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5 fitness apps that can help you build muscle in the gym in 2026

5 Best Nutrition Apps For Weight Gain As Rated By Coaches

Workout plans that lacked a clear path to progression earned low 1-star scores from our team. For an app to earn higher, 4- or 5-star ratings, the workout program needed to clearly follow the principles of progressive overload. Despite the easy setup, the app offers plenty of great features to help you stay motivated and make sure you’re continuing to make progress over time.

Best Workout App for Bodyweight Training: BetterMe

It’s a great substitute for a personal trainer, and will help you get in great shape whether you’re working out at home or at the gym. The programs in this app may lead to some muscle growth and increases in strength in people who are previously sedentary and overweight during the first one to two months. “I find it hard to come up with routines myself, so having coached sessions made it easy and comfortable for me to try new things like boxing that I wouldn’t have sought out on my own,” another tester noted. Gym-goers will also appreciate the self-guided option, which lets you move through exercises at your own pace. Peloton also offers Strength+, a strength-focused app for home or gym equipment.

Home Workout – No Equipment

best fitness app for weight loss vs muscle gain

As you train, Fitbod tracks your progress and even shows a heat map of your recent training, allowing you to see which muscles have been trained. Even though BetterMe received above-average scores for categories like ease of use and equipment demands, it doesn’t have too many interactive features and only received average scores for pricing and value. If you want something with a greater focus on traditional strength training, you may want to consider something like Boostcamp instead. Caliber received above-average scores in most categories, but the personal coaching plan isn’t cheap, so we gave this 3.5 out of 5 for pricing. “Not only are there video demos for every movement in the Caliber app (which are really well-done), but you can even send form videos to your coach,” Amanda explains. This alone is an incredible value, and we give the app 5 out of 5 stars for interactive features.

Give your workout a modern edge with these muscle-building apps.

best fitness app for weight loss vs muscle gain

JuggernautAI costs slightly more than the average app, thought it offers a longer trial period than most so new users can experience the programming. This app received high scores in nearly every category, but it’s a little limited in workout variety and interactive features. While we love Boostcamp, and there’s a free version, it’s pretty limited in terms of scope. Some popular programs, as well as advanced analytics, are locked behind the Boostcamp PRO paywall.

Best Workout App for Data Tracking: Peloton

Nike Training Club (NTC) is a free fitness app that offers a wide range of guided workouts designed for all levels, from beginners to advanced athletes. The app includes strength training, HIIT, yoga, mobility, and endurance sessions led by professional Nike trainers. Each workout is available in video format with clear instructions, making it easy to follow along at home or in the gym.

Nike Training Club

These prompts gauge how prepared you are for a given workout, along with other inquiries asking if you’re dealing with any soreness, fatigue, or other factors that may influence your training. Set new running goals or just hit your weekly mileage with the free Nike Run Club app. You can try the app’s race programs if you’re preparing for your first 5K or go on a guided run with a Nike running coach. If you’re looking for an immersive training experience that’s rich with motivation, advice, and engagement, we highly recommend subscribing to Future. Yes, the monthly membership is expensive at $199, but with that you’re essentially getting a full-fledged personal trainer in your pocket (or on your watch or TV). After every workout, you can track and save the weight and number of reps performed.

What Is Pre-Workout? An RD Reveals the Gym Juice Scoop

Overall, JEFIT is a useful and comprehensive app that can help you reach your fitness goals and improve your health. Last but not least is our pick for best fitness app for lifters, PUSH. It’s an app that uses AI to automatically generate and modulate your exercise plan, to great effect. In our PUSH review, we called it “a brilliantly designed app with very few flaws”. Food quantity is more important than food quality when gaining weight. It doesn’t matter how high quality your foods are if you’re not eating enough of them to be in a calorie surplus.

  • This beginner-friendly workout app can be accommodating for a range of different skill sets and equipment setups.
  • FitOn (available on Android, iOS, various media streaming devices, and the web) offers free, on-demand, video-based workouts led by trainers.
  • The fusion of your consistent effort with the right technological tool is the most powerful formula for achieving the strength and physique you desire.
  • She also notes the app syncs with the Apple Watch but not apps like Garmin, Fitbit, or Strava, and she found it a bit frustrating to manually enter workout data later.
  • We provide the insights you need to choose the right tool to build a stronger, more muscular physique with confidence and precision.
  • You can even add photos and notes to your workouts to look back and see exactly how the workout went.

Custom Workout and Split Creation: Build Your Own Routines

Moreover, the app includes a calorie counter and goal-setting features, while the integrated workout and rest timers help you make the most of your time in the gym. FitNotes is excellent for those who want a straightforward, ad-free logging experience. Its simplicity is a strength, but it may not suit users needing more advanced features. Whether you’re just starting out in bodybuilding or looking to elevate your weightlifting game, Strong stands out as a top-tier bodybuilding app. Choose a workout app based on your needs and goals, not based on the pricing. To earn a 4- or 5-star rating, the trial needs to last for seven days (some apps offer 14 days) and either doesn’t require your credit card to sign up or sends a reminder that your trial is about to end.

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Our team at FeastGood.com has tested over 18 nutrition apps for ourselves and our clients with mass gain goals, and we’ve come up with the best picks (plus ones to avoid). Finally, we enjoyed the user interface of this app and felt its layout to be rather intuitive after the first few workouts. Some may find the text to be difficult to read, however, which we attribute to the black and blue color scheme. If you can look past this aesthetic, though, we think you’re in for a refreshing new take on bulking up. The coaches do a great job of verbally guiding you through different effort levels, based on factors like your RPE and https://ventmagazines.co.uk/best-strength-training-apps-for-garage-gyms-in-2026/ breathing. However, these are pre-recorded and aren’t too personalized — it’s on you to gauge your effort.

Assess your budget and compare the value offered by each app, such as workout variety, coaching options, and additional perks like meal planning or community access. Every app we’ve tested offers a free trial, which you can use to help you decide before committing. Fitbod is a fitness app that gives users workout recommendations based on their goals, schedule, and available equipment. It offers exercises ranging from bodyweight workouts to barbell lifts. The app also tracks users’ progress and provides a map of muscle recovery. Some workout apps let you download videos for offline use, while others require a constant internet connection.

Additional Tools for Comprehensive Fitness Tracking

Navigating through workout plans is pretty easy as well, leading Kate to rate the ease of use a 4 out of 5. While The Sculpt Society isn’t exclusively a prenatal platform, its pregnancy- and postpartum-specific programming is thoughtfully designed and easy to follow. The platform is known for its approachable, feel-good workouts, and its prenatal and postpartum offerings are no exception.

Yes, there are a number of free workout apps out there, such as Nike Training Club, delivering solid workout plans to help you mix up your training sessions. Additionally, some fitness apps offer free trial periods at the start of your subscription to help you get a feel for the workout variety and platform offerings. Apps of this kind, however, often limit your capabilities within the service until you ultimately sign up and pay for the membership. In today’s fitness realm, it seems there’s an app for every training discipline. The best online workout programs can deliver the coaching, tips, motivation, and (of course) daily workouts you need directly to your trusted smartphone or tablet. The best fitness apps combine that library of information with engaging, easy to use interfaces that work with your fitness goals.