The Best Fitness Apps for When You’re Stuck Indoors

If you’re like many Americans across the country right now, you’ve been hit by cold weather and unrelenting snow. As a result, you might have a strong desire to stay indoors, or perhaps you’re just stuck inside. It’s hard to keep up with your fitness goals when the roads aren’t safe to run on and your gym is far away (or maybe even closed). Fortunately, technology allows us to get in shape without even leaving the warmth of our own home. There are plenty of free apps to get fit just a few clicks away on your mobile device. Here are some of the best ones available.

FitStar and MyFitnessPal

These two free apps sync together so that you can have a fitness trainer in your pocket while you track your calorie intake. FitStar creates workouts tailored to you and increases intensity as you make progress. Plus, most of the workouts don’t require any equipment. You have an option to upgrade your account, but you can still access a couple workouts per week for free. Your fitness progress through FitStar is added to your calorie tracker in MyFitnessPal to account for the calories you burn through exercise.

Runtastic Six Pack

The free version of this app includes nearly 20 exercises specifically created to target your core. Each exercise is demonstrated in a video rendering so that you can gain perfect form and avoid any injury. It even includes music playlists that match your workout’s intensity and keep you motivated. Bonus: this app syncs with MyFitnessPal too.

Johnson & Johnson 7-Minute Workout App

The 7-Minute Workout App is a simple tool for those looking for a quick and effective workout. The scientifically proven exercises require no equipment (except occasionally a chair) and sync to your own iTunes music.

Nike Training Club

Nike’s free training app shows that you don’t need equipment or a gym membership to get in a killer workout. It works as a motivational tool by unlocking more workouts, trophies and recipes as you log more hours on the app. During the workouts, you listen to a voice that encourages you to keep going, switch sides and even provides updates on how much time you have left.

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Workout Trainer

This is an easy to use fitness app for home or the gym with a lot of customizing options. You can create your own workouts, schedule reminders to exercise, play your own music and even chat with the app’s community forums for advice and motivation. It features all the latest workout crazes, so you can try them on your own with a guide.

Yoga-pedia

If you practice yoga but just can’t get to the studio due to weather, this app is a great substitute. There are nearly 100 poses with tutorials and videos no matter what your level of expertise. You can even choose poses based on your need, like if you want to lose weight or are looking for an energy boost.

Hot5 Fitness

This app is full of five-minute workouts that consist of five different moves. You can combine multiple routines for your entire regime, or add on five minute boosts to other workouts to target specific areas. Different trainers are featured in videos that focus on various specialties, such as strength conditioning, weight loss or flexibility. The videos are high quality and the app has a sleek, modern design for an enjoyable and effective experience.

Challenges by Nexercise

This is a fun, interactive app that helps you use everyday activities to burn calories and get in shape. You can track movement like housework, playing with your pets or kids or dancing to earn points and even prizes. You can also connect with your friends and try to outrank each other. There’s nothing like peer pressure to get you moving, even on snow days.

Feeling motivated yet? One or more of these free apps is bound to take you out of the winter doldrums and whip you into shape. The best part is they’re all free and don’t require you to even leave the house. Who knows — maybe you can even cancel that pricey gym membership. Once the weather improves, you might still enjoy turning to these apps for inspiration.

Jon Lal is the founder and CEO of coupons and cash back website BeFrugal.com, which saves shoppers an average of $27 per order thanks to coupons plus an average of 7 percent cash back at more than 4,000 stores.

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