Best fitness app 2025: Get fit with just a smartphone
May 12, 2026 2026-05-12 22:35Best fitness app 2025: Get fit with just a smartphone
Best fitness app 2025: Get fit with just a smartphone
We selected Berg Movement as the best influencer program because Sondre’s expertise and teaching ability shine through every aspect of the unimeal reviews app. His background as a professional performer and coach means the programming is both practical and effective. The community aspect adds valuable motivation, with members sharing progress, asking questions, and celebrating milestones together. This social element can be crucial for maintaining long-term commitment to calisthenics training. We selected Pliability as the best app for recovery and mobility because it addresses an area most people neglect yet could benefit from enormously.
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A community created for women by women, Bodylura (formerly Fit Body) features 12 programs led by four expert trainers to help you reach your fitness goals. Apple Fitness+ is the ultimate choice for Apple ecosystem users, offering seamless integration across devices. With workouts tailored to 11 exercise categories—including HIIT, yoga, and strength—this app tracks your performance via your Apple Watch.
Give Planfit a Try
Like Strong and Hevy, Gymverse creates a suggested training plan for you. But where it stands out is that the app features integrated video tutorials for each exercise. The videos are clear and well-produced—perfect for people new to strength training. As a general fitness tracker, the metrics aren’t super comprehensive; it tracks PRs/PBs and workout length.

Goals
“If I did upper body yesterday, I can choose a ‘custom’ workout and pick a different body part, and it creates a new session. Each exercise shows full instructions and videos.” The strength programs leave something to be desired, so if you want to focus on lifting, we recommend going elsewhere. But this app is great for beginner cardio and general fitness workouts that will keep you moving forward toward your goals. I think almost all of them provide a way to adopt a healthier lifestyle if you’re willing to commit to them, so there’s really no way to go “wrong”—but some have features that make them better suited for most people. Testing the workout apps required doing a lot of planks, burpees, and mountain climbers in my living room. Despite the touted two-way video aspect of the studio-style classes, NeoU also felt more impersonal than the other apps I tried.
Frequently asked questions about workout apps
Daily mobility routines, access 1500+ workouts, expert coaches, track progress, effective programming. They also have a premium offering of custom mobility coaching for anyone looking for more support during their mobility and movement training. The platform is incredibly user-friendly, with workout schedules clearly laid out and the ability to filter by equipment, duration, and body focus. You can create a custom plan or follow structured programs ranging from 4-12 weeks.
The app’s database contains more than 6 million foods, so you can log just about everything you put in your body, from fast food to homemade vegan lasagna, thanks to a nifty recipe calculator. That’s why, when it comes to New Year’s resolutions or making a workout calendar, a simple document or spreadsheet works better than trying to find the perfect, all-in-one app! AI aside, Fitbit benefits from syncing with cheap Fitbit trackers, so the app can track stats like resting heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature, sleep zones, and HRV. The new app shows “Insight” cards with trend data for these stats, so you can see how your health is improving as you try to get fitter or lose weight. Others benefit from social apps like Strava where challenges and “kudos” from friends keep you motivated. And you’d be surprised how a good spreadsheet or basic workout log might work better than an expensive app with videos and plans.
This comprehensive approach gives us a clear picture of which apps deliver results, which are enjoyable to use, and which fall short. Peloton also offers Strength+, a strength-focused app for home or gym equipment. It delivers programs tailored to the equipment you have, from barbells and kettlebells to cable machines and medicine balls. Strength+ costs $10 per month, but it is free for anyone with an existing App+ or All-Access membership. Charles Thorp is the Fitness and Reviews Editor at Men’s Health, where he shares the best product recommendations in gym equipment, recovery tools, supplements, and more.
These factors help ensure that apps remain flexible, up to date, and convenient for users with busy schedules. By combining expert analysis with real-world feedback, we identified platforms that are both enjoyable and effective for achieving fitness goals. Shred also offers full-length studio classes in yoga, boxing, HIIT, and more. “It creates running workouts with interval variations based on the time I want to exercise—great for mixing up my routine.”
- It’s undoubtedly the easiest workout app I’ve used so far, with an easy-to-navigate interface and great usability.
- It can even watch you while you work out to give you adjustments on form, as well as perform flexibility tests.
- In 2025, there are so many fitness apps out there that knowing where to start can be really daunting.
- No need to have Peloton equipment when you can have access to the app with a subscription.
- For decades, people were told never to let knees go past toes during squats or lunges.
- However, whether you’re just starting to focus on your fitness, have a specific objective in mind, or want to add some structure to your routine, Centr is an excellent option to help you hit your goals.
Can you do personal training through workout apps?
As of this writing, the monthly plan ($29.99) is too expensive; therefore, I would not recommend signing up for it. The annual rate ($134.99) is more reasonable, though still on the high side. The experts in the Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition & Fitness Lab have tested more than 40 workout apps, combining hands-on evaluations with real-life feedback from GH staffers and consumer testers.
Thanks to all the members recording road and trail workouts, the app is a global route and trail resource. Save your favorite routes or input your preferences and the app will recommend options nearby. Once you’ve picked your route, upload it to your phone or GPS device for easier navigation. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a Peloton bike (although we’d all love one) to make the most of the Peloton app. You can use any bike in your own home or at the gym and follow along with the famous cycling workouts. If you spend a lot of time in hotel gyms—or in your home-office-that’s-also-sometimes-a-workout-space—you know what a struggle it can be to stick to a routine when you have limited access to facilities.

Workout apps
A seamless, intuitive interface was another key factor, making it easy to navigate classes, track progress, and stay engaged. The workouts it served up to me every day were cardio and muscle-focused, like HIIT, bodyweight strength training, and kickboxing classes, but you can also search for yoga and pilates classes. Some workouts are “coached,” which means they follow the format of a typical workout video, and others are self-guided, which means you watch a looped video of a certain exercise and do it until the timer runs out.
Strength
Plus, each chosen module has its own questionnaire, which can become annoying when trying to sign up for multiple sessions at once. If you’re interested in more than just apps, such as at-home workout equipment that includes on-demand classes, check out our ultimate fitness tech guide. Just keep in mind that smart exercise equipment often costs a lot up front and requires an additional subscription fee for classes, which can also be steep. Don’t let your assumptions about stretching mislead you—StretchIt (available on Android, iOS, and the web) includes some tough sessions that work your full body and might even leave you sweating.
Smartwatch/ smart ring companion apps
Workout tracking is all done through its sleek interface with built-in rest timers, and a daily readout will show you which of your muscles are growing, and which might be falling behind. If you own an iPhone, chances are you’ve either tried Apple Fitness Plus or you’ve got a free trial waiting for you. Apple Fitness Plus is chock-full of guided content, from meditation, HIIT, and strength workouts to kickboxing, dance, yoga and more. Usable on an iPad, iPhone, or smart TV, it interfaces with your Apple Watch so you can see your vital stats on the screen as you train. It costs around 20 bucks a month, or there’s a cheaper annual plan if you commit to a full year.
Best meal planning fitness app
However, we don’t recommend doing that until you complete a free trial and pay for a one-month membership first. Sometimes, you get all the best content right away, and the rest of the workout catalog consists of duds. If an app offers you a free trial, take advantage of it and cancel the subscription before the trial period ends.