Best Exercise and Fitness Apps for iPhone and iPod Touch

Price: $9.99
Compatible With: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later

Though expensive, iPump is well worth the price. Stand-out features:

• Workouts drawing from thousands of unique exercises and equipment including, weights, kettlebells, BOSU, foam roller, TRX and more.
• Search workouts by location (hotel, home, gym, etc.), goal (arms, abs, cardio, etc.) or keyword.
• An exercise database with incredible variety. My favorites - squat thrust to push up with a med ball and 180 swings with a kettlebell.
• Videos of each exercise.
• The ability to edit workouts or create your own.

I love that iPump offers such incredible variety in their workouts and exercises. Also available, iPump Trainer workouts for an extra fee.

Price: Free (Actual classes are extra)
Compatible With: iPad

This app works with iPad, but it's worth mentioning because it's kind of awesome.  The app itself is free and  gives you access to hundreds of streaming exercise videos which you can then preview and purchase.  PumpOne (who also created Fitness Builder (see above)), created the app, so you'll see a variety of PumpOne workouts as well as videos from well-known instructors like Kathy Smith, Cathe Friedrich and Patrick Goudeau.  Classes are usually $1.99-$3.99 for a 30-day pass or $9.99 and up to buy the class outright and include everything from kettlebell workouts, kickboxing, step, yoga and more.  It only works with wi-fi or 3G, but there may be downloadable workouts soon. 

Price: $2.99
Compatible With:  iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

I'm a big fan of Deekron the Fitness DJ and Motion Traxx, a free Podcast offering a huge selection of walking, running and fitness workouts set to dance music at different BPMs.

For $2.99, this app allows you to stream a variety of workouts to your smartphone: Steady state, intervals, walking, running or even boot camp workouts. 

I have had problems with the app crashing, sometimes right in the middle of a workout.  This may be because my 3G connection is spotty in my neighborhood, so this may not be a problem if you have better reception.

If you're a walker or runner and you like to move at a certain pace (or you want to be able to work at a harder pace), this app is a must have.

Price: Free
Compatible With:  iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

I really like M-Train because it's unusual.  Their workouts are based on what they call their P.A.S.E. system - power, agility, strength and endurance. When you buy the app (it's free for now) you get one workout with the option of buying new workouts for $.99 each.  Stand out features:

• The workouts are unusual, challenging and fun
• The moves are interesting and tough: Mule kicks, plyo pushups, mountain climbers, burpees, long jumps and machine gun squats
• Workouts include videos, timers and instructions
• You can follow the pre-set workouts or create your own
• You can create a playlist to go with your workout

Bottom line: Thumbs up for M-Train's challenging and unique workouts.

Price: $3.99
Compatible With:  iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

Interval workouts are incredibly popular and effective, and they're much easier to do when you have a program to follow.  BeatBurn offers that guidance, but in a unique way.  Not only do they include music that changes to match your running pace, but you can actually change the pace at any time during the workout if things move too fast or slow. There's a coach offering occasional motivational pep talks throughout the workout and the screen shows the intervals as well as your speed, calories burned and incline (if you choose the treadmill option).

They also have BeatBurn Elliptical Trainer and Tempo Magic Pro.

Price: $1.99
Compatible With:  iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

I'm picky about my smartphone yoga workouts - I don't want pictures of exercises popping up on a screen, but something more like a video with audio cues as well as visuals of the exercises.  This app provides both with a variety of yoga routines for all fitness levels and for a variety of goals - Balance, flexibility, strength and awareness.  This app is perfect if you want quick, easy workouts at home or on the road.  There aren't a ton of poses, but there are instructional videos and the workouts themselves show pictures of each pose with audio instructions. It's not exactly like following a video, but it's simple to use and, at $1.99, reasonably priced.

Price: Free
Compatible With:  iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

iMapMyFitness is a tracking app that uses your GPS to track your outdoor workouts.  You simply start the app and it marks your path while showing  time, distance, pace, speed, elevation and more.  You can also view your stats at MapMyFitness.com and share it with friends.  Other stand out features include:

• Real-time tracking and an interactive map so you can see where you've been
• The ability to view your workout history online
• Manually enter workout information for other cardio or strength training workouts
• Tweet your workouts to friends on Twitter
• Voice feedback on things like distance, pace or speed

The company also offers apps for running, cycling and walking.

Price: Free through the end of January 2011 ($9.99 after)
Compatible With:  iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

If you're into tracking your running, walking or cycling workouts, RunKeeper can tell you how far you went, how fast you went and how long it took you to get there.  Stand-out features:

• Ability to track speed, pace and elevation
• Record your route and view it on a map
• View a history of workouts
• See your workouts online and share them with friends
• Listen to music during workouts and change tracks without leaving the application
• Enter a target pace and get cues on whether you are ahead/behind that pace

Now, I started with the free version, which is no longer available, but the pro version definitely offers more bang for your buck.

Price: Free
Compatible With:  iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

This app is offers training programs for 1 mile, 5K, 10K, a half-marathon or a full marathon. You choose the program you want and get a schedule of workouts with coaching instructions that are voiced over your own music. There's a free trial which gives you one workout for each of the available programs, but you'll have to pay for full programs, which cost anywhere from $1.99 to $5.99. After some brief testing, I found the workouts were well-designed to help you gradually build endurance over a period of weeks. The coaching was nice, telling you when to speed up and slow down, although I did find it hard to hear the coach over my own music - then again, I have some crazy music.