; Android): Free, with optional Sleep Time Premium upgrade (prices vary)

  • Sleep Time analyzes your sleep routine to give you a better snooze. Fall asleep to preset app sounds (or white noise), have your heart rate detected upon waking up, review detailed sleep charts analyzing your sleep data, and more.​​​​​​​