Got 30 minutes? No time to drive to the gym, work out, and drive home again during the period of time your gym offers child care? No equipment at home? The Nike Training Club iPhone app leaves you no excuses for putting off that workout. In some cases, you may need some dumbbells, but that’s it.
The app is free and is split into four types:
- Get Lean
- Get Toned
- Get Strong
- Get Focused
Within each of those categories, you can choose Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. You can choose from a variety of workouts that are 15, 30, or 45 minutes long. With each workout you complete, you earn points that count toward rewards (like badges, power smoothie recipes, and additional celebrity trainer workouts).
You’re able to track your workouts and sync your progress on NikeWomen. Take it a step further and motivate your friends by autosharing on Facebook when you start a new workout.
As you work out, you can play the music on your phone, so design your own playlists to keep yourself motivated. The app still talks to you over the music, giving you instructions so you can complete your workout without looking at your phone the whole time.
If something is unclear, you can pause the workout and watch a quick video clip of any move. On top of the workouts that come as part of the app, you can download a selection of celebrity and trainer workouts.
I’ve downloaded a lot of workout apps–some free and some not. This is the only one I use. As a mom, I need something that’s going to motivate me to grab a window of time and work out hard as soon as the chance presents itself. I can’t always plan a run, a trip to the gym, or even a long DVD.
There are enough workouts included in the app to keep it from getting stale, and the fact that I can use my own playlists gives me the freedom to use whatever music it takes to stay motivated. I love that this one mixes up cardio (high intensity interval training) with toning exercises–targeted and full-body–so you can work out in almost any way you want. (If they added some yoga, it’d be perfect.)
The app also counts down for you the whole time, occasionally motivating you with something like, “Ten more seconds to go! Dig deep!” just like a trainer would. Since the workouts vary in length, you can squeeze in some cardio or strength training that fits your schedule. I love the 15 and 30 minute workouts because it’s an amount of time that gets results without feeling too daunting to begin.
I’m all for a workout program that’s always convenient and with me (when am I ever without my phone?), and I also appreciate the variety that keeps the workouts fresh. Because it’s free, there’s nothing to lose.
Photo credit: Nike Women on Facebook
