Are Home Workout Apps Effective? Pros and Cons

There are so many amazing benefits that you can find with these home workout apps. But are they effective? If yes, then to which extent they are effective, and what is the success rate of these apps?

We are in an era where there are unhealthy yet tasty fast food items that are available at cheaper prices than ever, jobs that promote the sedentary lifestyle and things that come directly to your home without stepping a foot outside. This lifestyle has made people lazy, and it has become very tough for us to maintain a healthy lifestyle. With a lot of unhealthy foods and practices at the place, people are suffering from obesity and several other diseases too. Technology has a great impact on our lives in both negative and positive ways. One of its gifts for humankind is fitness apps. These apps are a great deal now.

People who do not have enough time to go to a gym and workout can do it right from their homes. There are so many amazing benefits that you can find with these home workout apps. But are they effective? If yes, then to which extent they are effective, and what is the success rate of these apps? In this article, you are going to get answers to all these questions. Let us know about the benefits of these workout apps and the cons of them to know how good they are.

Pros of Home Workout Apps

Working out is not an easy task for the people who love lazing around. Getting ready and going to a gym for working out may seem like a big task, and people procrastinate as much as they can for the same reason. But now the times have changed, with various fitness and workout apps available, people these days are trying out the exercises at their home only. According to various studies, it has been proven that the workout apps have been pretty effective and even the lazy people these days are motivated to workout with these apps.

Workout Anywhere you Want

If one plans on going to a gym, they have to assign some time for that particular task and should start going. This won’t work if you have a busy lifestyle, and this is where the workout apps are proven to be effective. You can work out in your leisure time wherever you want. Moreover, there are so many exercises that don’t require any kind of equipment, and this indeed is another great option for people. A study conducted by the Journal of Medical Internet Research has stated that the people who are using these fitness apps have positive behavioural changes in them. They are more active and are fit compared to the people who do not use any fitness apps.

Some of the reasons why people are going with these fitness apps are:

Workout Anywhere you Want

There is no location barrier for fitness workout apps. Be it at home, office, or even when you are travelling, you can use the fitness apps without any hassle. You will save up a lot of time that you usually spend while commuting from your home to the gym and vice versa. You can literally turn your living room into a gym with one click and workout as you want. There won’t be any people who watch you, and if you are someone who feels shy about it, then you are in luck here.

Affordable Option

Most of the people pay hefty amounts for gym memberships, but with their busy lifestyle or laziness, won’t attend the gym. This is nothing but throwing away your hard-earned cash for no reason. Gyms are pricey, and if you are someone who doesn’t want to go to the gym, then you will surely face some issues. This is the reason why you should go with fitness apps. These apps will have a trial period where you can check how compatible the apps are for you and then decide whether to go with them or not. Usually, the trial period can be in between one week to a month too. You can get all the workouts for free at this time and know whether you can do them or not. If you can, you will already great habituated to the workouts, and paying a little bit amount for it won’t bother you.

Workouts are Based on Body Strength

This is the best thing about home workouts. You don’t need any high-end equipment to workout at your home. The entire exercises are based on your body strength and the way you will perform. Your body will have excessive movement, and this is a good thing you know. The body mobility along with an increase in strength is a great idea. You will shed body fat and strengthen your muscles and core at the same time.

Workout with a Partner

If you have a friend, neighbour, or spouse who is interested in working out with you, you can do it with the home workouts app. There is no need to pay any extra amount for the other person, and you can enjoy working out without any hassles. Finding an exercise partner will motivate you to work hard and put in all of your efforts into the work. This is a great way to make the most out of the apps.

Cons of Home Workout Apps

Be its App store in iOS devices or Google Playstore, the description for home workout apps is not clear and quite often confuses people. The researchers took a total of 200 apps into consideration and checked their descriptions. The description of these apps says that they are either motivational or educational. The descriptions do not mention about the behavioural changes one particular app can offer. Moreover, the app market is highly unregulated. There are so many apps available, some of them are for free, and some are paid, but these apps do not have proper rules and regulations that must be abided. There is no proof that people who are unfit and maintaining an unhealthy lifestyle will become active with these apps. People who are eating healthy and are maintaining an active lifestyle will find these apps useful, but people who are not health conscious won’t care about them much.

Cons of Home Workout Apps

Self-monitoring is another important issue with these fitness apps. It is not possible for a person with no working out knowledge to understand and workout all by themselves with the apps. A small mistake in positioning can affect that person a lot. Then there are some people who actually get bored by working out alone. Getting your body into the right form will be hard if you have never exercised in your life. So, it is important for you to get a trainer who will help you in understanding what and how you have to work out. Once you get a clear idea of what you have to do while working out and which positions are going to work for you and which aren’t, you will know how to do the exercises perfectly.

As said, everything has both pros and cons, and these gym apps have the same. There are both advantages and disadvantages related to them.

Are They Effective?

Now, after weighing the pros and cons, we have come to one decision- gym apps are effective, but it is important for a person to use them in the right way and monitor his or her performance. They can be ineffective if you are someone who is inactive for a long period of time and aren’t health conscious. If you are like that, then it is important for you to go to a gym and work it out for some time before you choose to stay at home and workout.

In the end, it all depends upon you. Home workout apps are a great deal and one of the gifts that technology has given us, but it is important for people to use it effectively. Following the instructions as they are and eating healthy food will eventually make you feel good and active too. You have seen the research mentioned above, it supports and opposes the workout apps. So, if you are someone who does whatever your smartwatch says, then you can definitely sit at home and try out these exercises. If you are someone who needs motivation and monitoring, then you better go to a gym.

If you are opting for home workouts, then keep track of your work. It is quite important. You should check your weight and calories that you have burnt all the time. If there are no noticeable changes for a long time, then you better go to the old-fashioned way and see how the gym works for you. Being active is a choice, and there are a plethora of options available before you. So, it is your choice, and you can pick the best one that suits you.

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1 thought on “Are Home Workout Apps Effective? Pros and Cons”

  1. Thank you so much for posting this, this really helped me a lot in motivating myself for a home workout.

    Reply

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