Whether or not you are attempting to hit New Yr’s resolutions or simply want a great exercise or weight loss program tracker, the most effective well being and health apps can assist you get there. And if you happen to’re feeling overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by the alternatives out there, I am right here to share personally-tested exercise and planning apps to get you began.
Some folks thrive with customized, AI-made exercise or weight loss program plans. Others profit from social apps like Strava the place challenges and “kudos” from pals hold you motivated. And you would be stunned how a great spreadsheet or primary exercise log may work higher than an costly app with movies and plans.
Damaged down into particular classes — basic well being/ health apps, exercise apps, companion apps for smartwatches, and weight/ weight loss program apps — these are the most effective apps that can assist you hit your objectives for 2026, with information on key options, pricing, and why they’ve helped our workers succeed with their objectives.
Normal well being & health apps
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Key Well being Options: Sleep Rating, Day by day Readiness Rating, Stress Administration Rating, Menstrual Well being, Meal & Water logging, Mindfulness periods, Pattern “Insights”
Key Health Options: Energetic Zone Minutes, Cardio/ Goal Load, Gemini-made customized exercise plans, video exercises, Fitbit/ Pixel Watch integration
Subscription: $10/month or $80/yr (AI plans/ evaluation, video exercises, long-term reviews)
Why Fitbit will assist together with your objectives: Recommending Fitbit Premium grew to become simpler as soon as Google employed Gemini to make the Fitbit Private Well being Coach. It lets you “converse” to an AI coach and create a complete exercise plan inside minutes, incorporating dozens of various indoor or outside exercise varieties. So whether or not your health purpose is to shed pounds, enhance at a particular sport, enhance muscle mass, stroll extra, or anything, Gemini can provide you weeks of customized exercises for that purpose. No different app is as complete or customizable.
AI apart, Fitbit advantages from syncing with low cost Fitbit trackers, so the app can monitor stats like resting coronary heart charge, blood oxygen, pores and skin temperature, sleep zones, and HRV. The brand new app reveals “Perception” playing cards with pattern knowledge for these stats, so you may see how your well being is enhancing as you attempt to get fitter or shed pounds.
Why we depend on Fitbit: “Fitbit is straightforward and accessible for anybody simply beginning out with critical exercises.” — Derrek Lee, Managing Editor
“I really like the brand new interface and the way easy it’s to get vital knowledge at a look. I have been impressed with the AI coach and its suggestions. I feel it is probably the greatest way of life health apps with a holistic method.” — Tshaka Armstrong, Contributor
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Why a spreadsheet will assist together with your objectives: Apps will be motivational and auto-track your knowledge and progress over time, with fancy graphs and AI evaluation. However they’re often (A) paid, (B) mobile-only, and (C) specialised to at least one exercise.
That is why, in relation to New Yr’s resolutions or making a exercise calendar, a easy doc or spreadsheet works higher than looking for the right, all-in-one app! Use different apps to trace particular objectives like miles/ steps/ weight reduction/ books learn, however consolidate all of them into one doc you may examine in your cellphone or laptop, utilizing tables and drop-down menus to label your progress (as I did above).
Or, use a spreadsheet to put out your long-term exercise plans, then a particular working or energy app to place these plans into motion. I used that methodology to plan my months-long marathon coaching (see above), paired with my Garmin watch, and it was extremely efficient.
Why we depend on Google Docs/ Sheets: “Yeah, it sounds foolish, however I truly discovered a use for spreadsheets. I would like higher physique energy, so lifting weights is the way in which I attempt to keep it. I can hold document of my present routine in addition to any objectives, and there may be loads of room for additional notes. Better of all, I can examine off every day’s exercise from my cellphone or my desktop and have entry to all my long-term progress, so I really feel like I am conducting one thing.” — Jerry Hildenbrand, Senior Editor
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Key Health Options: Exercise recording, native routes with 3D maps, Heatmap, Phase leaderboards, Golf equipment, Challenges, long-term exercise evaluation, Athlete Intelligence summaries, race predictions, Prompt Exercises
Subscription: $12/month or $80/yr (Saved routes, full knowledge evaluation with AI summaries, Prompt Exercises
Why Strava will assist together with your objectives: Most individuals strive more durable when cheered on or competing with others. Strava permits you to join with pals to supply and obtain “kudos,” motivating you to maintain getting on the market. You even have “Challenges” the place hitting sure thresholds nets you badges and awards from associate firms, and leaderboards the place you may compete to be quickest on native routes and trails. And it helps you discover native Golf equipment with like-minded athletes, if you happen to want in-person motivation.
