You can choose from among hundreds of health and fitness apps in Google Play and the App Store, and selecting the right one for your needs can be overwhelming. Should you download the most popular apps and hope that what has worked for others will work for you? Or should you try a new app that shows promise but that doesn’t have many reviews? Follow the details in this guide to ensure that you’ll find the best health and fitness apps for your goals — ones that won’t waste your storage or your money on apps you’ll never use.
Set Your Health and Fitness Goals
You can select from among multiple health app categories when you want to make changes to your lifestyle. If you already eat well, then you might be looking for an app that focuses on gym reminders and fitness motivation. If you’re looking to completely change your life, then you’ll want an app that combines diet and exercise to create a complete picture of your health. Ask yourself why you’re looking for different health and fitness apps so that you can find a few perfect ones instead of several average ones.
Before you set out for dramatic health changes, you might want to talk to a doctor about your plans. A medical professional can tell you whether you’re making smart decisions for your body.
Decide What You Want the Apps to Do
Many people turn to fitness apps as an easy way to track information. They can record their workouts and monitor what they eat with relative ease.
However, other apps offer different services, and they might be better equipped to help you meet your goals. For example, some fitness apps are personal trainers in your pocket. They will assign you different workouts and expect you to record your follow-through. Other apps are for educational purposes; they teach you how to use equipment and avoid certain foods. By understanding the purpose of using your smartphone as a personal trainer, you can find the right fitness apps — ones that you will actually use. The versatile, high-performing Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone, with its resistance to water (or sweat) splashes and spills, can become your go-to source.
Check User Reviews for Signs of Results
As you read customer reviews in the Google Play and App Store, check to see the lengths of time for which people have used the app. You want to find stories from people who have used the apps for several weeks and found them helpful for driving results. You can easily leave a glowing five-star review after you download an app, but what happens several days later when you use it?
Frequent users will be able to find features that aren’t included but that you will want in your apps. They will also be able to highlight bugs and inconvenient features such as app crashes or slow loading times. Although these issues aren’t deal-breakers, they’re certainly an inconvenience.
Look for Apps That Offer a Trial Period
You can only learn so much from screenshots and app reviews. In all likelihood, you will know within a few minutes whether you think the app is useful and easy to use. Most experts recommend downloading free apps that have in-app upgrades and accounts. Once you’re accustomed to using these apps, you can purchase them. Try to find these apps — and other apps that have light versions versus paid versions — to give them a trial run.
Another benefit to using apps with free trial periods is that you can have a few weeks to see how these apps match your change of lifestyle. You might set out to go biking five times a week but then decide that you would rather go to the gym instead. If your bike is left in your garage, then a paid app to track courses has just become a waste of money.
Changing your lifestyle to become healthier isn’t always an easy task. The last step you want to take is to further burden yourself with apps that don’t provide the information you need. By following these tips, you should be able to find apps that work for you, not against you.
Image via Flickr by Mike_fleming
