• With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping people inside their homes, the need for physical movement and staying healthy is vitally important.
  • The demand for at-home fitness workouts is reaching an all-time high, as individuals still want to exercise from the comfort of their own homes if they aren’t able to go to gym facilities, recreation centers, or outside.
  • To help you keep up with your fitness regimen while practicing social distancing, we’ve tested and rounded up some of the best workout apps based on workout type, level, and quality.

With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, now more than ever people are practicing social distancing. While some countries, cities, and towns have strict quarantine or lockdown restrictions, everyone is being urged to hunker down and stay home in order to protect themselves and to help stop the spread of the virus.

It’s easy to spend this time horizontal on the couch, indulging in endless movies and catching up on TV shows, but that gets old quickly. Being confined to your home may have some people feeling a bit stir-crazy, craving the need for movement. It’s especially important to try to stay healthy during this pandemic, too, which, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has affected many individuals with compromised immune systems.

One solution is digital fitness, a concept that’s been on the rise over the past year. Some of the biggest barriers that individuals say keep them from exercise are limited amount of time and access to fitness facilities. Workout apps allow anyone to exercise in the comfort of their home, at any hour of the day, and for as long or short as they want. These apps eliminate some of the most popular excuses for not exercising by making fitness more accessible.

If you’re craving physical fitness during this trying time, we’re here to help. We’ve tested out heaps of workout apps and based on workout type, length, level, and content quality, rounded up the best you can use to work out in your own living room.

Whether you’re a beginner with no equipment at home who just wants to keep moving, or a more seasoned gym rat who has some and other tools but needs ideas on what to do, you’ll find just what you’re looking for.

Here are our picks for the best workout apps:

The best for generating unique workouts

If you love working out but need help coming up with workouts or don't know how to program your own, you'll quickly appreciate the work Shred does for you.

Simply choose your workout style (basic, classic, athlete, lean-X, cross shred, tone, or bulk), the duration of time you want to sweat (from 30-75 minutes), and this app provides you with different workouts to do every day. You also have the option for the workouts to be designated as bodyweight, which means they don't involve any additional equipment to complete.

As a person who's well versed in strength training but doesn't always have time to program my own routines, I absolutely love this app. I just tell it what I want to work on, even down to the specific body part if I choose, and it provides me with a routine.

Even if you're not so familiar with working out, the app still offers plenty of videos for every single move that are easy to watch and follow. It clearly provides the reps to perform, and countdowns rest for you while providing a motivational quote from a fitness figure, athlete, or expert.

At the end of whatever workout you choose, you have the option to add in a quick cardio and/or a quick shred finisher, both of which are roughly five minutes and cap off your workout with a bang. Some days I chose both and others I chose one or neither. No matter which I go with, I never have a bad workout with this app.

Pros: A new workout every day that's never the same, able to pinpoint specific parts of your body

Cons: The app requires you to click through every workout move and rest period

The best for yoga

Foto: Source: Alo Moves

Choose from over 1,600 yoga, fitness, mindfulness, and skills classes in the Alo Moves app to create your personalized week of workouts.

You might know the brand as Alo Yoga but its app, Alo Moves, includes more than just yoga classes. You have the option to take classes in four areas: yoga, fitness, mindfulness, and skills.

Yoga features instruction on ashtanga, hatha, restorative, Vinyasa, kundalini, and prenatal, while fitness covers strength, Pilates, barre, HIIT, stretching and core. The mindfulness section offers sound bath, breathework, meditation, and personal growth routines and the skills includes sections on how to teach, inversions, backbends, arm balances, mobility, and flexibility.

I liked using this app when I wanted to slow things down a bit. Besides the cardio and HIIT classes, I found most of the classes were calming, and a lot were rooted in yoga. I also enjoyed that the app offered classes that focused on the mental aspect of fitness.

They have plenty of classes under 30 minutes, and some as short as 10, allowing you to get a quick workout, even if you're busy. You can even create your own workout playlists where you're able to group classes based on a feature they have in common. I even tried the prenatal class with my pregnant sister and it was effective and safe for her.

Pros: Over 1,600 classes with a main focus on training the mind and body

Cons: The large list of offered classes can feel overwhelming for newcomers

The best from a personal trainer

Foto: Source: Kira Stokes Fitness

Kira Stokes' unmatched energy and her own personal fitness goals keep you coming back for more workouts daily.

Trainer and fitness personality, Kira Stokes, created her own platform called the The Stoked Method, and this app allows anyone to get in on the program. From full body workouts and band camp (resistance band workouts) to 30-minute or less body part-specific workouts, there's a lot of variety in the app that any at-home fitness buff can enjoy.

I liked that the workouts were always challenging, though Kira offers modifications so anyone from a beginner to a more advanced exerciser can enjoy them. Her full body workouts were perfect for cardio days thanks to her consistent high energy in each - this motivated me to hold on for even just one rep more than I wouldn't have otherwise.

Most of the workouts do require some basic equipment like bands, a jump rope, a ball, and dumbbells, though there are some that go equipment free. I recommend adding a Stoked Ladder to the end of any workout for a killer finisher, too.

Pros: High energy, challenging workouts, plenty of workout variety

Cons: Equipment requirements can hold some people back from using the app

The best from Nike

Foto: Source: Nike

Sweat with some incredible, knowledgeable trainers, who lead you through intense workouts on the Nike Training app.

