The best free fitness apps to help you lose weight and save cash
Whether you want to build bum muscles, shred belly fat or simply get moving, we've got the perfect free app for you
IT'S January and we all want to get fit and healthy...but we're all also skint.
Which is why the best place to start is by downloading a couple of free fitness apps to try at home or in our own time.
The key to fitness is approaching it with zero pressure or expectation - something we can often find ourselves drowning in as a result of signing up to swanky, expensive gyms.
As long as you have a phone and somewhere to move, these apps will help to get you trim, healthy and more confident in your own abilities.
So, depending on what you enjoy doing and want to achieve in 2019, here are some of the best free fitness apps out there for iPhone and Android:
Couch to 5K
OK, so you hate running. You don't run. You've never wanted to run. But you also know that running is genuinely great for cardiovascular health, mental wellbeing and fat loss.
Well, it's time to download Public Health England's free Couch to 5K app, which will take you from couch potato to speedy Gonzales in next to no time.
The app builds you up gradually with a mix of running and walking in just nine weeks. So grab your trainers, download the app and follow the simple step-by-step instructions.
The best thing is that running is probably the cheapest whole-body workout you could ever do.
All you need is a pair of shoes and you're off. So once you've cracked this nine-week plan, you've set yourself up for a future of low-cost fitness.
See our guide to how to get into running in 2019 when you really hate running.
You can download couch to 5k .
Nike+ Training Club
Once you've managed to run more than ten minutes without feeling like you're going to be sick, Nike+ Training Club is a great app for tracking your runs and helping you improve by providing running challenges.
As well as that, it also has other workouts designed to improve your performance on the road - from lower body strength yoga to abs and butt blasts.
And you can plan your workouts ahead of time in a diary so that you know exactly what you're going to do during the week.
You can download it .
Daily Yoga
Yoga is fantastic for strengthening and lengthening muscles (making you more flexible and less at risk of injury).
It's also a great tool for calming the mind.
But if you're totally new to yoga, it can be quite a daunting prospect to get started in a class of limber Lucys. The Daily Yoga app lets you build up your flexibility gradually with more than 100 yoga and meditation classes for yogis of all levels.
As well as offering 10 and 30-day yoga challenges, the app also lets you track calorie burn, share your activities within the Daily Yoga community and provides the music.
You can download it .
BetterPoints
If getting fit and healthy wasn't motivation enough, how about working out for a cash incentive?
BetterPoints is a reward programme that lets you log your activity and redeem them for highstreet rewards.
Spend them at Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and many more stores, or donate them to charities including Macmillan, Cancer Research UK and Alzheimer's Society.
You might not feel like taking up jogging but if it means earning yourself a discount at Topshop, you may well be persuaded to choose your trainers over the car!
You can download the app .
Fitnet Live Coach
If you don't have the money to hire a PT, Fitnet can connect you a live certified coach from the comfort of your own living room.
With over 200 free cardio, strength and yoga workouts on offer, you can have a go at getting fit before you get text and video coaching, or you can start with your PT straight away.
The app also lets you log workout selfies and takes your heart rate, calorie burn and cardio zone (if you have an Apple Watch).
Don't have time for a long session? It also offers a range of five-minute workouts - so you have no excuses!
You can download it .
Butt Workout and Fitness App
Big bums are still all the rage and if you want to build your own (which will help make you a stronger runner!), then this app is perfect.
It's got lots of quick and simple workouts you can do at home or in the gym, most of which can be done in just seven minutes.
Tone, firm and tighten and prepare to have some seriously aching glutes the next day!
You can download the app .
One minute desk workout
Don't have time to workout? Well, how about turning your desk into a gym for a minute every day?
This app gives you a reminder every hour during office hours to release tension while sitting at your desk.
It'll get you to stand up, stretch your fingers and squeeze your hands to loosen things up a little.
Of course, it won't go off during your lunch break but hopefully, you'll be spending that getting a few steps in outside!
You can download it .
Sworkit
OK, this isn't strictly free but you can get a free six-week trial so as long as you remember to cancel it (if you don't want to carry on with it, that is) then it's a good place to start.
In fact, this app has been voted #1 by the University of Florida for instructional exercise standards.
It promises to get you leaner, fitter and stronger with over 50 plans, from full body workouts to the 'Rump Roaster' and 7 Minute Workout.
You can download it .
Daily Ab Workout
Core exercise isn't just great for building that glistening six-pack, it's also crucial for good posture and pelvic strength (useful if you're prone to leaks).
This free app allows you to choose ab workouts lasting between five and ten minutes - making it perfect for adding onto longer sessions or doing as a standalone workout.
You can download it .
FitYou
Why get fit on your own? Challenge your mates or family to join in, using the FitYou app.
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It lets you challenge your friends by allowing you to track each other and score any type of fitness activity.
It's got loads of fun challenges (which you can put time limits on to really push each other), as well as fitness games to make the whole thing a bit less...fitnessy.
You can download it.
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