What Is The Best Fitness/ Calorie App For Women For 2018

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20 Best Workout Apps For Women, According To Top Trainers

Sweat. It. Out.

Jewelyn Butron

Squeezing a workout in during your busy day becomes a whole lot easier with an assist from a workout app, as it takes the guesswork out of formulating a training plan. And who couldn't use a little help switching up their sweat sessions to stave off boredom and keep your muscles guessing? The best workout apps for women can do all of that and then some.

When it comes to workout apps, there are plenty of options out there for everyone, from yogis to lifters to runners. Many are free to download and offer endless variety when it comes to types of workouts, trainers, scenery, and more.

What's also great about using a workout app is that you can track your progress. "Be consistent and spend a little time each week reviewing the data," says Pete McCall, CSCS, host of the All About Fitness Podcast and instructor at Equinox in San Diego. "It can help you identify when you're training too hard or not training hard enough—or not hitting the ideal heart rate long enough for significant calorie burn."

Here you'll find a list of the 20 top workout apps—all approved by fitness pros and loved by team Women's Health. Each one will give you something to look forward to in your next sweat session—from the Monkey Method app, that will push you to master your pullups in no time, to Strava, a running app that will make your next long-distance run feel like a community experience. Sound good? Then, make sure your phone is charged and get to sweating.

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Best App For Apple Watch Users: Apple Fitness+

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Price: $9.99 per month

Apple Fitness+ is the only workout platform built for the Apple Watch. Based on your go-to routine, you'll have personalized recommendations for new class styles, powered by top trainers right at the tip of your fingers.

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Best App For Women's Health Diehards: All/Out Studio

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Price: $14.99 per month

Love Women's Health workouts? Well now you can find workouts programmed by some of our fave trainers all in one place, along with routines from Men's Health, Prevention, and Runner's World. Find exactly what you're looking for in the catalog of over 100 workouts, including bodyweight routines, strength training with weights, HIIT, yoga, meditation, dance cardio, and barre.

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Best Boutique Fitness App: Variis

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Price: $39.99 per month

Want a super immersive, live, and on-demand experience from some of your favorite studios (think: Equinox, SoulCycle, PURE Yoga, Precision Run)? Then, you're going to want to download Variis—which offers all these and more. Trust: You'll be getting one of the strongest virtual workout options in the game.

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Best App For Endless Trainer Content: Motify

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Price: Free, with in-app purchases

Take your sweat session outdoors, to the gym, or work out in the comfort of your home with this app. "It's truly a one stop shop app. It includes cardio workouts, strength workouts, Pilates, yoga, flexibility, meditation, and nutrition! There's no need for multiple apps," says Hannah Davis, CSCS, who's created programs for Motify herself.

You specify your exercise goals, like "get ready for summer," "ease back pain," or "strengthen your core" and the program will suggest workouts, strengthening, and stretching videos tailored to those goals. You can compete with friends to track each other's progress, too.

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Best Overall Yoga App: Alo Moves

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Price: $20 per month

You'll never get bored with this workout app, because it releases new videos every day. "It contains over 1,500 classes and is growing. Classes can be chosen by instructor, style, difficulty, intensity, and duration," says Jane Hanisch, an ACSM-certified exercise physiologist.

Alo Moves lets you cycle through yoga styles, from vinyasa to Ashtanga, Hatha, and restorative yoga. "Another great feature of this app is that it contains classes on developing skills (handstands, floating), mindfulness, and fitness," says Hanisch. And you only need minimal equipment. "All [workouts] can be done with just a yoga mat or chair," Hanisch adds. Plus, it also features other fitness modalities, too, including Pilates and HIIT. So you can cross-train without switching up apps.

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Best App For Runners Prepping For A Race: Training Peaks

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Price: Free (Premium version costs $19.95 per month)

Prepping for a marathon, triathlon, or other major athletic event and want to improve your endurance? This app can customize your whole prep plan. "Training Peaks allows me to create and design my own workouts based off of my current goals," says Keelin Eichert, certified personal trainer and district personal training manager for Retro Fitness in New York City.

It bases everything off your heart rate threshold. You can track your HR during all sorts of workouts, especially long distance runs and sprints. "It also updates my workouts and speed as my heart gets stronger," Eichert says.

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Best App For Unlimited Personal Training: Ladder Teams

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Price: $59 per month

This app is the perfect solution for anyone looking to work with a personal trainer who doesn't have the time or access to one IRL. "It creates customized programming for your specific needs with a real trainer," says Lauren Kanski, CPT. Watch videos that demonstrate correct form for every exercise, and keep track of other important elements of your progress such as sleep and nutrition. "It's like having a trainer with you everywhere you go," she says. "I coach through it and would never be a part of something I didn't love for my own clients!"

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Best App For Quick HIIT Workouts: Freeletics

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Price: Free

Ideal for fitting in a quick sweat, this app offers bodyweight workouts from five to 30 minutes—and if you pay for a coach (starting at $6.25/month), you also get a personalized training plan.

"The workouts are perfect for traveling with no equipment and no access to a gym," says Kirsten Beverley-Waters, trainer, yoga instructor, and founder of Thryve, which offers wellness retreats around the country.

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Best App For Pilates: Pilates Anytime

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Price: $18 per month

If you're super into all forms of Pilates, this is your app. "They have the broadest spectrum of Pilates styles from New York, Classical, West Coast, Santa Fe, and Contemporary, or fitness-focused Pilates," says Juliet Kaska, CPT. "There are over 3,400 videos on all levels, all styles and on all equipment including an extensive library of zero-equipment Pilates workouts," she adds, which is great if you're someplace like a hotel room and don't have access to a machine or mat.

