All iPhone models with at least iOS 8 since a separate app called Health

The holidays are over, time to start fit the new year. Your smartphone can be a great help. Not only are there to find enough sports apps, your smartphone, you can also help your motivation to track movements and integrate data from accessories.

Tip 1: Apple Health
With the release of iOS 8 Apple Health was launched. All iPhone models with at least iOS 8 since a separate app called Health. Open the app and you'll see in the Dashboard immediately how many steps you've walked today. Here you have to activate anything for you iPhone does this fully automatically. You'll need at least an iPhone 5S for this. You can see what your average number of steps per day. For a healthy lifestyle are recommended at least 10,000 steps a day. This is about seven to nine kilometers per day and you can already reach two to three times a day to take a walk of half an hour. Tap Details to see all sorts of additional information about your health. For example, choose Condition > Climbing stairs and slide the rear Add to dashboard to. Sometimes you need additional apps or accessories to track this information.

Tip 2: Google Fit
Google has a similar service called Google Fit. The Google Fit is available for smartphones running Android 4.0 or higher and pick you up from the Play Store.

The service is also installed by default on all Android Wear smart watches and here you even got into your browser to access Google Fit. Nice is that you can set daily goals with the app, Google thinks you should exercise at least an hour a day and shows the main screen or you have already achieved this goal. Where Apple Health mainly medical and free business approach, Google Fit is more like a motivational coach for fitness purposes. Do you want to adjust your goals, then click Settings and choose your daily goals . If your smartphone does not want to have with you during a workout, you can also subsequently indicate what you did and how long you've maintained it. As with Apple Health, you can also party apps to Google Fit linking.

Google Fit is more focused on fitness and not only works on your Android smartphone. Also on an Android tablet or desktop PC, you can add activities.
Tip 3 Running and cycling
One of the easiest ways to get fit is to go running or cycling. There is some good apps to track how fast you ran or cycled, and what was the total distance. The best-known apps for both iOS and Android are runtastic, Runkeeper , Endomondo and Strava. These apps are all free versions available that lets you track your basic stuff.

Nearly all apps have built-in features for both runners and cyclists. When all the apps you can log in with your Facebook account or via a regular email address. In Strava example, you can choose below for Them to have an activity tracked by the app. At the top left is a standard bicycle, tap to change this to walking shoes for a run. Once you tap the record button, the app starts recording your route. Based on your GPS location and other sensors in your smartphone, it estimates how hard you ride and how far you ride. The other apps work in a similar way.

The paid version of Runkeeper can be a personal assistant for you.
Tip 4: Motivation
Until so far as the base. More interesting it is when an app shows are a kind of personal assistant. All known apps have a paid version that allows you to build good workout plan.

In Runkeeper you have for example the possibility to set yourself goals or achieve goals together with friends. Touch My schedule and choose Help me to set a goal . There are a number of options, for example, choose to be fit and give your level to the next screen. Then you can say what is the longest you've ever been running and how often you want to train a week.

The app is a realistic target, for example a certain distance for one month three times a week, running or interval training led by app. Once you have created the plan, you should upgrade to Runkeeper Go tip. This will cost you 9.99 euros per month or 39.99 euros per year. Endomondo is slightly cheaper by the way, here you get a similar job for 5.99 euros per month.


Do you have a taste and would you ever try to run a half or full marathon, install the app Gipis. Unfortunately for the iPhone app is available, but under "C25K 'you see an alternative to Android . In the app, tap Learn what makes your unique plan and you go through the registration steps. Tap Join now and choose to log in, select Facebook or Email . Give your date of birth and some personal information such as your weight, height and gender. The next screen will give you what you were fastest recent tough period.

It is important to be honest here, otherwise you will soon be stuck with a non-realizable training plan. If you've never run a marathon, tap I do not run . Then you give what is your goal. For example if you once want to walk the 4 Miles of Groningen, you aim 5km give up. Then you specify which days you want to run and if you want to train for a real match. If you do this with Yes answers, you must enter the date of the contest. When you're done, the app indicates that you are going to run away on that date at a certain time. Now that's a good motivation! Tap Get map and your personal training plan is shown. If you start a workout, state exactly how long you have running and what rate you should take. If you walk too fast, the app will say to you that you should slow down. You see the pace also on your display.

