New year, new you? Five fitness apps to help keep you on track

Planning on a new year, new you? Here’s a few apps that might be able to help with that.

Pact

iOS, Android

Are you a natural born gym-goer? Do you love the buzz of the treadmill, the high from the cross trainer, the adrenaline rush of the weights section? Do you regularly swap out your gym gear because you have to, not because you want to? I’m envious.

The rest of us have to drag ourselves to the gym, conscious of the hole it’s gouging in your bank account every month and your mother’s disappointment in your spend-thrift ways if you you don’t go.

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But there is an app that can help you stick to not only your exercise plans but also your healthy eating regime. Pact is acts as that guilt-inducing little voice, prodding you into a healthier lifestyle? You commit to certain goals - work out three times a week, or eat at least five portions of fruit or veg a week - and if you fail to meet that goal, you pay a penalty. You link your Paypal account to it, and if you miss a goal, you are charged a minimum of $5 for each failure. If you complete all your activities for the week, you get a small reward.

Zombies, Run!

iOS, Android

It makes sense that people run faster when chased. It just does. Even before The Walking Dead hit TV screens, there was a consensus that if you were being trailed by zombies, you should probably pick up the pace a little. So what better motivation for a running app than a little undead pursuit? This is where Zombies, Run! gets its core motivation from. As you run, you unfold the story of Runner Five, casting you in the main role and putting you at the heart of the action. As you run, you get broadcasts from a nearby base in between your music tracks, keeping you on target as you collect supplies, and alerting you to marauding hordes of the undead.

When a zombie passes near to you, your detector will beep ominously; if you have zombie chases enabled, you’ll have to pick up the pace to outrun them. It’s tense, but it certainly provides the motivation you might need.

Seven

iOS

What's seven minutes out of your life? Nothing, if you're planted on the sofa. If you're planning on a healthy lifestyle, it could be the workout you need to help kickstart things. The Seven app offers a series of short workouts that can be completed in seven minutes, ranging from a total body workout to core or lower body muscles. There's a good it of free content on there, but you can also pay for some workouts too, such as cardio, fat-burning and stretching. You go all out for short periods of time, with a quick recovery period that dials down the activity a little, before pushing you to the max yet again. And then you can go back to Netflix binge watching.

Sworkit

iOS, Android

Sworkit - Simply Work It - is another workout app that offers a range of workouts that will target strength, cardio, stretching and yoga for all experience levels. There are plenty of free options to choose from, but the paid workouts add a few more options to the mix. But the real power of Sworkit is that you can build your own custom workouts from the library of exercises on the app, with free users getting three custom workout slots. Think of it a bit like your music playlists but with a healthy twist. You can set workout length, and if you shell out for the subscription (€40 for the year, or €5 for a month) you can also set custom intervals for training. That will also give access to the Sworkit web app, so you have no excuses for falling behind on training; trainer guided workouts; access to a live trainer; and blitzing the ads from the platform.

Strava

iOS, Android

Cyclist? Runner? Strava covers both options here. You can join up with challenges - mostly distance-based - to earn yourself some badges and pit yourself against friends using Strava too. Using the website, you can create custom routes to follow on your runs or cycles, and share them with friends.

Again, there is a premium and a free version. The premium version - €60 for the year or €8 for the month - will provide live feedback, personalised coaching, the ability to set goals and access advanced analysis including pace and heart-rate, so if you are serious about your chosen sport, it might be worth investing.