These 10 Fitness Apps Are Perfect for Home Workouts

Hitting the gym regularly sounds fantastic as a New Year’s resolution. After you add up the cost of a membership, classes, and any gear you might need, though, the idea is often less enchanting. If you’d rather work out at home, these 10 exercise apps will help you keep things exciting and challenging.

You don’t have to join a gym to start a fitness routine. In fact, many people find it easier to maintain a regular exercise schedule if they work out at home. There’s no commute time, you don’t have to work out around a bunch of strangers, and you’ll also save tons of cash. What’s not to love? These 10 fitness apps are the perfect way to get in shape without ever leaving your home.

Tips for Making Home Workouts More Effective

The pandemic created a veritable renaissance in home gyms. It seemed like everyone was getting a Peloton or Mirror. However, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to work out at home. There are tons of exercises and routines you can do that don’t require any accessories, machines, or gear at all.

If you do plan to exercise at home indefinitely, however, you might want to invest in a few accessories so you can keep challenging yourself. Anyone who plans to exercise regularly at home might want to consider the following tips:

• Purchase a few basic accessories: Depending on the types of workouts you’ll be doing, a pair of dumbbells, a kettlebell, or some resistance bands might come in handy. For yoga or Pilates, you’ll probably want a mat.
• Splurge on one piece of equipment: If you’re sure you would use it regularly (and you have the space) a treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike might be a good investment. While luxury machines, like the Peloton, offer payment plans, you can get a much cheaper alternative with similar bells and whistles, so be sure to shop around.
• Create a playlist: Music that motivates you to move will help you get more out of your workouts. It can also distract you from some of the more difficult moves, so create a playlist of all your favorite upbeat jams.
• Download an exercise app: You’ll find some of the best out there on our list. While you do have to pay a fee to download some of them, it’ll still cost you much less than a gym membership.
• Take it outside: Exercising outdoors can be amazing when the weather warms up. It’ll also allow you to switch up your routine a few days a week and go for a run or a bike ride.

P.volve

If you’re not into weight lifting or working out until you can barely move the next day, you might like P.volve. This fitness technique uses small, precise movements meant to strengthen your body without causing serious physical pain. The plan claims to work faster than other workouts, as well.

You can stream P.volve classes on your laptop, phone, or television. The video library contains over 200 videos, so you won’t be getting bored anytime soon. You can subscribe monthly ($14.99 per month) or yearly ( $179.99). You’ll get a 14-day free trial to try it out, though.

The only downside is it’s kinda tough to do the workouts without the P.volve equipment, which is kind of pricey.

The Sculpt Society

Bored with running or using the elliptical to get your cardio in? Try The Sculpt Society. Created by celebrity trainer, Megan Roup, the program combines a mix of dance cardio and sculpting to create workouts that are different from anything else you’ve probably done. They’re also a ton of fun!

While the dance sessions are easy to learn, they’re far more challenging than you might think. They’re also what really makes this program stand out. You can also watch from anywhere, including your laptop or phone.

You can subscribe monthly ($14.99) or yearly ($179.99), and you’ll also get a seven-day free trial. While there are some branded accessories you can buy, you can also use your own sliders, bands, and ball, if you prefer.

SWEAT

If you’re at all familiar with the Instagram fitness community, then you’ve definitely heard of Kayla Itsines. A few years ago, she transformed her best-selling book, The Bikini Body 28-Day Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Guide, into an app called SWEAT.

It offers a huge selection of workout programs from a number of professional trainers, including the following:

• Low-impact and high-intensity training: Itsines teaches these classes, which include resistance, cardio, and HIIT workouts.
• Low-impact strength and power (PWR) weight training: Kelsey Wells focuses on these sessions, and also offers a post-pregnancy PWR session for new moms.
• Bodybuilding, weight-lifting, and strength and resistance training: Stephanie Sanzo leads these classes, which include her BUILD and LIFTING at Home programs.
• HIIT workouts: If you’re into high-intensity interval training, Chontel Duncan’s FIERCE program is for you!
• Pilates and Barre: If you prefer a more relaxed pace that still works those muscles, you’re sure to enjoy Pilates with Sara Colquhoun or Barre with Britany Williams.

You can pay by the month ($19.99) or yearly ($119.94), and you also get a seven-day free trial to check it all out.

Body By Simone

Want a program that’s about more than just lifting weights? If so, you’ll love Body By Simone. Designed by Simone De La Rue, a former professional dancer, this effective workout is a fave with celebs. It’s also the perfect workout to do at home. You’ll find workouts from all the trainers in the digital studio.