C25K
For Android users, the app C25K is a good alternative for Gipis. C25K stands for Couch to 5K, 5K which represents a race of five kilometers. The app calculates as Gipis a personal training and promises that if you stick to the schedule, you are able after eight weeks to run a 5K race. C25K is also available for iOS.


The C25K app is a good alternative to Android.
Tip 6: Fitness
Fit is of course not only has to do with movement, the muscles must be trained. Sworkit Lite is a free app for both iOS and Android and is useful if you want a day doing some fitness exercises to keep fit. Also with this app you can email or Facebook to sign up and have your basic information indicate about yourself. Indicate what your goal is for example to Build Muscle Mass tapping. Then tap the Home button and choose one of the four training options: Strength , Cardio , Yoga or Stretching . Select which muscle groups you want to train, and then tap Start Workout . You see five seconds exercise in image and the app gives clear instructions in English.

Then you have half a minute to do the exercise itself. At the end of the five-minute workout you can see how many calories you've burned. The more workouts you do, the more medals you can earn. These can then share on Facebook, this can help as extra motivation. If you want to try the exercises in peace once, tap Exercise List and select one of the exercises. There are to be found 226 exercises in Sworkit and you can combine any exercises to personalized workouts from the home screen + Custom Workout tapping and Design a New Workout choose. You can also select existing programs by clicking Copy a Popular Workout tapping. Other useful fitness apps for both platforms are WOD Deck of Cards, Nike + Training Club and 7 Minute Workout.

Tip 7: SmartWatch
The smart watch is ideal as a device to help you track with fitness goals. You have a smartwatch already all day on your wrist and you do not have to think about during a workout. There are many smart watches on the market. Some focus more on sports applications, others are more like a digital watch and others are generalists that you can take all kinds of smartphone features with it. The Apple Watch is the only official iOS device, but it's good to know that many smart watches are compatible with your iPhone.

For Android, the market is a lot bigger and there are smart watches are available in every price range. If you're looking for a good fitness smartwatch, it may be useful to look at a smart watch that is waterproof. Also, the battery life may be applicable. An advanced smartwatch as the Apple Watch, the Sony SmartWatch 3 or the LG Watch Urbane is obviously crazy, but you have to frequently recharge these devices. A more basic smartwatch as the Pebble Time Steel does not look fancy from true, but it takes one hundred to one hundred and fifty hours on a single battery.


Smart Watches such as Adidas miCoach Smart Run are made specifically for fitness purposes.
Tip 8: Health bracelet
You have obviously not necessarily need a smart watch to see information during workouts. There are numerous other so-called wearables available in stores. The best known are probably fitness bracelets like the Fitbit, Jawbone Up and the Nike + Fuel Band. The functions of these wearables may be different, so is the Jawbone Up2 suitable for your movement to keep up during the day and record sleep patterns, while the Fitbit Charge HR combines a heart rate monitor with an activity tracker. Some wearables have displays and Wi-Fi capabilities to the limit almost disappears between wearable and a smartwatch, other wearables do not have high-tech display and are just meant to function in all kinds of circumstances. So even if it's raining or you're in a pool.

Tip 9: Accessories
Then there are also specialized accessories with your smartphone can connect. Here it is then for example bicycle accessories. A good example is a cadence sensor. This device fit you mount on the frame of your bike and then records the revolutions of your tire. The cadence meter communicates via Bluetooth with your smartphone and many cycling apps can read information about cadence meters.

A wearable sometimes also measure your heart rate, but a separate heart rate monitor that binds you to your chest during exercise, usually works much better. The heart rate monitor is also using Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone. Besides specific accessories for sports, there are also many medical accessories in contact with your smartphone. What to think of a scale via bluetooth your daily weight measurement mention to your smartphone? A well-known manufacturer of this type of equipment is the Dutch Medisana, which in addition also scales blood pressure monitors, blood glucose meters and motion trackers in the range.