Nine health apps to help you get fit


Photo courtesy of electronichealthreporter.com

Photo courtesy of electronichealthreporter.com

As everyone knows, there is an app for practically anything and everything. But sometimes, this concept can be a little overwhelming, especially if you are trying to find the perfect health app. With over one million applications currently available on the Apple app store, it can be difficult to scope out new and exciting additions for your smartphone. Here are iPhone health apps you might not know about, but should download to help you be well throughout the day.

Sleep Cycle. The Sleep Cycle app is an alarm clock that attempts to wake you up at an optimal place in your sleep cycle. A user places the phone somewhere on his or her bed, and the app senses motion to determine when the user is at the closest possible sleep state to being awake. With a fixed alarm clock, you could be unlucky if you wake up in deep sleep. We all know the feeling. Sleep Cycle uses science instead of chance to ease the process of getting up in the morning.

MapMyRun. This app is simple to use for your daily run. You can draw a running route from a certain location and it offers nutrition information, tracks your time, distance and speed, and even lets you post your stats to social media accounts.

Nike Training. If you’re not a big runner, Nike Training provides alternatives to running, providing images and instructions for over 300 exercises with videos for more complicated ones. This app allows you to choose your own workout from upper body to core strength, adding your own exercises and tracking your progress over time.

Daily Workouts. This is a pretty similar concept to Nike Training club, but has some more detailed videos. It’s very basic and lets you choose the body part you want to work out and for how long. The moves are simple, but still a good workout. Try a different one each day!

Charity Miles. Doing good while getting fit is a winning combo for sure. This app allows you to do just that — double incentive to workout. You pick the cause you want to support and hit start! Sponsors then donate 25 cents per mile for walkers/runners and 10 cents per mile for bikers and it really is a great motivator.

Water Logged. We don’t realize how important it is you get your daily dose of water. Most people don’t drink the recommended 8 glasses per day. This app can help you if you have trouble keeping up with your daily intake. It has great visuals and lets you set reminders so make sure you are taking your sips.

Songza. Whether you’re feeling “angsty,” “introspective,” “motivational” or “trippy.” Songza has the picture-perfect song to play with each activity throughout the day and some especially some workout jams. With a wide variety of music options, Songza allows people to choose music based on activity, moods, genres or decades. Download this free app and have tunes to jam to all day long. 

Relax Melodies. After a long day of running around campus from class to class and fitting in your social life, people need to wind down. Relax Melodies allows people to do just that, offering sounds ranging from white noise to a rainy day, to a cat purring.

Headspace, Calm or Power of Mind. If listening to relaxing sounds just isn’t enough for you, try this app which has a series of guided meditations focusing on anxiety release, calmness, positivity, self-acceptance, motivation, peace and many more. I use this any time I need to chill but can’t quiet my mind on my own. It offers guided relaxation and meditations that do the trick at the end of a workout or just after a long day.

Brittany Fleck is a sophomore majoring in human development and aging. Her column, “B-Flecksible,” runs Fridays. 

 

1 reply
  1. Rebecca Candler
    Rebecca Candler says:

    I love my fitness pal, best ever app. I’m doing the ethosien diet and the insanity DVDs, I use it to track everything I eat and how my workouts are progressing. And it’s free…. wnner winner

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