Get over 200 workouts for free, or unlock the premium version of this app and get that plus full programs led by trainers (versus short videos of individual moves in the free version). There are over 150 exclusive workouts as well as nutrition and wellness guidance to accompany your fitness journey. The workouts range from total body, to yoga, to ab routines, cardio bursts, and more.

Each workout has a level rating consisting of either beginner, intermediate, or advanced. I liked knowing this before picking a workout, as it helped me decide which options to choose from depending on what I was trying to do that day. For instance, I'm more advanced at strength training and HIIT, but beginner to intermediate at yoga.

The app also lists what the workouts are good for, whether that's strength, speed, agility, or others, and whatever equipment you'll need. The expert tips in the premium version on how to do each workout are extremely actionable, even if you feel you're already a master of a specific routine.

Knowing the workouts are coming from an established brand like Nike, and that the instructors are certified and qualified, helps you trust that they're legit. There's truly a workout for everyone at every level in their fitness journey, too, and each are designed to make you sweat (a lot).

Pros: Each workout is labeled by skill level from beginner to advanced, offers Nike's deep well of personal trainer insight

Cons: Could use more expert tips, especially for recovery and sleep

The best for workout variety

Foto: Source: NeoU

NEOU grants access to almost 2,000 different on-demand and livestreamed workouts from some of the top fitness trainers.

NEOU allows you to follow a guided workout program or you can browse classes by concept, which includes 72 different options like Pilates, machine cardio, strength, dance, and bootcamp. This allows you to stick with a similar instructor or style of workout that you enjoy, or you can switch it up daily.

I loved that not only do you have access to the class library but this app also lets you attend live class, where you can workout with the instructor and class in real-time. This felt slightly more high energy and motivating than if I was just taking a class on my own. I also like being able to follow a specific program from beginning to end - that feeling once you reach the end is incredibly rewarding.

The app hosts workout programs from some of the top trainers in the industry, too, and they even have a few machine-based classes for treadmill or stationary bike users. They also offer a pre and post-natal programs, too.

Pros: Extensive library of live and on-demand classes, full programs, machine-based workouts for anyone with a stationary bike or treadmill

Cons: The app doesn't let you browse by individual instructor

The best for muscle group-specific workouts

Foto: Source: Tone It Up

Tone It Up offers a huge library of muscle group specific workouts, as well as a deep community of friendly trainers that make each workout a blast to jump in and out of.

Katrina and Karina founded Tone It Up (TIU) years ago and are still going strong with amazing workouts and an incredible community to go along with it. You can choose between a weekly workout program created by the trainers, or an individual workout sorted by the day. And because of the current climate, TIU is offering everyone a free month of full access to the app.

I enjoyed the fact that you're able to filter each workout by specific muscle group, the amount of time you have, or equipment available to you at home. The full workout programs offer a great way to stay committed to an ongoing routine, too. On days where I didn't have enough time to get through what's allotted, I could swap in a shorter workout and still break a sweat - which is always better than skipping entirely.

The app also lets you save your favorite workouts so you can do them again at a later time and even features an entire nutrition tab that has numerous recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The TIU community offers plenty of support, as well and encourages members to share their progress for uplifting feedback.

Pros: Intense weekly programs created by the trainers, muscle group-specific classes

Cons: Typically targeted towards women so there are often fewer men in the community

The best for community building

Foto: Source: obé Fitness

obé offers intense, 28-minute workout classes led by instructors that care as much about creating positive relationships with members as they do the classes themselves.

Unlike other apps where the main attraction is the library of on demand workouts, this app offers live classes all day long. The obé site lists the upcoming schedule up for the week, so you know exactly what's coming, and it also lists the specific class type and equipment needed, too. Can't make it to the class you want? Obé still has on-demand workouts to choose from at any time.

There's up to 14 live classes daily, and I liked being able to schedule them ahead of time. The app even allows you to add them to your calendar to help hold yourself accountable to tune in - I live and die by my calendar, so this was extremely helpful. The instructors talk directly to members, by name, who tune in live during each class which helps give you the motivation for a mid-cardio burst or plank hold.

From boxing and sculpting to strength, dance cardio, and barre, you're bound to find a class (or two, or three) you like. The app has full programs to follow, too, if that's something you prefer.

Pros: Live workouts all day long, attentive instructors who help motivate members

Cons: Programs are created by grouping specific workouts from on-demand library, not new ones

The best for music integration

Foto: Source: Aaptiv/Instagram

If you love to workout along to the beat of your favorite music, Aaptiv lets you do just that.

Not only do Aaptiv workouts come with an included playlist, but they're guided audio workouts versus visual ones. So, if you're not a fan of watching a video and working out along with it, you can just play the workout and do it along with the instructor's voice, with music in the background. It's great for cardio workouts, where you're usually just listening to music anyway.

I especially enjoy Aaptiv for its treadmill workouts. I typically just put on music when I run on the treadmill anyways, so this app is so perfect because not only do I get the music, but I get a trainer in my ear, too. This helps direct my workout so I don't have to try to keep track of when to speed up or slow down if I'm trying to replicate an interval session. It's a lot easier than watching a clock on my own, too.

The trainers are all very motivating and you can also let the app know your workout goals and music choices so that recommended workouts are tailored specifically to what you're striving for.

Pros: Perfect for machine cardio workouts where you don't normally watch videos, recommended workouts can be tailored to your specific fitness goals

Cons: No videos