Exercise apps to help you get fit and stay fit.
Exercise is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. On a chilly, rainy day, you might question that statement, but it’s really true.
When it comes to self-care, your exercise regimen is one of the best time investments you can make.
I recently wrote about some of the ways that exercise boosts your energy, and how even a little bit is a big help.
Finding time in your day or week for exercise can sometimes feel like trying to squeeze your foot into a shoe that’s too small. That’s especially true when you’re busy. But when are you not busy? You see, that’s the thing: If you wait for the right time, there’s a very good chance that you’ll never follow-through. So here are three things to consider, no matter how busy you are:
- Exercise is important!
- It doesn’t have to take hours of your time.
- Every time you do it, you’ll boost your energy!
Exercise Apps for Finding Time and Energy
So today I am sharing two apps that I read about on lifehacker.
Their recent article “Workout Showdown: Sworkit vs. Nike Training Club” reviews these two popular apps and gives detailed information about both.
Both apps give you a pretty wide range of workouts, with Sworkit having regimens that you can do in 5-minutes in street clothes if you want. Meanwhile, Nike gives you well-thought-out workouts that tend to be more challenging.
Both apps allow you to choose where you want to focus your workout energy. Here’s how they’re described in the lifehacker review:
- Sworkit is a longstanding Lifehacker favorite. You can choose the length of your workout, from five minutes to an hour, and the app fills that time with the type of exercises (strength, cardio, etc) you requested. For a fee, you get training plans and more variety in workouts. Besides the full Sworkit app, there are seven other apps that each give you a few specialized workouts: Upper Body and Lower Body apps, for example, and a Cardio one, and a Kids version.
- Nike+ Training Club is the workout partner to Nike+ Run Club, one of our favorite running apps. NTC has a huge variety of workouts, from yoga to gym moves, and they’re always featuring a new workout named after a celebrity athlete. Nike sells shoes, not app subscriptions, so everything including the workout plans is free.
Both apps have basic, free versions as well as more robust paid options.
I invite you to explore them for yourself, and see what offers you the best exercise energy boost for the buck!
Another Boost for You
Looking to get ‘stuck energy’ moving in all areas of your life? Here’s something that will help you loosen those logjams and start moving again!
“Why Can’t I Ever Get Anything Done?” How to Transform Your Life Using These 101 Time Tips is a compilation of 101 of my most popular time tips in expanded form. It offers practical, heart-based wisdom in right-sized bites for easy digestion. And it comes with a very special bonus, too. Why Can’t I Find My Direction?” 17 Priority Power™ Questions to Serve as Your Compass is a workbook designed to support you in making positive changes.
There’s so much for you here, and you can learn about it by clicking the link below:
Dear Paula,
Thank you for addressing this topic. It is so easy to find reasons why I don’t have enough time to exercise! But in the past few years, I have really neglected this important aspect of life, which has also been shrouded with dread and additional stress. (The perfectionist voice: if it isn’t a “perfect workout,” it isn’t a workout!)
I had always entered this as an appointment in my calendar, but since the “meeting” was often with myself, it was easy to postpone or cancel the exercise appointment if I wasn’t exercising with someone.
I’ve now decided to approach exercise as a personal time investment; time for me; important time for self-care.
I’ve tried out Sworkit and am impressed. It takes up a lot of volume, but it is great and there are different routines to choose from.
7-Minute-Training is also a simple app that I have used; it is good but can get monotonous.
FitNotes is also a good app with which you can track your workouts and progress.
Good luck to everyone finding and respecting important exercise time!
Hi David –
I am glad that you recognize how that perfectionist voice gets in the way.
And prioritizing self-care is a great way to enhance your follow-through, as
well as underscoring the fact that you have your own best interests at heart.
We’ll take a look at FitNotes — perhaps for a future blog post.
As always, it’s great to hear about your time successes and challenges.
Thanks for taking the time to write, and congratulations on the important
steps you’re taking.
Best,
Paula