Although it costs about $200 a month, Future features a user-friendly interface, customizable programming, and excellent support from your personal coach. It’s not always easy for newcomers to embark upon a fitness plan, but Muscle Booster offers a streamlined process that learns your goals and crafts an easy-to-follow workout regimen to help you achieve them. This beginner-friendly workout app can be accommodating for a range of different skill sets and equipment setups.

What is the best free app to track weight lifting?

For those needing a solid program for strength training, we highly recommend Boostcamp. This online portal provides you with hundreds of training programs from top fitness professionals and experts—folks like Dr. Eric Helms, Dr. Swole, or Jim Wendler, creator of the 5/3/1 workout. GGR expert product tester Logan Block reports his coach, Layne, is personable and energetic.

The best smart ring

In practice, it helped me decide whether the day was a rest day, easy day or day to push myself. The most important are training readiness, training status and HRV (heart rate variability) status, which work in tandem to help optimize your training and recovery. Like Garmin, it shows a lot of data and options, but can get confusing the further you dive into everything. Despite having rarely used Fitbit products in the past, the Charge 6 felt comfortable after only a few minutes of swiping through the watch and app. Strava is popular among runners and cyclists thanks to its detailed activity maps, leaderboards, and clubs.

Fitness tracker test results

And if you’re feeling overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by the choices available, I’m here to share personally-tested workout and planning apps to get you started. The Fitbit Charge series of fitness trackers have always been reliable in tracking steps and distance. In our 1-mile distance test, the Charge 6 was -0.02 miles off and had an error rate of 1.3% in our step-count test, performing just below our pick. On a full charge we were able to get five days of use while working out regularly and using GPS.

Fitbit Charge 6

  • The Fitbit Inspire 3 gives precise readings, has a good battery life, and includes plenty of features to appease people with varying health goals.
  • However, we found its battery lasts around eight days on a full charge (the company claims a battery life of 10 days).
  • If Aaptiv has a weakness, it’s the progressive overload, or lack thereof.
  • Aesthetics aside, the iOs and Android-compatible wearable is brimming with features to help you reach your health and fitness goals.
  • However, it’s clear that the workouts are designed by AI, not a personal trainer.
  • You can get exclusive programs from our top-notch trainers in one place, along with routines from other all-star content from Men’s Health, Prevention, and Runner’s World.

Workout apps make it easier to work out anywhere, with or without equipment, and they take out the guesswork for you. If you opt for the all-access membership, it costs $50 a month and can be used whether you own the bike, treadmill or rower. Peloton also recently updated its search function, so it’s easier than ever to find your favorite artist, class title and genre. If you’re not a fully converted Peloton junkie, the Peloton app One is a good stepping stone to see what the hype is about and whether you enjoy the classes. In contrast, those that try to excel in everything tend to lack essential features and feel cluttered.

top rated fitness apps for exercise tracking

Strava App

It provides smartwatch support and connectivity with Garmin Connect, MyFitnessPal, Suunto, and other platforms. Although the app locks advanced stats and training plans behind a paywall, you can still track and review workouts with the free tier. Adidas Running lets you track outdoor activities like running, walking, and cycling. It uses GPS to provide real-time feedback on distance, pace, duration, and calories burned. It also helps you stay motivated with global challenges and leaderboards.

Moshi Kids: Sleep, Relax, Play

If you’re looking for a simple workout tracker with an expansive community feed, look no further than Hevy, our pick for the best free app for community support. For the gym-goer—or home gym user—who’s looking for a workout tracker with a comprehensive library of exercises, there’s Jefit. Jefit’s free version allows you to log and track your workouts, as well as gives you access to some workout routines, although many are locked behind the elite subscription.

The Best Workout Apps to Kickstart Your Health Goals in 2026

WatchOS 26 means this watch is full of neat tricks, like an AI-powered Workout Buddy when paired with an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone, and the Liquid Glass design language looks great. Selecting the best smartwatch in 2026 is about more than what phone you have. If you want a watch that seamlessly pairs with your iPhone and allows you to use third-party apps, you’ll probably be looking at an Apple Watch. Likewise, if you have a Samsung phone, a Samsung Galaxy Watch will likely be your first port of call. There’s good sports tracking support here too, with the useful addition of running courses for beginners, but it lacks onboard GPS and that does mean you need to lean on your phone for the most accurate outdoor stats. It’s Samsung’s fitness apps for beginners best cheap fitness tracker by far and a very good one to track your sleep.

top rated fitness apps for exercise tracking

Cronometer is often considered one of the most data-accurate options among any free calorie counting app, making it especially appealing to users who value precision and transparency. On the free version, you can log meals, track daily calorie intake, and access a robust food database without being forced into a subscription. Our expert rated the bright, AMOLED display, and appreciated the handy communication features, including a speaker and microphone to take on-wrist calls, on-device music storage and Garmin Pay.

Health Coach

If you’re looking for an immersive training experience that’s rich with motivation, advice, and engagement, we highly recommend subscribing to Future. Yes, the monthly membership is expensive at $199, but with that you’re essentially getting a full-fledged personal trainer in your pocket (or on your watch or TV). If you love outdoor exercise stats like pace and power, a Garmin watch may be the best match. If you want broad exercise and health data, plus all the latest apps, a smartwatch from Apple or Google is a better fit. The watch has up to 18 hours of battery life, according to the brand — that’s less than most competitors.

Should I Buy a Fitness Tracker?

But if these aren’t quite right for you either, we’ve rounded up the best workout apps for a range of training styles and budgets to get you started. Daily Yoga is used by over 60 million yogis worldwide, and in just two weeks, the app claims to make a significant difference in your yoga journey. Furthermore, it offers an intense exercise method that not only stretches your body but also enhances your overall well-being.

It doesn’t get better than this, except for being with an in-person trainer. And to be honest, this style of personal training kind of forces you to be held even more accountable because the trainer can really see what you’re doing all the time and check in with you regularly. Our tester and former lead reviewer for Garage Gym Reviews Everything, Lindsay Scheele, CPT, CNC, notes there are bodyweight, dumbbell, and barbell progressions for most movements.

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