Get a Group Fitness Experience on Your Own With These Apps
Fitness classes can be motivating as opposed to working out alone. Someone pushes you to go the distance, do the next rep, and if you’re lucky, they drown out the part of your brain that tempts you to go home and have lunch.
Lifehacker has tested several apps that promise a great workout thanks to the convenience of your phone, with mixed results. Here’s how it went and which ones we recommend:
Peloton
I tried the Peloton stationary bike workout at the gym. I’m not a cardio fanatic, but it is necessary to be healthy or something (as I heard), so I started to resort to a quick workout of cycling or rowing at the end of several of my workouts.
The Peloton app (available for Android, iOS, and Fire TV; $ 12.99 / month after free trial) puts the camera on the instructor to keep you energized during your interval training. I chose the 15 minute trip to Tabata and found it very similar to the Cyclebar classes I have attended in the past. The instructor ideally combined cheerfulness and seriousness, and the music was well chosen. The only annoying thing is that she was referring to certain Peloton resistance settings (for example, encouraging us to climb to 55 within a certain interval) that had nothing to do with anything on my stationary bike.
In addition to cycling, the app has programs for other equipment and home workouts.
Studio.live
Our video producer Joel Kahn was familiar with real Peloton bikes, so I asked him to try Studio.live (available for iOS; $ 14.99 / month after free trial) for comparison. He trained on a treadmill and reported:
The actual procedures seemed pretty close to personal engagement, however, it was difficult to keep up with the bad sound at some points. Of course, having an instructor to tell you if you are doing something right is an advantage. There are also no on-screen prompts to tell you what speed or incline you should be doing at the moment, so if you miss what the instructor just said, you have a full minute of walking when you should be running. I really think it’s better than doing it yourself, but I’d rather try another app to find a better interface before incorporating it into my daily routine.
Nike run club
Our podcast producer Mikaela Heck loves to run outdoors, so I sent her off for a guided run with Nike Run Club (free for iOS and Android), the app I love myself if I’m stuck on a treadmill. (An interval program called Run Fast Repeat is a personal favorite.) It only provides audio workouts, no video.
Michaela tried runs labeled “First Long Run and Second Long Run” and said this:
Coach Barrett has a pleasant voice and provides the necessary level of support without being overly vulgar or over-the-top. His conversational tone also makes you feel like you’re not alone on the run. I also found that when someone talks to me while running, I improve my pace a little.
I don’t know if I will go to class or find a running coach in person anyway, but I really think this is a very cheap (free) way to improve my running game without having to look for a trainer or running club. There are so many guided launch options out there that I can’t imagine running out of them quickly.
I think it would be helpful on days when I lack motivation, but I probably won’t use it regularly because I like to just switch off the music while running.
Aaptiv
Our food and drink editor Claire Lower wanted her to be able to exercise from the comfort of her home, so I asked her to try Aaptiv (available for iOS or Android, $ 9.99 / month after free trial) and she chose 10- minute workout to the core. Aaptiv doesn’t have built-in videos, which turned out to be a disadvantage for this type of workout. Here’s what she said:
I don’t like the Aaptiv app at all. First, you cannot see someone making a move while you are exercising. You have to watch the movement on another screen, which in my opinion gets in the way. I also don’t like music, and it turns out I don’t like people speaking to me in a loud, motivating voice. I will continue to watch short demo videos and GIFs at home and ask the old people at the gym “am I doing the right thing.”
Be that as it may, cardio seems to work much better in this format, and you can listen to sample clips on the Aaptiv website.