Here’s a pretty shocking statistic for you: over 85% of the population suffers from daily inactivity, and barriers play a big role in that stat. Some of the top fitness barriers are motivation, time, diet, sleep, finances, accountability, knowledge and education. We’ve done our research, and have found 9 apps to overcome all of these barriers so that you can be on your way to achieving your fitness goals.
Edo
iOs: Free
The Edo app allows food shoppers to find out exactly what’s in supermarket products with the simple click of a button. Giving users the lowdown on food items, the app scans food labels and uses an algorithm to analyze ingredients based on scientific studies and nutritional values to ‘rate’ products – with 10 being the healthiest and zero being the least healthy.
Edo is all about helping you to understand what’s on food labels so you can know exactly what’s inside your food and choose consciously. The app can also indicate if a food item is Gluten Free or Lactose Free as well as offering healthier alternatives for you.
Timepage
iOs: $4.99
Moleskine may be better known for its notebooks than its mobile apps, but the company’s Timepage calendar app for iOS does a good job at being stylish and feature-packed. A smart calendar and day planner, Timepage works with existing calendar providers like iCloud, Facebook and Google, while providing some nifty calendar views and easy event creation.
The base view provides a simple timeline of the day’s coming appointments, with a date tab on the side for selecting specific days of the week. A month “heatmap” view quickly shows which days are free or busy, with filters surfacing particular events or calendars. This is a great tool to help schedule your days and make sure you’re setting aside time to get your workouts in.
Mint
The Mint app shows you the big picture of your financial state while also keeping tabs on every single transaction you make. It categorizes all of your spending and saving from every one of your financial accounts. It includes budgeting tools, bill reminders, your credit score, and more. Mint even sends notifications when you’re approaching your monthly budget for certain categories (i.e. entertainment, restaurants) and helps to ensure that you’re budgeting for the things that really matter. If paying for a gym membership is important to you, this app will help you keep that a priority in your pocketbook.
Moves
The Moves app makes use of the accelerometer and GPS functions of a smartphone. It collects information such as distances traveled between exact locations on a map and even calories burned. This is a very reliable way of tracking your own steps when traveling locally between your home and office. It’s also good for further afield, too – even when you don’t have data roaming switched on. With daily reports, it encourages you to get up and moving throughout your day.
Whistle App
We know that staying fit isn’t always easy to do on your own. Let’s face it, jogging 5k by yourself can be a little lonely. Whistle lets you find people in your area who are looking for a fitness buddy, just like you. Whether you’re looking for a partner for the gym, running, outdoor sports, or cycling, you’ll find people near you who want to workout! Who knows, you may make a new best friend while finally benching your weight!
The app allows you to select your activity, time of day, age and location preferences and match with your new workout buddy by swiping left and right. Once a mutual swipe has been accepted you will then be connected to freely chat within the app. Start a group chat or schedule a meet that connects to your Google Calendar through free in-app features. This is the perfect app if you need some companionship or accountability to motivate your workouts.
Headspace
Headspace provides guided meditation resources online; accessible to users through the company’s website and via a mobile app on the iPhone and Android platforms. The techniques taught through the programme combine elements of both calming and insight meditation. The app is set up so that users complete one sessions (one meditation) every day for ten days. After ten days a series is completed. Currently there are six series for users to complete: Foundation, Sport, Health, Relationships, Performance, and Headspace Pro. Meditation is great for your mental health as it reduces stress, improves concentration, encourages a healthy lifestyle, increases self-awareness and happiness.
My Fitness Pal
MyFitnessPal works on the premise that simply tracking what you eat can aid weight loss and maintenance. With MyFitnessPal, users have access to a database of more than 5 million foods, taking the guesswork out of calorie-counting. Furthermore, users can simply scan the barcodes of pre-packaged foods to automatically add them to their food diary. Entire meals can be added en masse. Its other features – including a fitness tracker and access to a user community – are an added bonus.
Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock
Getting fit is more than just diet and exercise. A good night’s rest plays a critical role as well. Using your smartphone’s built-in accelerometer, Sleep Cycle monitors your movement while you sleep. The app can differentiate between deep sleep and light sleep. It helps users wake up in their lightest sleep phase when they will feel naturally rested. Sleep Cycle comes with 15 alarm melodies and a customizable wake-up window, ranging from instant to 90 minutes. Premium features in the iOS version include online data backup, sleep aids, and notes on how coffee, stress, and other factors affect sleep.
Coming Soon to Momentum:
FitBot
FitBot is hard at work on an iOs and Androis app and hope to release it soon!
For now, the client web app can be accessed on any device with a web browser. It is fully responsive and geared towards use while in the gym.
FitBot is a program for personal trainers which allows them to send you your workouts and provide you with an exercise library. You can easily log workouts, post questions to your trainer, watch exercise demo videos, and track your workout history over time. It’s a great educational tool to make sure you’re feeling comfortable and confident in the gym.