Extra just lately, Strava has doubled down on Athlete Intelligence, a device that makes use of your exercise historical past to evaluate the standard of a particular exercise and supply context to your enchancment over time. This yr, Strava launched “Prompt Exercises,” with customized actions throughout 40 sports activities varieties and 4 varieties (‘Keep’, ‘Construct’, ‘Discover’, or ‘Get well’), together with customized routes out of your beginning location utilizing a Heatmap of different customers’ exercises. Primarily, Strava gives customized, tailor-made exercises, with out committing to a long-term plan.
Why we depend on Strava: “I discovered my native working group via Strava final yr; I recognize when Strava tells me a sure exercise was my quickest within the final month; and I am motivated to develop into the ‘Native Legend’ for sure segments like my close by monitor.” — Michael Hicks, Wearables Editor
“Strava is a good app to attach with others who’re into health and hold your self accountable. Many health apps sync with it, so you may publish your watch’s exercises and hold your self lively and motivated.” — Derrek Lee, Managing Editor
Exercise apps
Key Health options: Exercise monitoring, media playback controls, 5K/10K/13.1/26.2 coaching plans, audio-guided runs, challenges, streaks, real-time location sharing
Subscription: None
Why Nike Run Membership will assist together with your objectives: NRC is widespread with veteran runners as a running-focused various to Strava with comparable gamification (i.e., badges, challenges, and likes) and long-term stat monitoring.
Why I like to recommend it for newbie couch-to-5K runners, except for the dearth of subscription, is Coach Bennett’s audio-based guided runs. As you run, the professional working coach gives you pointers and motivation as you are struggling to maintain tempo and keep transferring.
Why we depend on Nike Run Membership: “I’ve used Nike Run Membership to run over 1,500 miles throughout a decade and numerous gadgets. NRC handles the fundamentals excellently, with the brilliant and daring Nike font making your tempo, length, coronary heart charge, and extra seen at a look. It helps media playback controls, and its post-run breakdowns are each data-rich and simple to grasp. The app prioritizes pleasant competitors with different customers (with weekly challenges) and your self (with awards and milestones) whereas reminding you to relaxation.” — Brady Snyder, Contributor
“Nike Run Membership helps me get into extremely productive steady-state runs and brainless interval coaching. I simply open it, select a run that matches my intention, and transfer my ft.” —Tshaka Armstrong, Contributor
Various possibility: Attempt Zombies, Run!, which has dozens of hours of audio tales designed to maintain you motivated as you run, together with some Marvel adventures.
Key Health options: Customizable exercises with customized units, full train checklist, exercise graphs, macronutrient monitoring
Subscription: $5/month or $30/yr (Limitless exercise templates, analytics like muscle maps and macros)
Why Robust will assist together with your objectives: Whether or not you are understanding at house or the gymnasium, you do not want an app distracting you. You want simplicity, a streamlined exercise log the place you may examine off one train or set, then transfer on to the subsequent, with out giving your self an opportunity to slack off.
Robust fulfills that area of interest! You possibly can construct out exercises utilizing its complete train library, together with Heat-ups and Drop/ Failure units, after which observe that exercise to completion. The PRO subscription offers you extra knowledge, however the free model is greater than adequate to get you began.
Why we depend on Robust: “Robust is the gymnasium diary the place I absolutely flesh issues out. I constructed out my exercises and monitor not solely my progressive overload however my physique half beneficial properties (i.e., biceps, calves, quads, and so on.).” — Tshaka Armstrong, Contributor
Alternate options: Attempt Hevy for a exercise log with extra group options, or Fitbod if you happen to want AI assist constructing your exercises.
