iFit App

Looking for a more customized approach to working out? You might want to consider the new iFit app, which provides all the fitness tracking you’ve come to love in health-related apps and wearables like My Fitness Pal and Jawbone, but its smart technology has been integrated to work with fitness equipment, too.

Instead of going to the gym, creating your own workout and trying to translate the energy you expended to your fitness tracker, iFit offers a training program built in to the app that can be used with gym equipment like treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes. You can sign in directly on the fitness equipment in the club or on your own equipment to track your workout. All your workout stats will automatically upload to your app profile. You also have access to iFit’s training opportunities, including custom-built workouts, automatic tracking, and routes powered by Google Maps.

Here’s an example of what you can do with iFit and your gym equipment. Say you would like to work out with inclines on a treadmill, but you need a little motivation. Using your iFit and its Google Maps functionality, you can choose a spot where you would ideally like to work out – say near the beach in Hawaii (virtually speaking). Then you can start your workout watching your Google Maps route, following the roads as you work out, and the treadmill will incline or decline according to the real-life elevation on the route you chose. Plus, you can watch your run or walk in street view mode, which means you can take in the ocean and mountains while you work out. Or if you prefer to run in the city of Paris near the Eiffel Tower, you can have that virtual experience too. (Unless you don’t like that kind of thing.)

You can personalize your workout as much as you want – by route, time, or distance. iFit will also automatically track each workout. You can set fitness goals or challenges for yourself, and your iFit tracker will tell you if you’re on track to achieving them. For instance, if you plan to run a half marathon in six months, your iFit can help you plan your workouts to be in shape for your race.

iFit allows you to organize your workouts so you can maintain your momentum. If you want to incorporate your diet into your fitness tracker, you can do this with your iFit too, so all your information is in one place. (The app incorporates Jillian Michael’s program to help you, or if you choose, you can also look at suggested meal plans that complement your workouts.)

There’s a lot of functionality for the iFit app, especially with the connection to fitness equipment. Membership for the premium service (which includes these features) starts at $9.99 per month, or $99 per year.

Home fitness machines that have iFit built in include those from Pro-Form.