Also, if you're in the mood for a high-energy cardio class, the app also offers barre-Pilates fusion fitness challenges. And you can download these workouts and cue them up anywhere.

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Best App For Pullups Training: Monkey Method

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Price: Starting at $9.99 per month

Whether you want to master a pullup or impress people with a flawless press-to-handstand move, this app has you covered. It's a favorite of Solace New York CrossFit coach Danielle Barry, who loves that it breaks down moves into basic, intermediate, and advanced levels, so everyone can learn them. You get videos and drills to use to practice, plus a plan to capture your goal—all powered by experts. "It's a one-stop shop for learning some new party tricks," Barry says.

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Best Period Tracker App For Active Women: Wild.Ai

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When it comes to working out, whether it's running that extra mile or upping your reps, you can't go wrong listening to your body. The first-of-its-kind app, Wild.Ai, prioritizes that connection by helping women track their menstrual cycles and adjust their training and nutrition schedules accordingly to feel and perform at their best.

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Best App For Cross-Training: NeoU

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Price: starting at $7.99 per month

"This platform is like the Netflix of fitness," says personal trainer Janeil Mason. It offers a number of different classes—think: bootcamp, HIIT, dance, barre, strength, yoga, stretching and more–with a variety of energetic trainers.

"I recently started to incorporate a small movement practice into my morning routine before going out to train others," says Mason. "And I love being able to put on a 5–10 minute NEOU routine to start my morning with great motivation."

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Best App For Low-Impact Workouts: Housework

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Price: $24.99 per month

"I love the Housework app because it features Pilates-style workouts set to the beat of energetic house music," says WH Executive Digital Editor Amanda Woerner. "There are tons of workouts on the app ranging from 10 or 20-minute quickies to 45-minute classes that target every area of your body. The music is on-point and the moves will never leave you bored."

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Best App For Dance Cardio Fans: The Sculpt Society

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Price: $19.99 per month

"If you like dance-based cardio and conditioning types of classes, The Sculpt Society app is up your alley," says Jacqueline Andriakos, CPT, health director at WH. The fitness app provides full-length video workouts with trainer Megan Roup (the creator of Sculpt Society), along with quickie workouts for abs, arms, glutes, and more. And you can also download the videos, so you can access them even without WiFi. "It's essential for me if I'm traveling, or if I just don't have a ton of time or space (or disposable income to spend on expensive NYC workout classes….)," Andriakos adds.

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Best Overall Running App: Nike Run Club

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Price: Free

Meet your new fave run buddy—especially if you're looking to keep tabs on your weekly mileage. "I like being able to set a mile or time goal, or just run and see how may miles I can get," says Judine St. Gerard, CPT. The app lets you know once you've hit one mile, two, and more, to keep you on track and motivated too. "It's also pretty encouraging if you're trying to be consistent with running," she says. "For example, at the end of your run it will congratulate you on something—maybe you've run the longest you've ever run, or maybe you ran three times this week."

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Best App For Long-Distance Runners And Cyclers: Strava

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Price: Free (premium $8 per month)

So many runners and bicyclists use Strava—and that's likely because the workout app is so big on community. Just because you're going a long distance, doesn't mean you have to do it alone. You can follow friends, see their routes, share photos, and compete in challenges. "This allows you to stay connected with your fit friends, which is a great way to hold each other accountable," says Hollis Tuttle, senior running coach at Mile High Run Club.

The best part: You can easily find places to run if you're in a new city, thanks to the local feature that shows popular routes in major cities.

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Best App For Audio Workouts: Aaptiv

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Price: $15 per month

With this fitness app, you get audio-guided workouts, meaning no need to look at your phone—just listen up. The trainer will give clear directions on anything from strength and yoga to running, cycling, and stair climbing (to name a few). "It's great for when I need motivation and inspiration while working out," says Kara Tremel, an instructor at Uplift Studios and Physique57.

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Best App For Live Workouts: obé Fitness

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Price: $27 per month

Live-stream multiple classes every day—from yoga to sculpt, Pilates, strength, HIIT, boxing, and dance cardio. You get real-time shoutouts from the energetic instructors, and you can easily string a few of these five to 60-minute workouts together to get a longer session if that's what you're after. It's like being in-person for a class, but from the comfort of your living room.

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Best Strength And Conditioning App: Nike Training Club

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Price: Free

Whether you want a strength-focused workout or a cardio-focused interval set, this app has you covered. "The Nike training app has workouts for all durations. So, when I want to get in a quick workout, I use it to keep things fresh," says Noam Tamir, certified training and owner of TS Fitness in NYC. "I like that they have warmups for all the workouts."

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Best Power Yoga App: Corepower Yoga On Demand

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Price: $19.99 per month

Yep, you can experience CorePower's awesome yoga flows, even if you don't have access to a studio (or, you know, don't feel like leaving the house). The app offers CorePower's signature classes, but at different lengths to suit your schedule. "I like that this is more customizable than other yoga apps I've used," says Kanski. Plus, it includes pose breakdowns, lessons, and talks to strengthen your practice.

Mara Santilli Mara is a freelance writer and editor specializing in culture, politics, wellness, and the intersection between them, whose print and digital work has appeared in Marie Claire, Women's Health, Cosmopolitan, Airbnb Mag, Prevention, and more.

Mallory Creveling Senior Health and Fitness Editor Mallory Creveling, an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, joined the Runner's World and Bicycling team in August 2021.

Alexis Jones Assistant Editor Alexis Jones is an assistant editor at Women's Health where she writes across several verticals on WomensHealthmag.com, including life, health, sex and love, relationships and fitness, while also contributing to the print magazine.

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