Key Health options: Prebuilt applications, on-demand exercises, professional trainers, train kind guides, wholesome recipes
Subscription: $20/month or ~$120/yr (obligatory)
Why Sweat will assist together with your objectives: Tailor-made to ladies, Sweat has long-term energy applications tailor-made to any talent degree, with a clear UI that makes it straightforward to navigate via exercises and see (A) the correct kind for each train and (B) the muscle map of the way it’ll influence your physique. It is on the costly aspect however gives numerous worth as an alternative choice to a (dearer) private coach.
Why we depend on Sweat: “I subscribe to Sweat as a result of it offers an ideal stability of cardio and energy coaching exercises, with out requiring me to plan my whole week. As a postpartum mother with little or no time, understanding precisely which exercise I am because of do every day is extremely useful and actually eases my thoughts.” — Nandika Iyer Ravi, Information Editor
Alternate options: Peloton or Apple Health+ are the plain large hitters for basic teaching, whereas Centr is a extra hardcore possibility.
Smartwatch/ sensible ring companion apps
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Key Health options: Garmin Run/ Biking/ Power/Triathlon Coach, every day advised exercises, energy/ yoga exercises, Coaching Standing, Coaching Load, long-term metric graphs, Garmin Golf, Garmin Trails, LiveTrack, downloadable/ customized programs, Challenges & Badges, gear monitoring, race predictions, and extra
Key Well being options: Physique Battery, HRV Standing, Sleep Rating/ Coach, menstrual monitoring, meals logging with AI picture recognition and barcode scanning, Life-style Logging, Well being Standing
Subscription: $7/month or $70/yr (AI summaries, Vitamin logging, Trails, Efficiency Dashboard, teaching movies, and different small options, not required)
Why Garmin Join will assist together with your objectives: Garmin watches primarily get reward for the long-lived {hardware} and post-workout evaluation in your wrist. Garmin Join is a bloated, labyrinthian app that takes time to regulate to, however it’s stuffed to bursting with options you will not discover elsewhere (particularly at no cost), most notably customized coaching plans and every day advised runs, rides, walks, or energy exercises.
The Actions tab permits you to see how your efforts examine week-to-week or month-to-month, whereas the Efficiency Dashboard (above, subscribers solely) makes your knowledge much more colourful and dynamic. Garmin additionally added meals logging, Life-style Logging, and well being outlier warnings to the app just lately, making it apparent that it needs Connect with attraction to extra “mainstream” athletes, not simply the professionals.
Why we depend on Garmin Join: “Garmin feels extra complete and splendid for critical gym-goers than Fitbit.” — Derrek Lee, Managing Editor
“Garmin has helped me hit marathon and half-marathon PRs, enhance my VO2 Max, and run extra miles than I ever have earlier than. It motivated me with dynamic run ideas based mostly on my coaching load and working tolerance, so I all the time knew how onerous to push with out overdoing it.” — Michael Hicks, Wearables Editor
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Key options: Readiness, Sleep Rating/ Debt, Well being Panels, Meal logging, Cycle/ Being pregnant/ Premenopause insights, Cardiovascular Age, Daytime Stress, Resilience, Oura Advisor, Automated Exercise Detection
Subscription: $6/month or $70/yr (obligatory)
Why Oura will assist together with your objectives: The attraction of a sensible ring is to get a laundry checklist of information, day and evening, for individuals who discover smartwatches too cumbersome, distracting, or uncomfortable for sleep monitoring. And the Oura Ring tops our finest sensible ring checklist on the energy of its app.
Over the previous couple of years, Oura has packed its app with a complete checklist of well being metrics, with the AI Oura Advisor because the flashy topper to make every little thing extra accessible. Except for the plain nightly stats about sleep high quality or coronary heart well being, Oura tries to investigate long-term developments and supply extra context in your physique’s means to deal with stress. And it gives some rudimentary health instruments.