There are also live classes daily if you prefer to always be doing something new. You can also get a personalized workout program and/or nutrition plan.

You have to download the app to get the workouts and, as of this writing, it’s available only for iPhone or iPad. You can pay monthly ($19.99), biannually ($95.94), or yearly ($167.88) with a 14-day free trial.

Centr

Centr is Chris Hemsworth’s six-week training program app. He designed the program based on the workout he loves. So, if you think he looks pretty good (and if you don’t, perhaps you should head to the optometrist?), this app would be a good one to download.

You can use it at home or the gym, and it comes with plenty of workouts that range anywhere from 20-40 minutes. You can also choose from strength and HIIT training, boxing, yoga, MMA, and more.

There’s also a meal plan and some guided meditations to help you relax after you sweat. If you’re looking for a more structured program, rather than just workout sessions, sign up for the seven-day free trial. You can subscribe monthly ($29.99), every three months ($59.99), or yearly ($119.99).

Daily Burn

Daily Burn offers thousands of at-home workouts you can stream on your phone. You can also stream it to your TV via the app, Roku, or Apple TV. If you have a smart TV, Daily Burn might even be available in its app section.

You’ll find a brand-new, 30-minute video at 9 a.m. EST every single day. If you can’t work out at that time, though, don’t worry—you can watch it whenever it’s convenient for you.

The workouts are like general classes at the gym, as they include cardio and strength training, and people at any fitness level can do them. There are also Daily Burn programs for running, HIIT, and yoga, if any of those is more your cup of tea, although they all require separate subscriptions.

You can start with a 30-day free trial, which is the longest free period of any app on our list so far. If you want to continue after that, the At-Home workouts are $9.99 per month or $89.99 annually.

Tone It Up

Created by personal trainers, Katrina Scott and Karena Dawn, the Tone It Up app isn’t just a series of workouts—it’s also an entire fitness community on Instagram. After you download the app, you’ll have access to hundreds of exercise videos that range from 10-40 minutes.

Created specifically for women, the workouts are fun, challenging, and can introduce you to something new. You can focus on everything from strength training or yoga to pregnancy-safe workouts. You can also download your classes or take them live, and no equipment is required.

This app is also more affordable than many of the others on our list: a monthly subscription costs $14.99, quarterly is $37.99, or you can pay $99.99 for a full year.

Ballet Beautiful

Another dance-inspired workout, Ballet Beautiful was originally only offered in a private studio in New York City. Created by Mary Helen Bowers, who danced professionally with the New York City Ballet for 10 years, this isn’t an intense cardio workout. Instead, this program focuses on ballet moves anyone can do that also serve as excellent exercise.

There are two ways you can do Ballet Beautiful workouts at home: join the Custom Workout program or stream individual videos. With the former, you’ll get access to 400+ workouts, and new videos are added every month. It also tailors recommendations based on what you’re looking for.

The Custom Workout plan is $39.99 per month or $99 quarterly. If you choose to stream videos individually, they range in price from $8.99 and up. Just keep in mind, you’ll have to watch them directly on the website—you cannot download any videos.

obé

Many people like attending exercise classes at a gym for the sense of community they provide, as well as the in-person energy they get from the instructor. If you’re one of those folks, but don’t feel comfortable heading back to the gym just yet, you might want to try obé.

The app gives you access to 100 live classes every week, including strength training, cardio, yoga, and even pre- and postnatal workouts, so there’s something new to try every day. You can also stream the videos on your computer, phone, or tablet.

All classes are also only 28 minutes, so you can fit them into your busy schedule, and there are even 10-minute “express” classes for those super-crazy days. If you miss a live class, don’t worry—you can replay any previous videos, anytime.

You can subscribe monthly ($19), quarterly ($65), or annually ($199), however, you get a 30-day free trial!

Sworkit

One of the top fitness apps on the App Store, Sworkit offers its members custom workout plans and hundreds of videos for home workouts. You can even choose exactly how long you want your workout to last, depending on your schedule.

Don’t have any equipment? No problem—there are plenty of workouts that don’t require any equipment at all. You can also choose a plan for beginners, intermediate, or advanced. You can subscribe monthly ($9.99) or annually ($59.99), and there’s also a seven-day free trial.

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Whether you’re not quite ready to head back to the gym or just prefer pursuing your fitness goals in the comfort of your own home, one (or a few) of these apps can help you get where you want to be. Sign up for a few free trials and see which option works best for you. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose, except those extra holiday pounds!