With gyms closed, lots of people are struggling to stay motivated and stick to their usual fitness and wellbeing routines.

In normal times, you’d have a gym buddy or class to keep you motivated. However, in the absence of gyms and personal trainers, apps can be a great alternative to keep you accountable when you don’t have other people to encourage you, or gym class fines to worry about.

Here are my top three fitness apps that will keep you motivated and help you to achieve your goals:

1. Sweat

Since launching the Sweat app in 2017, Australian personal trainer Kayla Itsines has built a fitness empire and is now worth a staggering $472 million!

Her Sweat app is aimed at women of all ages and has something for everyone — from zero-equipment exercises and yoga, to bodybuilding, high intensity training and post-pregnancy workouts.

There are plenty of trainers to choose from depending on what your goals are. But even if you’re following a specific programme you can also choose to add ‘on-demand’ workouts from other trainers.

Once you’ve decided on your trainer, you’ll be given a 12-week programme, including daily meal plans, to follow. The trainers have pre-recorded each exercise you’ll do so you can see examples before attempting them yourself.

Every time you complete a workout, you receive a trophy and have the option to take a ‘sweaty selfie’ that you can post in the Sweat Community. The Community is also a great forum for asking questions and showing support for fellow users.

Whether you’re a beginner or a fitness fanatic, the Sweat app has something for everyone.

2. The Body Coach

You’re probably already familiar with Joe Wicks, AKA The Body Coach, who made headlines for his weekly ‘PE with Joe’ workouts, which have got both the young and old moving throughout the pandemic.

Launched in December 2020, Joe’s Body Coach app offers a number of recipes individually tailored to you. These are based on your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), calculated using the information you enter after you subscribe.

You can also choose what level of plan you want (beginner, intermediate or advanced), as well as the kind of diet you would like to follow (mixed meals, pescatarian meals, veggie or vegan).

After you enter all of your information, the app creates your plan, split into cycles that are each four weeks long. Every cycle has seven workouts (five of 25-minutes and two shorter ones), with warm up and cool down videos.

After you complete a four-week cycle, you’ll get the ‘Check In’ option, which will ask you to fill in a short survey about any changes you have noticed. For example, “I feel happier”, “I’m more productive” or “I’ve got more energy”. It also prompts you to enter your measurements and upload new photos.

As well as the plan, Joe also hosts weekly live workouts that you can find on demand if you miss them. For now, the app is only available to Apple customers but will be coming to Android in Summer 2021.

Joe is currently looking for three new trainers to join him on his mission to get the world fitter, happier and healthier. If you’re a personal trainer and fancy your chances, click here.

3. Nike Training Club

The Nike Training Club app is brought to us by the multinational corporation that encourages us to ‘Just do it’.

Similar to The Body Coach App, you’re asked to include your measurements (height, weight, etc.) to enable the app to develop a personalised plan.

Within the app, you get access to four 4–6 week training plans. Whether you have access to a full home gym or are training from your living room or garden, there are a bunch of routines that will fit you and your schedule to help you to reach your fitness goals.

The workouts are led by Nike Master Trainers, who have developed over 150 free workouts across strength, endurance, yoga and mobility targeting your abs, arms, shoulders, glutes and legs.

Each Nike session ranges from 15–45 minutes, and you can earn badges and trophies for reaching workout milestones like total workouts completed, workout frequency, weekly and monthly streaks, etc.

Unlike the other apps that have a price tag attached, the Nike Training Club app is free.