Ideal for those looking for a new fitness motivation in 2021.
Current global conditions (can we get through an article without mentioning the C word?) have made us ever more reliant on digital answers to our daily questions and commundrums.
And just as no athlete would take being left behind lightly, so the fitness world has adapted to our ever changing circumstances with a nimbleness and dexterity which has left them out in front. In lieu of a communal space exercise space, fitness communities have moved their operations online, and now much of the social and motivational aspects of the gym can be found on apps.
What’s more, 2021 has seen personal trainers and coaches make their expertise available in the online sphere, and all of this has resulted in a democratisation of knowledge and motivation which has been useful for so many keen to keep fit from afar. Suddenly, the gym is for everyone, even if things do have to be done remotely and from home, for now.
If you’re looking for an app to help you up your workout game, then here are 5 essential fitness app features to look out for, IDEAL for those looking for a new fitness motivation in 2021.
ADAPTIVE TO YOUR SPECS & TRANSPARENT ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY
The first thing a legit workout app should do is ask you for your personal specifications. Because the apps that care about your fitness journey are going to need to know about your age, height, and weight, and whether you’ve worked out before or not, so they can optimise your workout routines and overall regime to suit your specific goals.
Of course, if you’re concerned that your personal data is being misused or your privacy compromised, it’s essential you scrutinise the app’s terms and conditions, as well as its privacy policy, before signing up. Any self respecting fitness app will be transparent about the way they handle and store your data, and should promise to encrypt any and all personal health records which you provide.
Check out this massively useful guide on how to make sense of your fitness app’s privacy policy here for more. But not right now. Later. Do it later.
Back in the room! Right now, we’ve got the importance of difficulty levels to consider…
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
For those who take their exercise seriously, diet is as an important a component as training, if not more. Indeed, a holistic approach to fitness is, without doubt, the most effective way to reach your goals, and this means prioritising apps which take your nutritional information into account, providing appropriate feedback to you regarding meal plans, and tips regarding what and when you should be eating.
The experts at Spartan Apps tell us that by combining your fitness and nutrition details, you can optimise your workout regime to suit your goals. They say ‘’Most athletes don’t track their calories and it seems that they are not grasping how much it benefits their training, and performance’’. We couldn’t agree more.
Indeed, by providing your diet details and calories, you can have a more accurate fitness routine put in place by those experts on the other end of the smartphone, who will provide detailed analysis and advice on how you can finesse your diet to meet your macro goals and ultimately, maximise the effectiveness of your workout.
LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY
Whether you’re deadlifting over 200% of your body weight or if you’ve only just completed your first 5k, the fitness community will support you wherever you are on your fitness journey.
But these discrepancies in fitness levels, strength and stamina demand dexterity from the application you’re using, to ensure your program is tailored to suit your specific needs.
You know you’re dealing with a good app if they provide you with guidance and workouts of diverging intensity. The more advanced apps will label each workout according to its difficulty level so that you don’t take on something that doesn’t suit you, and are able to push yourself when you need to, equally.
Having levels of difficulty on your fitness app is beneficial in two ways, then; firstly, it prevents you from overextending yourself, risking injury, and secondly, it provides motivation.
PERSONALISED REMINDERS
Working out effectively from home, through an app, requires a steely focus and self-discipline if you’re going to succeed. It is something that is entirely dependent on you, and as simple as though it may sound, daily reminders can serve as genuine motivation in these strange, sometimes listless and lonely times.
We’re not talking about an obligatory 5pm ping – ‘’hey, you’re doing great!’’, sent to you even when, frankly, you’re not. Instead, personalised reminders, specifically regarding your unique fitness journey, mark out a great app from a less good one.
Even if, perhaps, we don’t want to be reminded that it’s leg day again!
TUTORIALS
If you’re to get the most from this brave new world of remote exercising, then it’s essential that you prioritise a fitness app which offers tutorial videos for individual exercises as standard. This is a great way to develop your form in the correct way, and nurture respect for technique which will set you up for life on your fitness journey.
Even better are apps which offer you the opportunity to upload videos of your workouts for a professional to view, appraise and offer tips on improving your form, posture and breathing, as well as alternative routines which might help you more.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If you open your phone’s app store and type in ‘fitness app’, you’ll be surprised at just how many options are available to you, with discipline specific communities rubbing shoulders with more generic fitness tracking options and even apps which offer tailor made, one-to-one training services, too.
Whilst choice is great, it also represents a paradox of sorts. How could you possibly know which one to pick and rely on? Look for the key 5 features we mentioned above, and you’ll be able to hone in on a trustworthy, useful app. We’ll see you back in the gym once this thing’s all over!
Now you’ve got the tech covered, check out these more analog tips on how to get the most from your home workout.