Before the holidays derail our motivation to maintain healthy eating and lifestyle habits, now is a good time to review some apps to keep us on pace. Before we know it, the holiday temptations will be all around us. To have any chance of staying strong, we must establish routines that support us to be our best selves.
Technology has made it easy to connect to others with shared interests who will encourage, rally, and support us as we continue to strive for our health goals. Finding our "tribes" used to be much more difficult, giving us a reason to lose interest. We’re all unique in our genetics and interests, yet also social creatures who desire encouragement and feedback—especially in endeavors where we exert blood, sweat, and tears.
The critics have had the better part of 2018 to collect feedback on available fitness apps and have released their favorites. Allow us to fine-tune that selection.
Sworkit
This is a great app for people who want to improve their overall fitness but don’t have a lot of time to commit. Set up is fairly easy. It allows you to set a goal, asks you about your current fitness level, and then creates a six-week program with weekly workout goals. You decide how much time you have to dedicate, and the program tailors the plan to your schedule. After some time, it will allow you to create your own workouts with the exercises you favor most.
Strava
If you have outdoorsy friends, you’ve likely seen a few posts using this app pop up on your Facebook feed. It’s a popular one for tracking distances, pace, speed, elevation, and calories burned for runners, cyclists, and trailblazers alike. But, this app doesn’t stop at tracking your outside adventures. It has a social network that allows users to connect for encouragement.
MyFitnessPal
This is another app you’ve probably heard of, if you haven’t experimented with it yourself. It’s for those of us who need to track food choices, or at least our daily intake of calories. It has a huge database of foods and allows users to create meals that they eat frequently (instead of always entering individual ingredients). And, because it syncs with most activity devices (like Fitbit and Apple Watch), it’s a perfect addition to your daily routine.
Calm
This app focuses on keeping your mind healthy with guided meditations and bedtime stories. It’s perfect for everyone—even if you’ve never meditated before.
SweatCoin
If you’re looking for extra motivation to get yourself off the couch, this app rewards your steps with sweat coins that can be spent on services and goods from over 300 vendors. This was the number one download in the Apple App Store in the U.S. and U.K. last year, making it the fastest-growing app in store history.
Zombie Run!
This is another app we’ve mentioned in previous health articles. But, it’s too good to not mention yet again. It makes collecting those steps more interesting by playing a soundtrack that randomly alerts you to a “zombie” nearby, forcing you to sprint away from danger. This design not only brings a level of entertainment to your workouts, but also helps you burn more calories by raising your heart rate in intervals.
Nike+ Training Club
This is a great app for all-around strength training. There is also a community area to keep you connected with others on the same fitness quest. Perhaps the best part, however, is there is no pressure to upgrade to premium.
With the right resources in hand, healthy living becomes easier. Paired with health benefits that support your mission, your school’s faculty and staff can be the best versions of themselves.
Share this list with your faculty and staff and encourage them to experiment with various apps and fitness devices. For those in your school community already focused on healthy living, encourage them to mentor others looking to make changes.
In addition to strong wellness programs, your employee benefits package should support your faculty and staffs’ lifestyles. ISM offers creative benefit solutions for budgets of all sizes. Contact one of our benefit advisors at 302-656-4944 or check out our portfolio of offerings online.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Business and Operations Vol. 5 No. 1 An App a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Additional ISM resources for Gold members:
I&P Vol. 37 No. 12 Key Advice on Shaping Your Employee Health Benefits Plans
