Sign up for free access to the best tools and insights available to the coaching community. From playing in the NFL to transitioning into college athletics, see how Elon’s Strength Director, Nick DiMarco, built a smarter, scalable performance system to train high-level athletes. Matt’s a keen runner, ex-kickboxer, not averse to the odd yoga flow, and insists everyone should stretch every morning. When he’s not training or writing about health and fitness, he can be found reading doorstop-thick fantasy books with lots of fictional maps in them.
JEFIT
It will also be helpful to have access to dumbbells, kettlebells, and resistance bands for a handful of different exercises. For those who want to follow a well-designed program for several months at a time, focusing on progressive overload in the gym, Boostcamp is a great option. At $199/month, this is still significantly more affordable than hiring a personal trainer on a monthly basis at your local gym, but it’s going to cost a lot more than most apps on our list.
A free two-week intro is offered for new users, and the programs have tons of repetitions for new lifters (although the volume may prove too much for some advanced lifters). For those looking for a bit of guidance or inspiration for their daily workouts, Hevy provides some basic training routines, such as the popular 5×5 workout. You can also search through the community-created plans for inspiration for your next lifting session. We also like Fitbod because it’s one of the most equipment-flexible training apps we’ve tested. Being able to choose what you have available—ranging from full gym access to just your bodyweight—makes it accessible for people who train at home, in different gyms, or while traveling.
Strong: Best for Simple Barbell/Dumbbell Logging
So we had our pros, along with a panel of real-life testers, try the service for over six months to see if it is worth the hype. And when Apple Fitness+ offered to host me as press for a tour of their studios in California, I was able to get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into each and every class. No matter where you’re starting, NTC’s worldwide community of fun, approachable trainers can help guide you to where you’re headed. After all, an app can help you work out, but it’s the people who help you show up.
Alpha Progression have also very kindly offered Fitness Drum readers a unique 20% discount, on top of the free trial, to help you get started. (We’ve also managed to negotiate some unique discounts on some apps to help you get started). If you don’t plan to compete in Olympic lifting, Fitbod can be a more diverse, mobile-friendly option you may want to consider. Despite receiving low marks for accountability and instruction, Boostcamp still earned an overall rating of 4.2 thanks to its strong performance across all other categories. If you need better instruction and accountability but don’t want to spend $200 a month on something like Caliber or Future, consider the budget-friendly Shred App, which only costs $10 per month.
Your Expert Guide to Making Budget-Friendly DIY Ankle Weights
Our team evaluated both apps over six weeks using real training sessions, and the difference is clearer than any spec sheet suggests. For lifters who want the most variety at zero cost — especially bodyweight training — one app stands alone. For anyone considering beginning later in life, see our guide on starting strength training as a senior for a comprehensive overview of programming considerations.
Best Workout App for Bodyweight Training: BetterMe
That can be any type of strength training too – a chair workout, a weights session at the gym, or a bodyweight workout at home. Otherwise known as progressive overload, to get stronger or build muscle, you’ll need to make your workouts harder so your body is forced to adapt to the stressor. Owning Your Menopause is currently the only app that offers live workouts based around strength training, designed to support women experiencing the symptoms of menopause, as well as those who are postmenopausal. This personalized approach to progress tracking deepens athletes’ understanding of their own bodies and training effectiveness, paving the way for more focused workouts and faster hypertrophy gains. With StrengthLab360, every lift and every session contributes to measurable progress—helping you achieve your goals with precision and confidence.
“There’s some basics like a community feed and the ability to message friends, but you don’t have a personal coach who will follow up on you to track progress,” he says. Plug-and-play training templates designed to save time and keep your programs dialed in. How Lockeroom built a coaching and data collection system to scale their business and give their clients an elite experience. If you find yourself stalling, the AI will recommend ‘plateau breaker’ exercises to help you push past it. Unfortunately, its annual subscription is very expensive when paired with some of its contemporaries, which will make it prohibitive to some. You’ll see the trainers use ASL to welcome users, cue them on what to expect and use motivational words and phrases.
- From the apps we’ve tested (which is pretty much every fitness app under the sun at this point), Sweat is second-to-none when it comes to quickly tailoring workouts to your preferences.
- Caliber, Fitbod’s primary competitor in the beginner-to-intermediate segment, solves a different problem entirely.
- I really think the ease with which you can communicate with your trainer and how clean everything operates is what sets this app apart.
- However, others may prefer a more diverse range of exercises and a more complex program structure.
- Its community-driven design adds motivation through shared workouts, monthly challenges, and support from other lifters.
- Research from NIH PMC (2022) found that both load progression and rep progression produced similar muscle size increases over an 8-week cycle — the method matters less than the consistency.
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We tested a series of supersets while wearing the Apple and Samsung Watch to see any significant differences. Maximal strength was significantly greater for both 1RM squat and bench press for LONG compared to SHORT. Muscle thickness was substantially greater for LONG than SHORT in the anterior thigh. One rested for a minute between power sets (SHORT), and the other rested for 3 minutes. Your Apple Watch running watchOS 6 and below shows many different workout types on its workout menu, such as walking, running, cycling, swimming, and even Yoga.
Workout Tracking
Another widespread debate around strength training is the use of Caffeine before training. You can use pre-programmed workouts or create your own, and sending them to the watch only has to be done once, unlike other apps such as GymBook, where you have to do it every time. This app, available for your iPhone and your Apple Watch, provides excellent options to manage your strength training regimen.
Gravitus: Best for Plate Math & 1RM Tracking
After you log a workout, Built maps every exercise, set, and rep to the specific muscles used. It then generates a color-coded anatomical heatmap that shows which muscles are fatigued (red/orange) and which are fully recovered (gray). This visual guide allows you to make informed decisions about your training split on the fly, ensuring you only work muscles that are ready for stimulus.
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This is fine if that’s what you’re looking for, but many competitors, like Peloton, now offer a variety of workout modalities, and we wish Zwift would expand its offerings. Zwift releases a monthly calendar with classes and courses in each of its 11 virtual worlds, but you can also schedule races against friends by using the Zwift companion app (included in your monthly subscription). Zwift Companion also lets you send messages to your friends and join clubs based on your fitness level and preferences. We think it’s worth it, https://www.reddit.com/r/fitbod/comments/1bauygp/alternatives/ especially if you want personal coaching, and when you use our GGR-exclusive discount link, you can enjoy your first month completely free. This is the only trial option for users, which we only gave this 3 out of 5 stars for the trial period. GGR expert product tester Logan Block reports his coach, Layne, is personable and energetic.
Best Weightlifting App for Powerlifting
When you sign up for Future, you answer some questions about your goals and they match you with relevant coaches (you can also browse their full roster of coaches on their website). For weightlifting, you can simply select a coach that has experience and knowledge in weightlifting to ensure you get a workout plan that will help improve this side of your fitness. If you really just want a tool to track your workouts, and help provide a bit of reporting to your strength training, then Strong is worth considering. BodyFit’s strength is in the expertly designed programs… but if you prefer creating your own workouts, apps like Alpha Progression and Fitbod are better suited. 3,500+ exercises, 2,500+ workouts created by expert coaches, 90+ coaching plans, track and record your workouts.
