Training apps became stars to adapt us to exercise at home. In this post, we are going to review Freeletics and some other training apps to tell you what we think about the most popular training apps in the world.
Here you will find comparisons, benefits, cons, and alternatives that apply to everything from getting a well-defined abs pack for the summer, gaining muscle or finishing the MX competition so easy that we almost want another one.
Shall we get started?
The Training Journey
Freeletics starts by showing us what it calls the Training Journey. This is basically where our experience with the app begins, and where we start to customize our training by defining goals.
What are the goals that Freeletics divides us between in its free version?
- Gain Muscle
- Get in shape
- Burn Fat
- Eating better
- Strengthen the mind
It then moves on to ask us how fit we are or what our level of training is so far.
The color palette we found in this Freeletics review is quite wide because it ranges from people who if they sit on the floor have trouble getting up, to those who consider themselves advanced athletes.
For example, if you ask it to do a strength-oriented workout, the app might ask you how many push-ups you were able to do to get a clearer benchmark.
In its free version, Freeletics gives you access to a library of exercises, each with a video showing how to do them correctly.
You’ll also see that the exercises are arranged by level, from beginner and intermediate to advanced.
Freeletics offers a dashboard to view your profile and check your progress.
From this Freeletics review, we can tell you that the workouts are quite intense, considering the average fitness level of the users.
Ready to pay for progress? The fitness coach in the app steps in
Let’s say you’re not satisfied with what the free version offers you, you’re falling into the typical gym dullness and you think you need something a little more personalized, something to challenge you. Here steps in “The Coach”.
The Coach is the plus of the paid version of this app. Here the artificial intelligence of Freeletics will adapt to many more factors such as your age, weight, availability, and abilities.
So basically, this coach, is an algorithm that personalizes the app more to your needs (alike to the POWERING app’s algorithm)
Want to drastically improve how you riding skills?
There are plans to purchase this version that can be for three months, a semester, or a year.
The most important thing about the paid version and what the virtual coach gives you is access to plans.
In addition to being personalized, you are referred to other applications within Freeletics such as Bodyweight, Gym, Running, and Nutrition.
The workouts in the app don’t have a set time limit.
But among the other interesting things we noticed in this Freeletics review is that the app measures the time it takes you to do an exercise and compares it with the previous time so that you have a reference of the dynamics of your training.
Music and rest adaptations in your Freeletics workout routine
We all like to train with music, don’t we? Well, maybe the best music for our ears is the engine of our machine, but the interesting thing here is that the app can be integrated with Spotify.
One of the complaints about previous versions of this app was the lack of music, but that is no longer a problem.
Or at least it is not for those who have Spotify Premium. The Spotify function can be activated within Freeletics and from there, anyone can choose their own playlist or one of those proposed by the training app itself.
A coach to get back to training: Among other new features, Freeletics now offers a special coach for the return to training.
Yes, if you have stopped exercising for a while or simply had a long break, the virtual coach (in the paid version) will give you a new plan to get you back on the gas little by little, taking care of the typical injuries caused by lack of training.
Freeletics review. It is worth paying for?
Many people wonder if it really makes sense to pay for what Freeletics offers.
We are not the ones to lean towards a yes or no because we don’t know about your particular goals, but we’re going to review the most important things that Freeletics gives us and what it still has to offer.
We’ll leave the final answer to you.
- It’s pretty easy to follow, you won’t usually get lost in the directions the app gives you.
- The video demonstrations are very good. They give importance to technology and we already know how key it is to maintain a good form if we want to avoid injuries and get the most out of the exercise.
- The progression that shows you as you progress through the workouts is a plus. By this, we mean that if one day the app makes you lift too much weight, chances are that with your feedback at the end of the class in the comments you can correct it for the next one. That’s very important if you’re training with a virtual trainer.
- Getting to the point where the app puts together a training program for you is pretty simple. It’s nice to be able to reach that point without wasting so much time and the design of the app responds very well in that sense.
Who does Freeletics work for?
The app is for anyone who wants to train in general to stay in shape and has no specific sports goals.
It also works well as a “gym” if you have the necessary equipment to do so. The downside is that it doesn’t offer as many variations if you don’t have some elements such as Olympic bars and dumbbells.
The options offered by the app in that case go to the applications inside the application such as Bodyweight exercises or running training.
The app’s dedicated bodyweight feature is great for fitness enthusiasts who don’t have time or are constantly traveling.
If you have a very specific and performance-oriented training goal this app is probably not ideal for you.
An alternative for initiate fitness levels, the Nike training app
This app is very good in terms of the number of workouts and the proposal of different workouts according to muscle groups, specially if you level of fitness is not too high.
It has some variants that Freeletics lacks in terms of workouts with different levels of equipment.
Its extension with workouts developed by athletes who are part of the Nike firm is an interesting coup for fans.
You’ll come across full yoga, flexibility, and running sessions.
All of this is great to broaden the spectrum a bit, training is not just about strength, you have to give a lot of attention to aspects such as flexibility.
If you like running or just incorporate it into your endurance training for bikers you will find the Nike Run Club app very useful to track your movements and give you data about your sessions.
The 8 fit app
This app offers you a library of training programs and although it has some functions to customize, like the others it does not adapt to very specific objectives or injuries that the athlete may have.
It does offer a meal plan and some very cool meditation exercises to sleep.
The bad thing? In the free version, access to workouts is quite limited. It won’t let you customize your workout or get meal plans.
Does it require the equipment?
No, and here is the good trick of 8fit compared to other apps of its kind. It was designed to adapt very well to home exercise and all the workouts are bodyweight.
Again, very interesting if you have a basic fitness level or don’t have specific sports goals.
The few that are not, only require resistance bands and dumbbells, which is much cheaper and accessible to everyone.
If what you like most about the app are the pilates and yoga exercises (which are great for working on your flexibility and mobility) we recommend having a good mat at home.
Remember that it is always possible to set up different gym variations depending on the space and money you have.
Differences between the POWERING App and other training apps
- POWERING developed a specific training system for off-road riders, the 8RiderSkills Method.
- We know what a rider needs for each modality. It doesn’t matter if you are training for trial, motocross, enduro, rally, etc. Each discipline has details that make it unique and training them is what will put you one step ahead of the rest.
- We don’t focus on goals like fat loss, muscle gain, or maintenance, although these are achieved through meal plans.
- We have a hydration calculator designed for off-road sports.
- Strategic planning: Our app plans based on your schedule and the fitness peaks you need to reach. Traditional training apps aim to increase the load around very general goals, but that won’t work for you if you aim for specific goals. Our mission is that on the day you have a competition, or just want to feel good riding with your friends, you get to 100 percent.
- The exercises we work on are aimed at developing the 8 physical skills that every rider needs to develop.
