No excuses, it’s time to get smart with your workouts… we look to our friendly mobile to show you how. #EWGetsFit

Ready to up your exercise game? There’s an app for that. Why hire a pricey personal trainer of your own when you can borrow Rihanna’s via the Nike Training Club app? And why waste time compiling the perfect gym playlist (procrastinating much?) when music app Spring will do it for you – and tailor the rhythm to the pace of your workout?

Say hello to the 10 fitness apps you need to be the smuggest girl in the gym.

1. STYCK

Or should that be carrot and Styck? This home-grown app spurs you into action by offering real life rewards (courtesy of partners including Surf House Dubai, Ripe Market and Jumeirah) when you up your steps and hit your health targets. We don’t know about you, but we’re way more likely to put in a power walk when there’s the promise of a free paddle-boarding session at the end of it.

Free.

 

2. NIKE N+TC

This ingenious app is the closest you can get to a personal trainer without actually forking out for one. Short of covertly shadowing paying customers in the gym, that is, and we’re fairly sure that’s frowned upon. Choose from 15, 30, or 45-minute sessions of varying levels of intensity, with instructions and demo videos from the likes of Ary Nunez (trainer to Rihanna, no less), Serena Williams and Ellie Goulding.

Free.

Related Story: Hilarious Fitness GIFs We Can All Relate To

3. SPRING

All gym bunnies acknowledge the importance of music when it comes to motivation, but when you exercise regularly the most carefully curated playlist can get old fast. Enter Spring, which can provide the perfect, rhythm-based soundtrack to your workout with a swipe of your smartphone. Whether you’re walking, running, spinning or cycling, Spring will keep the right tunes coming.

Free.

 

4. MYFITNESSPAL

An oldie but a goodie, Myfitnesspal uses your measurements and your target weight to calculate a daily calorie goal. There’s a food and exercise diary to help you stay on track, and the calorie content of thousands of popular dishes are already programmed into the app to speed up the process. Even the Big Mac meal is on there (1,120 cal in case you were wondering). Kale salad (approx 130 cal) it is then.

Free.

 

5. WOD Deck of Cards

One for all you crossfit fans, this app helps you keep your WOD (that’s workout of the day, for the uninitiated) interesting. Select four exercises to focus on – one for each suit in the “deck” – and swipe to see what comes up first. Keep going until you reach the end of the deck, or collapse with exhaustion, whichever comes first.

Free.

Related Story: The Supermodel Workout: Tried & Tested

6. C25K

This app is tailored to first time runners (the ‘C’ stands for couch) in need of a little help to get them pounding the pavements. You’ll work out three times a week, alternating between walking and running as you get stronger. It promises to get you running 5k comfortably in just eight weeks. Next stop, the New York marathon.

Free.

 

7. 5 Minute Yoga

Any workout that can be wrapped up in five minutes has to be a winner, right? Devoting even a few moments a day to stretching and breathing has health-boosting benefits, and 5 Minute Yoga makes it easy with its library of short but effective practices that are the perfect addition to your pre-work routine.

Free.

 

8. PACT

When you smash your fitness goals, Pact rewards you in cold, hard cash. So what’s the downside? When you don’t, it’s you who has to pay up. Just programme in a goal – such as three gym sessions per week – then upload photo evidence for the approval of the Pact community in order to start boosting your balance.

Free.

Related Story: Free Online Fitness Classes

9. GREEN KITCHEN

They say getting in shape is 20 per cent about exercise, 80 per cent about diet. So don’t sweat it out in the gym only to undo all your hard work in the kitchen. This app is packed with inspiring veggie recipes and easy to follow instructions.

(Dhs18)

 

10. CLASSDIVE

The huge variety of gyms on offer in Dubai is simultaneously awesome and overwhelming. Instead of signing up for an annual membership, new app Classdive aims to let users play the fitness field by searching, booking and locating classes all over the city – no contracts required.
(Coming soon)

 

Image: Getty