The majority of people worldwide use mobile phones. About 4 billion have access to the Internet. According to We Are Social and Hootsuite report, today people use mobile apps seven times more often compared to mobile web browsers. As a proof, the number of app downloads reached 204 billion in 2018.
We use apps in various areas of life, even the most mundane of them. There are apps for cooking, exercising and tracking the health condition. People are often busy to consult specialists in health-related questions. They often seek recommendations on the Internet or use mobile apps, in particular, fitness applications. The use of fitness apps boosted by 330% during 2014-2017, according to Flurry analytics.
The number of players in the application market increases. The companies’ queries to develop fitness apps are growing. In return, the developers are offering more. However, the actors of the industry need to research the market and learn more about the user experience.
Fitness apps can help you keep to a balanced diet, workout, and strengthen your sleep. Here are some examples of how fitness apps can significantly improve health.
1. Nutrition
Did you promise yourself not to eat those cheaps and chocolates and could not resist a temptation?
In this case, you can use Fooducate. This app’s database contains names and properties of a vast amount of products that will help you do smart purchases. For example, you can check the nutritional value of a burger and find a healthier alternative to grub. Fooducate gives you access to a rich store of information about the products. It also contains information about meal planning and recipes. This app enables you to join a community of the like-minded people and exchange your explorations with them.
MyFitnessPal is another app that helps you control your diet. This app enables to track all the food intake and count calories. Its database contains 5 million names of food. Also, the app connects with more than 50 apps on a healthy lifestyle, such as Apple HealthKit, FitBit, MapMyRun, and others.
Image source: Appolicious
Sleep
To feel well, you should sleep well. The quality of your sleep determines your productivity. Thanks to the sleep tracking apps, you can get to know more about the phases of sleep, daily naps and their impact on your condition. For example, Pillow app tracks your sleep and wakes you in a light stage of rest. It provides you with information about your heart rate, your REM (rapid eye movement sleep) cycles, and how soon you are going to fall asleep.For those people who suffer from insomnia, there are also helpful apps such as Prizz. This application uses the science of psychoacoustics, which is the app’s patented system. It plays you “dreamscapes”, or a sleep-optimized mix of music, voiceover, and sound effects to calm down your mind to put you asleep and wake you up refreshed. Also, it includes programs for naps during the day.
3. Workout
Not all of us have an opportunity to spend hours in the gym. However, your smartphone can become a personal trainer via mobile apps. Nike Training Club app offers personalized training programs, recommendations from professional trainers, and more than 185 workouts. The trainings include boxing, yoga, strength, endurance and mobility workouts of different levels, intensity, and timing.
Image source: NIKE, Inc.
Getting fit seems to be an unbearable task for the total beginners in sports. Even running seems to be difficult for them. But it is not an obstacle for Couch to 5k users. Josh Clark created this app to make running painless for the newbies and help people experience physical and mental benefits of this activity. With this app, users can create their running plans and routes, modify time of running and background music. Each workout is a combination of jogging and running, that lasts from 20 to 30 minutes. It reminds people that good fit starts from small steps.
4. Tracking
Technology has broadened our opportunities to track daily activities. Today it is easy to check all the health metrics, such as nutrition, sleep, and movements. One of the most popular categories of trackers is step and distance calculators, which let you become aware of how much you walk, run, and burn calories. For example, a progress-tracking app MapMyWalk keeps up with your route, time, distance, pace, and energy burnt in real-time. To track activities such as running, cycling, or hiking, you can try the Runkeeper app, which uses GPS to record the distance and calory burn metrics. You can easily synchronize the app with smartwatches or other wearable devices to get detailed reports.
Image source: ASICS Runkeeper Blog – Runkeeper
5. Reminders and motivational apps
Most of us know what we need to do to become healthier but there are always hundreds of reasons why we don’t do it. Luckily, some apps may help you instill useful habits. The most encouraging way to track your positive habits is to use gamified applications such as Habitica. With this app, you can note your daily goals and desirable habits to pursue them. Reaching your goals becomes a game. In this app, you are a hero with a customized avatar. You can kill monsters (distractions and bad habits) and earn gold for useful activities. And then you can spend the gold on some rewards, such as watching your favorite series. But don’t forget that a game is a game, and life is life.If you want to concentrate mainly on fitness, try Fitocracy. This app will assist you in motivating yourself to achieve your fitness goals. Track your workouts and earn points for completed tasks, beat a laziness dragon and unlock rewards. Besides, you’ll be able to join a community of Fitocrats and share your results, read and comment on the achievements of other users. The app encourages you to become successful in both Fitocracy world and real life.