Why Fitness Software?

Whether you're just starting out at the gym or are training for a marathon, fitness software will make tracking your progress much easier. But the benefits can go far beyond tracking. We’ve found products that will help you build an effective workout schedule, instill new healthy eating patterns, and provide powerful feedback to fine-tune your activities. The catch: you must enter all of your information accurately. However, our top picks offer compatible software for your handheld device so even paperwork is eliminated. Fitness software saves time, gives expert direction in exercise and nutrition, and most importantly, provides feedback to increase your motivation.

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What to Look for in Fitness Software

Fitness software can make a difference in your approach to fitness. Used diligently, you’ll have a clear and accurate record of your success. Here’s what we looked for:

Fitness Features

All programs include a personal profile which should be easy to complete and detailed, an exercise module divided into strength training and aerobic/sports (cardio), a calendar to see schedules and total calories, and a diet module that can be customized to suit your eating patterns. The logs should be adaptable for a range of fitness levels, beginner to advanced. The program should progress along with you.

Fitness software can benefit the entire family. Most programs allow multiple users without additional licenses or fees. Each user can choose a password for privacy.

Some fitness programs track medical conditions and supplement use that affect performance. The best programs consider other physical and mental factors like sleep, mood and recovery period after a workout. These features provide valuable feedback that can give you a more complete picture of your health, and indicate where changes might be made in your regime.

All of the information entered should be easily transformed into reports and graphs. The best reporting functions are easy to use, accurate and informative.

Exercise: Strength Training

All fitness software programs include a strength training module. Some are simple, some complex. The best programs will have complete workouts including instructions for every exercise, even photographs. You may be able to select a specific area of the body to target and get a list of effective exercises. You will be able to track reps and weight and see how your progress matches your goals.

Exercise: Aerobic/Sports (Cardio)

Our top programs have a separate listing for cardio activities. Track duration, distance, intensity, pace, and the program will calculate calories burned. If you’re a runner or cyclist, there are programs designed especially for you. You can track weather, location, routes and surface conditions for training and competitions.

Nutrition

Flexible programs will allow you to design meals and snacks to reflect your eating habits whether that’s three meals or six. Look for a food database that includes both restaurant foods and name brand foods. A food filter allows you to delete foods you will never eat and save time searching for specific foods. If you frequently eat the same foods together, you’ll want a program that allows you to create meals—another timesaver.

Some fitness software has a recipe function where you can enter new recipes. The program will automatically calculate the nutrients based on the ingredients in your recipe.

Your fitness program should let you view total nutrients for a specific food, an individual meal or a specific day. You should be able to compare your food intake to the national RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) or goals you have set.

Ease of Use

The Summary View was the best indicator of effective design. See all of your critical fitness stats and the calendar on one page. From there, it should be easy to use the exercise and diet modules. Recording data should be streamlined, minimizing keystrokes. Working out is hard … software should make tracking easy.