There’s an app for that!

During high school it was easy for me to work hard and stay in shape, mostly because I had teammates and coaches giving me words of encouragement. But once I graduated I really struggled with keeping in shape. I no longer had people telling me to run that extra mile. I needed motivation, and someone beside me along the way. I couldn’t figure how to fix this, because as a freshmen in college I clearly didn’t have money to hire a personal trainer. I did, however, own an iPod touch. I knew there was a lot of cool (and mostly) free apps that I could download, but I never took the time to look into them. Finally, I decided to see if there was anything that could help me with my exercise slump. I discovered quite a few exercise apps, and they really helped getting me back into the groove of things. Since then I’ve become a huge advocate for downloading helpful apps. I’ve learned a lot, and have discovered some awesome tools to help me with exercising, sleeping and eating! I’ve compiled a list of my favorite apps, and I hope you find them to be useful.

My top 10 health and fitness apps:

1. Nike+ Running – This is by far my favorite app. I discovered it when I was buying new running shoes at Dick’s Sporting Goods. The employee who was helping me knew I was a big runner, and he told me all about this app. I went home and downloaded it right away. Users are able to map runs and track progress such as time, distance and pace. This app also allows you to challenge yourself by beating past goals. There are extra features for the app as well.

2. MyFitnessPal – I’ve found this to be the easiest, and most simple app for tracking food and daily activity. There are other apps similar to this, but this is the most user-friendly. My favorite feature on this app is the bar scanner. Instead of manually entering all the nutritional facts, just use the bar scanner and MyFitnessPal will find it for you. A great app to track your food, and at the end of each day MyFitnessPal will tell you whether you’re eating too much or too little for your weight, age, and level of activity.

3.  SleepCycle – This app is the best alarm clock I’ve ever used! It makes waking up so easy. Users place the iPhone under their pillow at night, and the app monitors movement throughout the night. The app finds the optimal time to wake you up in a 30 minute window that ends at the set alarm time you’ve chosen. There’s a selection of music to choose from, or users can pick a song from their iTunes.

4. All-in Yoga – I’m not big into yoga, but sometimes I like to try it out. The nice thing about this app is that is has easy, medium and hard poses, so there’s something for everyone. Once I felt comfortable with the easy positions, I moved on to the medium. I really don’t know a lot about yoga, but this app is great because there are pictures, videos and audio to help you.

5.  Bootcamp – This is one of the first apps I discovered after high-school that allowed me to get back into shape. This app allows you to build your own circuit training workouts. Each exercise is timed and a whistle blows when it’s time to switch. Throughout the workout you’ll also hear words of encouragement!

6. HealthTap Express – Need to know whether that skin rash is poison ivy? Just enter the question on HealthTap Express and a doctor will respond immediately. This app is nice because service is available 24/7, someone will always be ready with information. Also, if the health concern is serious, this app can locate local doctors!

7.  Brain Trainer – If you’re ever bored or waiting in line for something, this is a fun, free app to try it. The Brain Trainer helps improve memory, enhance concentration, and increase creativity.

8.  Nike Training Club – Users enter their current fitness levels and find exercises that help them reach their goals. There’s more than 85 custom-built workouts! This is one of my favorite apps because there are workouts right in front of you. One of my biggest excuses I used was that I didn’t know any workouts to do, so now there’s no excuse for me to sit at home.

9.  MapMyRun – For users who aren’t a fan of Nike, MapMyRun tracks runners’ exact paths on foot. Plus the app records other features of a workout like speed, distance, pace, and calories burned. Users can share their achievements with friends and followers on social media.

10.  Weight Watchers Mobile – Although I’ve never personally been  a member of Weight Watchers, I still felt this app was necessary to talk about. I’ve had a few friends try the program, and they said without the mobile app there is no way they could stay on track. The technology makes dining out a little easier for dieters. They are able to enter a menu item and the app calculates the PointsPlus value. There’s also tons of weight-loss tips and recipe ideas. My friends also said that the Kitchen Companion and Calculator Apps make membership a little easier.

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There are thousands of apps out there so it was very hard to pinpoint just 10! However, these are the apps that I’ve personally found to be incredibly useful and fun. When choosing these 10 I also kept in mind usability and price. I’d love to hear from some readers about your favorite apps, and why you’ve come to love them!