The use of fitness applications allows taking sport activity to a completely new level. Nowadays, taking exercises is possible without going to a gym and hiring a personal trainer. Modern technology has made fitness activity easier and cheaper. If you want to improve your fitness, just download fitness application to your mobile device and feel the difference.
Fitness applications are available at Play Market and Apple Store in a huge assortment. All in all, there are over 45.000 health and fitness applications allowing to monitor your fitness activity, weight loss results, health level, etc. Indeed, fitness-related apps are numerous and diverse, and are developed to meet different fitness goals.
There are two basic types of sport apps - those that are created for gyms or fitness clubs and those that are designed for personal use. In accordance with the assigned mission, personal apps perform various functions. Thus, there are running or tracking apps, cycling, swimming and workout apps, programs for weight lifting, home exercising and many more. So, if you are engaged in sports activities, or only plan doing this, you need to choose an app that meets your fitness goal the most.
Five Most Popular Fitness Applications
It goes without saying that some programs are more popular than others. Here are 5 most popular:
1. Nike Training Club
This is an ideal program for beginners, who do not know what to start with. The Nike Training Club offers diverse workout routines created for people with different fitness levels and for training specific muscle groups. Apart from providing professionally arranged workouts, the duration of which ranges from 15 to 45 minutes, the Nike Training Club provides valuable fitness tips, healthy recipes and unlocks bonus regimes. The app is free and is compatible with Android and iOS devices.
2. Moves
With this free program you will easily track the amount of movements you make daily. Whether you walk, cycle, jog, roller-skate, etc., Moves will count every single move made by you. The app is very easy to use and works without any additional movement trackers. There is also no need entering any data to check your progress, just run the Moves and keep track of your daily movements.
3. Strava Cycling
As the name suggests, Strava Cycling is made specifically for cyclers. The app measures the distance, speed and elevation of your cycling activity. In addition, it helps choosing the best cycling routes, located in your neighbourhood and allows competing with other cyclers, who have ridden the same route. Strava Cycling is free for Android and iOS.
4. Pocket Yoga
This application will bring yoga classes to your home. Pocket Yoga offers 27 yoga routines that come with visual and audio guidance. The app is available for Android, iOS and Windows and costs $2.99.
5. Couch to 5K
This is undoubtedly one of the best free running applications. It promises to make you run five kilometers with ease within 9 weeks. The running plan becomes more intensive as your fitness level increases. You start with fast walking then proceed to jogging and finally to fast-pace running. With Couch to 5K you will rise through the ranks from a beginner to a steadfast runner by taking only 3 running sessions per week.
Basic Features of Fitness Apps for Gyms
To motivate clients train better and harder, many gyms and fitness centres use custom-made fitness applications. This is also a good way to withstand a competition and hold more loyal clients.
A decent gym software solution should:
- showcase the gym’s location
- show class schedules
- provide events calendar
- send motivation messages to all members
- feature a notepad for recording fitness achievements
- posses a shopping cart for selling sport products directly from the application
- be connected to the gym’s site, network accounts or blog
- allow watching media content like images or videos
These are only basic features and therefore, every gym or fitness center, using custom-made fitness software, can increase this list by adding features that will help make their services better.
Key Features of Activity Tracking Apps
Activity tracking programs are perhaps the most popular of all fitness-related software solutions. Such programs track a variety of activities, like walking, running, cycling, hiking and so on. In order to give accurate results, tracking applications should use GPS. No program can measure a user's speed, covered distance, calculate elevation and alterations, without using GPS. Of course, it is also necessary for identifying users’ location, coordinate them and calculate burned calories.
Sensors, like barometer, heart-rate sensor, accelerometers and gyroscope are also essential elements of any tracking application. These sensors give a detailed information about a user’s state during and after exercising.
Many programs feature maps and make it easier to find the best routes for running. This feature is especially valuable for people who do not stop their running activity even when staying in a foreign country or city.
Basic Features of Workout Apps
People who are not fond of gyms and fitness classes, however want to stay fit, can lose weight and tone up their bodies by executing regular exercises at home. This is where workout applications go into the game.
Workout applications make gym accessible from the comfort of your phone or other mobile device. These programs allow users choosing workout routines that meet their fitness level, goals and preferences. They offer a great variety of exercises targeting specific groups of muscles. A good app will offer workout plans of different complexity levels, so that every user could choose the most suitable one.
Video-based apps seem to be the most effective. Such programs make exercising more interesting and dynamic and therefore allow burning more calories.
Monetization of Fitness Applications
Applications used by gyms and fitness centers are usually free. Their main function is to promote a gym, attract more clients and make training more comfortable and exciting. A greater interest of athletes to a gym has a direct impact on its revenue.
Free applications available for general public need to be monetized, as this is the only possible way to get revenue from them. There are several methods of doing this - crowdfunding, sponsorship, account upgrades and advertising.
The most effective way to monetize the app is to persuade users upgrading their accounts to paid versions. Believe it or not, but there are lots of people eager to pay you. However, you need to provide strong arguments that users will get much better results by purchasing a paid version of your program.
Banner advertising is another popular way to monetize tracking and workout applications. Please note, that the usage of banner ads should be wise, as you risk losing a certain number of users by bothering them with ads too often.
Freeze Pro Software will develop high-end fitness applications basing on your requirements. We have an excellent experience in developing custom software solutions and a skilled team of developers ready to built an exceptional fitness app for you.