Why we depend on Oura: “I depend on Oura as my every day psychological well being monitor. It tracks after I’m harassed and offers customized ideas for getting the remaining I would like.” — Nandika Iyer Ravi, Information Editor
“The Oura app is a passive expertise for me. I take advantage of it to examine my sleep high quality and general every day well being and wellness, as I put on it extra persistently than my Garmin or Pixel watches.” — Derrek Lee, Managing Editor
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Key options: Readiness, Sleep Rating, Exertion Rating, PAI rating, Zepp Coach coaching, meals logging with AI picture recognition, tracked energy exercises with rep counts and muscle maps
Subscription: $12/month or $70/yr (Zepp Aura superior sleep reviews, music, meditation, and AI coach)
Why Zepp Well being will assist together with your objectives: Amazfit watches are well-known for his or her funds worth, however it’d be more durable to suggest these funds watches if the companion Zepp Well being app weren’t so helpful.
You will discover the standard assortment of nightly well being knowledge, however packaged properly with simple scores. The Zepp Coach can assist construct exercise plans tailor-made to your skills, whereas meals logging is extra simple than on different apps. And except for the non-compulsory Aura sub, every little thing is free.
Why we depend on Zepp Well being: “I just about use Amazfit solely nowadays. The Zepp app syncs completely with Strava, which I take advantage of to share with pals and construct group. The Zepp app additionally makes it silly straightforward to log meals with its LLM-driven know-how. I’ve written about this a number of occasions now, however you should utilize pure language to enter your meals and snacks as a substitute of scrolling via a bunch of lists or scanning barcodes.” — Nick Sutrich, Senior Content material Producer
Weight & diet/ weight loss program apps
Key options: Vitamin monitoring, meals logging, AI recognition, AI chatbot for recipes, calls with nutritionists, related CGM
Why Healthify will assist together with your objectives: Logging each single meal and snack is a significant time suck, particularly when it is advisable to calculate each ingredient to a meal. HealthifyMe’s entire premise is eradicating that delay by letting you merely {photograph} one thing and get the dietary stats in a flash. It additionally has AI teaching and ideas, or a option to join with actual nutritionists for a payment, however the streamlined meals logging is what made this app so widespread.
Why we depend on Healthify: “HealthifyMe is my go-to for staying accountable to my calorie deficit.” — Nandika Iyer Ravi, Information Editor
Key options: Meals logging, calorie and macro counting, voice logging, AI meal scan, barcode scanning, intermittent fasting tracker, recipes, grocery checklist sharing,
Subscription: $25/month or $100/yr (for many options moreover primary handbook meals logging and calorie rely)
Why MyFitnessPal will assist together with your objectives: It is the identical causes we listed for Healthify, besides MyFitnessPal has a barely longer characteristic checklist in change for its subscription, like hundreds of recipes, customized meal planning, voice logging, progress reviews, and so forth. You will additionally discover Android and Apple Watch apps, making it straightforward to examine your every day stats or rapidly log a favourite meal.
Why we depend on MyFitnessPal: “MyFitnessPal helps me hold monitor of my way of life and habits. I log my meals and workouts to watch my macros.” — Derrek Lee, Managing Editor
Key options: Connects with sensible scales for weight, physique composition, visceral fats, and extra
Subscription: $10/month or $100/yr (Well being Enchancment Rating, Heart specialist overview, Well being Assistant, Good Tendencies, and so on.)
Why Withings will assist together with your objectives: You possibly can substitute Withings with different sensible scale manufacturers, however this app tends to be a workers favourite. The gist is that you may see greater than your weight, but in addition your physique fats/ muscle share and (with fancier scales) particular knowledge on how that fats is segmented all through your physique. Primarily, having a sensible scale will aid you monitor how your well being and health objectives are instantly impacting your physique.
Why we depend on Withings: “Withings is essential to me as a Kind 2 diabetic. It offers me a segmental evaluation of physique fats & muscle losses and beneficial properties. What’s most vital is the visceral fats metrics, the way it tracks the fats round your inner organs that may actually imply life or early demise.” — Tshaka Armstrong, Contributor
“Withings reveals me my weight, physique fats, and muscle mass, in addition to how I am trending, which helps me know if I have to make modifications.” — Derrek Lee, Managing Editor
