NIKE TRAINING CLUB APP

You may have seen me talk about this app a little bit before on my Twitter. This is the Nike Training Club app - another fantastic addition to Nike's collection of rather awesome apps (which also includes Nike Running, which is a firm favourite of mine!). There is SO much to do with this app that I'm not entirely sure where to start with this review?! So I guess it'll be easiest to start at the homepage.

Firstly you're greeted with the "Workout of the week". Workout inspiration right there. Ready at the touch of a button. No need to think of a routine and in a second you're ready to begin you're workout. This week's workout is "Sweat + Shape", a 30 minute routine where all you need is dumbbells (but you could always go without if you didn't have any). Having a weekly routine set for each week can be incredibly useful for those that need some regular workout inspiration or are pressured for time and struggling to think of what to do.

Little to no equipment needed
What's great about this app is it's equally great for working out at the gym or at home. Lot's of the workouts use your own body weight whilst others only use a few pieces of equipment. The equipment used are pieces that you'll find widely available at gyms such as dumbbells or medicines balls. Don't worry if you're not a member of a gym though as there are definitely a lot of other routines available that don't require this sort of equipment.

Videos, photos and step by step instructions
If you stumble across a move you're not particularly familiar with then it's not an issue. Simple flick through the steps with photographs or watch the video to follow the instructions. It's so handy having someone show you how to do the moves all within one app. You could then modify the moves to your level once you know how the move should be performed correctly.

Tailored workouts
Need a more structured program? Step in their 4 week long programs! Select from get lean, get toned and get strong. Then select whether you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced. (The level you chose affects the level or workouts you do each week). Review your program, click done and that's it. A tailored workout that will focus on the area you want to improve it. You can also sync up your runs to this feature so that it recognises these as extra workouts.

Specific targeted workouts
If you're not sure what sort of workout you feel like trying then hit the "Find Workouts" button on the homepage. It brings you to four choices - Get Lean, Get Toned, Get Strong and Get focused. Within each of these workouts you again has beginner, intermediate and advanced choices.
Get Lean - High interval cardio to slim down
Get Toned - Light weights nad intervals to add definition
Get Strong - Increased weights and reps to build strength
Get Focused - 15 minute workouts to target specific areas
Once you've followed through these two screens you'll be presented to a whole list of workouts to choose from. It'll tell you the length, what you'll need (if any equipment), the duration, allow you to set your music and also review (& customise) the workout before you begin.

My favourites include:
Vinyasa Rush
Dynamic Yoga
Solar Power Yoga

And did I mention it's all COMPLETELY FREE?! Personalised workouts, special guest workouts from athletes from a whole variety of sports - all right at the click of an app. I really cannot recommend this app enough. It has so many possibilities and I've personally only touched the surface of the number of workouts I've tried. 

If you've tried it out before let me know which workouts you'd recommend! And if you're in need of a little workout inspiration and motivation then definitely download this app. Need some new music for your workouts? Check out the Nike Women and Nike Training Club playlists on Spotify for some brand new music as well as some perfect classics.

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MY MOST USED FITNESS APPS

I've used quite a few fitness apps in the past, but recently I've settled on three that I use on a regular basis. I love having apps to track my progress and the exercise I've been doing. I find it really useful to have all my workouts recorded and set out so that I can easily access them again.

Speedo Fit
I really needed an app for swimming and when I saw Speedo had one, I quickly downloaded it. You can add a number of different pools (if you visit more than one), the lengths you have performed, the sets you've completed as well as the duration of your workout. It's a good app that does the job well. The map feature is super useful as it uses your location to find the nearest swimming pools to you. This is incredibly handy if you're away from home and still need a pool to train in. Although I think this a great app dedicated to purely swimming, there are two things I wish they would change. Firstly, I would find it really useful for it to say the average pace of each workout. I'd find improvements to my times a lot easier to measure this way. The other thing is, I wish you could use this app offline. You can't even log a workout without first connecting to the internet. This may not be anything major but it would just be a lot easier to record the swim straight away into the app after a workout, rather than recording it elsewhere and then uploading it later.
If you're looking for an app to record your swims and keep track of your pool workouts, then this is definitely worth a download.
Available free for iOS

Strava
You've probably heard of Strava a lot before. It's a brilliant app that has a pretty big following in both the cycling and running communities. It tracks workouts for both sports using the GPS of your device. Not only are the workouts easy to record on the app but as it syncs to an online account it makes it incredibly easy to review your workouts in detail. One super useful thing about Strava is that you can also manually add workouts. If I do a cycle at the gym I can log onto my account online and add it on there, logging it as a stationary trainer. Used a sports watch to record you run?! You can upload your workouts from Timex, Garmin, Suunto & Tom Tom devices - straight to your account. Strava gives a lot of detail including maximum speed and the average speed - both of which I find really useful to have. You can share your workouts using hasthags and join a community of thousands of people. It rewards you with "medals" following each workout, perfect for if you're a competitive person, and if you have a group of people it can put you in a leader board against each other. This is such a fantastic way of motivating you to push yourself each workout and try to beat the others in the community.
If you're looking for a brilliant app that records both running and cycling, I can't recommend Strave enough. .
Available free on iOS & Android (premium update also available)

Nike+ Running
I've mentioned this Nike app a whole while back now (my mini review) and I still use it everyday. I really like it, although I'm not over keen on the new layout change. With the most recent update they've added in a instant run feature, meaning your just hold for 3 seconds and it will automatically start recording, perfect for if you're in a rush or just want to get going. It now tracks the elevation of your route which I know is a feature that a lot of runners will find very handy. Like with Strava, you are manually able to add runs to your account - meaning if you've ran on treadmill, it won't be forgotten about. On the website version it's incredibly easy to share your runs through Facebook and Twitter and the app allows you to connect to a number social media sites to share your runs on.
This is my go to app for running and I'd seriously recommend it for an all round good running app. Download it and give it a go, it's so easy to use that it's worth trying out!
Available free on iOS & Android 

What are your favourite apps or the ones you use the most? Let me know and tweet me @afloralcrown.

I'm posting everyday as part of my 24 days of Christmas Fitness. Make sure to check back each day for a new post all the way up until Christmas Day!

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