Ever since I started working from home, I have felt incredibly restless. Work days seemed to drag on and I find myself more fatigued than ever before. I wake up in the morning, make a cup of coffee, sit down at my desk--only to get up 45 minutes later to find myself pacing around the room. Feelings of restlessness intermingled with fatigue to create a truly exhausting work environment.
I realized that the reason I was feeling so restless was my lack of physical activity and exercise. Similarly, my fatigue was also the result of not moving enough. I read that once the body no longer receives exercise, it begins to steal energy and nutrients in order to function. I decided it was time to make a change to my daily routine.
Working from home is quite challenging when trying to schedule things outside of work. My initial plan was to squeeze in an end-of-day workout after work, but found myself either too exhausted or too busy each day. However, I quickly realized that I didn't need to frantically shove a workout into my schedule.
Fitness apps are a great way to stay healthy on your time and budget. However, considering the massive selection of fitness apps available, it can be difficult figuring out which one is best for you.
We did some research, and based on reviews from customers and notable publications, the four most popular are- Aaptiv, Daily Burn, Fitbod, and Nike Training Club. We compared these four health and fitness apps to understand which has the best value;
Daily Burn
Daily Burn offers a wide variety of workouts for all difficulty levels. Featuring notable trainers such as Bob Harper of The Biggest Loser, users receive unlimited access to robust training programs on smartphone, tablet, computer, and TV.
Each day, a new live workout is available for 24-hours on demand while users can chat with other participants to make workouts more fun and personable. Besides regular community workouts, users are also assigned their own personal coach who is available 24/7 with information regarding workouts, diet, and more.
The variety of workout programs is extensive with some ranging several weeks to others lasting a single day. Whatever your level or schedule is, Daily Burn's user-friendly interface and sense of gym class comraderie will keep you coming back for more
Daily Burn charges as low as $14.95 for a monthly subscription
Fitbod
Fitbod is all about progress and planning. Recognizing the difficulty that many people experience while searching for a good at-home workout program, Fitbod streamlines the process. Fitbod uses artificial intelligence to design customized workout programs that includes exercises, sets, and repetitions based on abilities, goals, and available gym equipment.
As Fitbod's algorithm learns from your past workouts, each successive workout becomes more difficult. You can even personalize your fitness goal around a set of muscles whether it be strength-training, bodybuilding, muscle tone, general fitness, or powerlifting. From there you can select how much cardio you want to do, or if you want a warm-up or cool-down routine. From there, users are given a 4-day training split divided by body party.
Fitbod boasts an impressive offering of workout styles, exercises, and other customizable options that make it one of the best fitness apps on the market.
Fitbod charges $9.99 for a monthly subscription
Nike Training Club
The Nike Training Club app includes an excellent selection of individual workouts and multi week training programs. When you first open the app, you are prompted to answer a series of questions pertaining to your gender, health, and lifestyle. From there, a handful of workouts are immediately available for use.
The Nike Training Club app is loaded with over 185 free on-demand workouts led by Nike's Master Trainers and features a range of workouts to fit any routine. Difficulty levels range from beginner to advanced, low to high intensity with durations from 15-60 minutes. You can also choose what kind of workout you want whether it be strength training, cardio, mobility, or yoga.
To compliment your workout, the Nike Training Club app also features an in-depth nutrition and wellness guide across the five facets of fitness--training, nutrition, recovery, mindset, and sleep
Nike Training Club does not charge for a subscription, but does offer a premium membership for $14.99 a month.
Aaptiv
As the audio-based fitness app on the Apple App Store, Aaptiv uses audio-based guidance to aid you through every step of your workout. Aaptiv is the fastest-growing mobile fitness product on the market and for good reason. Aaptiv's mission is to ensure that everyone can receive personalized fitness instruction, not just those who can afford a personal trainer.
Aaptiv includes unlimited access to over 2,500 guided workouts with structured programs to help you achieve your goal. In addition to your own customized program, more than 40 live classes are added each week. These live training programs include dozens of participants—creating the same supportive and inspiring community often found at the gym.
In terms of variety, Aaptiv embraces all paths whether it be a morning run, midday yoga session, after-work gym class, or bedtime meditation. Workouts can be broken down based on duration, trainer, music so create your perfect workout environment.
By leveraging audio-based fitness, Aaptiv effectively reduces screen time while working out and prevents poor posture from slumping over your phone. As a result, users can freely move around, focus on form, and enjoy their surroundings.
Aaptiv charges as low as $8.33 for a monthly subscription.
Overall Verdict: Aaptiv
Out of all of the health and fitness apps mentioned above, our favorite is Aaptiv. While all four applications provide the customizable options for your fitness program, Aaptiv is the only app that leverages audio. Through audio-based learning, users can spend more time and energy focusing on their form and environment rather than being caught up in their mobile device. In addition to providing a wide variety of workouts, Aaptiv works to recreate the ambiance and feel of being in a gym.
Through its empathetic trainers, customizable music, and tight-knit community-- Aaptiv is the perfect fitness app for all levels of fitness.
Update: Our friends at Aaptiv are extending a special offer to Topdust readers. Get your first month free now.
