Like it or not, we live in a digital world. The way we communicate, the way we shop, and now it appears even the way we get our asses into shape.

I’ve resisted the tech boom as much as I can and honestly wish I could turn back time to the 80’s, but I can’t. So I’ve chosen to embrace all things digital and even got one of those fancy iPhone’s last year.

As a trainer, I’m always looking for ways to help my clients and also improve my own fitness level and have found the following fitness apps to be the most helpful when it comes to meal tracking, exercise programs, and basically helping me stay fit.

Most of these are free and in my opinion, the 10 best fitness apps for dads:

Abs Workout: Get Your Six Pack

This free app is pretty useful for ab exercise ideas and offers up multiple difficulty levels. It’s really easy to use and the avatar demonstrations are good. Variety is crucial for abdominal muscle development and you’ll get a lot of that here.

Full Fitness Exercise Workout Trainer

Although there is no substitute for a live trainer, many of you don’t have the resources to pay $75/hour for one. This app has a huge database of exercises and demonstrations that are useful for beginners and seasoned gym pros alike. You can use your own workouts, customize one, follow one of many pre-done ones, and track them all in a nifty graph.

Nom Nom Paleo

This is a solid app with plenty of Paleo recipes, photos, and meal plans.

MyFitnessPal

Yes, counting calories sucks, but it works. This is the most user friendly calories counter I’ve used. It’s free and I strongly suggest you try it. Even if you track your food for 3 days, it’s a great idea to know how many calories you are eating. Most people guess and are WAY off. You will never shed weight or fat if you are in a calorie surplus, so track it for a few days and see how much you’re eating.

Zombies, Run!

Now I’m not into zombies (or running), but this app is pretty cool. It actually tells a story as you run and the goal is to outrun the zombies or be killed. This is good if you get bored with music (and/or like zombies).

Playground Pump

Surprisingly, there are few fitness apps designed to be used for playgrounds. This one is actually pretty good. As dad’s, we spend a lot of time at playground’s with our kids and if we had a good workout to try while there, wouldn’t that be nice? There are some pretty creative exercises here and a few I’ve never seen before.

C25K

This is the official couch to 5k app. Ideal if you are new to running or are looking to take on a 5k soon. There is a free and a paid version ($1.99) and I only used the free one. Now I’m no runner but do have clients that are and this app is perfect for those starting slow. You’ll gradually be transformed from couch sloth into someone who can run/jog an entire 5k.

Red Cross First Aid

As men we typically think Neosporin will fix anything including hangovers, nosebleeds, and the Ebola Virus. This app will help us find the right solution for a number of health related issues so we don’t need to pretend we know what the fuck we’re talking about.

PushPress Timer

This is a handy little app features a timer for AMRAP training, Tabata training, and also has a regular stopwatch. Sure you could just use a watch, but this bad boy is free and is useful for these types of circuit training.

HealthyOut Restaurant Nutrition Guide

One of the biggest issues we face is choosing the right foods while we are eating out. Well, that and controlling the volume we eat as well. This free app lets you type in your zip code and it locates all the restaurants nearby. It then lists all the dishes available that aren’t terrible for you and provides the macronutrient breakdown and calorie count for them. Sweet!

Start Downloading!

Now it’s time for you to give one or all of them a try. Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know which one(s) you tried.

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