For a lot of people, a new year often means refocusing on getting into shape and/or living more healthily. It’s not always easy to do or maintain, especially in the lockdown/not-lockdown times. But with the help of these free health apps, you stand a better chance of sticking with your New Year resolutions.
1. Samsung Health
Cost: free if you have a Samsung phone, then Samsung Health should come bundled with it. It’s like a one stop shop monitoring your lifestyle. In the app, you can record sleep, what food you’ve eaten, the exercise you take and much more (like how many cups of water you’ve had). It also has content that focusses on mental health as well.This app has a setting to automatically detect when you start exercise, so you don’t have to formally tell it that your running. It can also send notifications to remind you to move about. You can also add friends and add challenges to make it a little more competitive.If you have a smart watch, you can sync the data for any activity, to give a more accurate picture.
Download Samsung Health from Google Play
2. Couch to 5K
Cost: free
If you’re determined to get more active, but the thought of going for a run is a bit daunting, then the Couch to 5K might be for you. It promises to provide the motivation and techniques for you to transform from a Christmas couch potato to someone who can run 5 kilometres over a 9 week period. So, if you start at the beginning of January, that will take you the middle of March.It has a selection of famous faces that you can choose to be your motivational trainer and it lets you pick music that will get you moving.
Download Couch to 5K from Google Play
3. adidas Training by Runtastic
Cost: free (with in app purchases)
This is a workout fitness app that has plans to aid muscle building, weight loss or just getting a bit more healthy. Once you start using the app, you are asked a few simple questions to determine your goals and what normally stops you from exercise so that your experience is more tailored to you.Within the app, there are options to purchase a premium membership giving you are more personalised experience, but this is not required to use the app.Once you’ve got the app set up, it offers range of workouts for you to choose and a progress tracker so you can see how you’re getting on. It’s also worth pointing out that this app offers a wider range of activity than running.
Download adidas Training by Runtastic from Google Play
So, what if your New Year resolution is to manage your stress, or to sleep better? Getting more physical exercise can help with that, but you may also want to think about meditation and breathing exercises. These last two free health apps focus on that aspect of your well-being.
4. Calm
Cost: free (with in app purchases)
Living more healthily isn’t just about being more physically fit; mental health is as important. Calm focuses on meditation and relaxation, but also has content to help you manage anxiety and sleep. The free app limits the content that is available, paying for the year-long subscription unlocks the full content, including sleep stories for kids. These go down very well in our home.The feature that I like the most is that you can have sounds on in the background, like the gentle trickle of a stream, then you can layer on birds, or rain, or and vast range of other sound effects to get your own personalised calming soundscape.
Download Calm from Google Play
5. Serenity
Cost: free (with in app purchases)
Another option for letting you focus on breathing and reducing your stress is Serenity. As with Calm, Serenity has much of it’s content locked until you pay the subscription. However, as you progress, some of the content is unlocked after a period of time. Within the app there are a series of lessons that take you through the how to mediate. I found the instructor to be very easy to listen too, more so that other similar apps. There are also a range of daily 3 minute meditations for those moments when you need to have a quick refocus.
Download Serenity from Google Play
You, but healthier!
Whether you’re looking to improve your physical or mental health in 2021, the key is to understand that taking the first step is the hardest. So, accept the challenge, down load an Android app and start that self-improvement. Once you build the momentum, you will feel the benefits.Good luck with your New Year resolutions!
What is you New Year’s Resolution? Let us know in the comments.