Category: The 12 Best Apps for Building Muscle in 2026: A Science-Based Guide

Apps can “gamify” workouts, too, through checking in and earning achievements and badges for breaking milestones. A survey study from determined that apps with achievement-oriented motivations were one of the best ways to keep app users accountable and driven toward progress. For this category, we aren’t just looking at the plan itself, but how much instruction the app provides.

• Other than this, you can enable notification for workout reminders from the settings menu.
• However, you’ll need compatible hardware, and it’s only good for cycling workouts.
• Because the programs we tested are 100% online, it’s important that the platform is easy to use and doesn’t take away from the workout experience.
• All of Fiit’s live group classes are free, and you can invite friends and family to join you (even if they don’t have an account), so you can recreate the gym experience at home.
• With a home workout app, you can easily track your progress and challenge yourself with new cardio-based goals.
• Dumbbell Home Workout (Axiom) — Pick a plan, follow the voice guidance, done.

Product Personalisation

If you enjoy the sessions and programs, you’ll find it easier to make them part of your routine and progress towards your targets. For instance, if you like intense, high-energy classes, then the Peloton app might suit you. As a BodyPump fan, I would watch the classes on my TV, and send my heart rate soaring without leaving my living room. These classes do require you to have a decent amount of equipment at home, however.

Best Dumbbell Workout Apps to Build Muscle Strength

The Dumbbell Workout at Home – Build muscle & strength app is a workout app designed for both men and women. It provides 30-day workout plans with 3 difficulty levels for beginners, intermediate, and advanced users. The app offers hundreds of exercises that cover all major muscle groups. It includes two exercise databases – Dumbbell and Bodyweight – and creates personalized plans based on your goals and fitness level.

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Another key feature of the app is the “Follow Trainer” function that automatically adjusts your machine’s speed, incline, and decline based on the trainer leading your class. So, if best workout app for men over 50 you’re performing an iFIT workout on a NordicTrack treadmill, your machine will react to the coach’s lead, providing an ever-changing cardio session to keep things fresh. Even though BetterMe received above-average scores for categories like ease of use and equipment demands, it doesn’t have too many interactive features and only received average scores for pricing and value. While the pricing varies, the highest tier of Caliber starts at $200 per month, which is significantly more expensive than the average app. However, it offsets this with affordable group coaching and a free forever plan.

Best Dumbbell Workout Apps to Elevate Your Fitness Game

It is crucial to follow a training program that is both balanced and progressive. This means incorporating exercises that target all major muscle groups while gradually increasing intensity and weight over time. Choose a home dumbbell workout app that offers pre-designed training programs or the ability to customize your own workouts. Many dumbbell workout apps are beginner-friendly, with tutorials to teach proper form and step-by-step guidance to help you progress safely. These apps often include beginner-focused routines with lighter weights and personalized plans that adapt as you gain strength and confidence.

The Best Workout Apps of 2026: More Than 70 Tested by Personal Trainers

To access all of the features, however, you must upgrade to the Elite version, which has a monthly fee. We’ll select your daily workout and meals based on your goals and preferences. Choose a payment plan – monthly, quarterly, or annually – that works for you. Investing in your fitness can be as simple as skipping a few streaming services or takeout coffees to make room for a health-focused app. Do you want to start taking care of your body and strengthening your muscles absolutely for free? It’s also worth mentioning the other benefits you get from using the program.

Best Customizable Weightlifting App: Caliber Strength Training

I’ve done the research and compiled a list of the top options available on the market. These apps provide a range of features and workouts to help you achieve your fitness goals from the comfort of your own home. Fitness enthusiasts understand the importance of maintaining a regular exercise routine to achieve their health goals. With busy work schedules, it can be challenging to commit to a gym membership. The good news is, you can still achieve your fitness goals by using a home workout app that caters to your needs. However, finding the best home dumbbell workout app can be overwhelming, with numerous options available.

Dumbbell Workout at Home – Build muscle & strength

Apple Fitness Plus is the best workout app if you’re embedded in the company’s ecosystem, especially if you use an Apple Watch. There are HIIT, strength, core, yoga, Pilates, and meditation classes, taught by a range of different trainers. But if these aren’t quite right for you either, we’ve rounded up the best workout apps for a range of training styles and budgets to get you started. Many apps also offer nutrition guidance to help you maintain a calorie deficit. By staying consistent and tracking progress, a dumbbell app can be a valuable tool for managing your weight. You will be able to design your own workout program based on your data and needs.

Best Olympic Weightlifting Program: Torokhtiy Weightlifting Program

While weight loss apps tend to focus on one goal, the best workout apps can offer plenty of variety and functionality. Whether you’re looking to build strength, improve mobility, or boost your cardiovascular health, there’s a workout tracker for you. If you’re based in London, you can also sign up for their free, weekly workout classes and run club that takes place at the Regent’s Street Store. These apps typically include exercises that require minimal space and basic equipment for home workouts, as well as routines that incorporate gym facilities like benches or racks.

FitBod

Pro removes the routine limit and adds features like workout duration tracking, advanced charts, and Apple Watch support. Strong also supports supersets and tracks one-rep max estimates for strength benchmarking. Hevy is a clean, social-first workout tracker that has gained a loyal following among gym-goers and home lifters alike.

SugarWOD is a mobile app that gives you access to daily CrossFit workouts, but it can also connect you to a CrossFit gym—if you’re a member. It’s free to athletes, and in addition to following WODs, you can log your own workouts as well. It has a robust community as well, with people able to compare WOD scores and like and share workouts.

Six Pack in 30 Days – At Home

The MyFitnessPal app does a lot more than track calories in foods. You can also track macros, vitamins, and other micronutrients and see how everything you eat supports your goals. One of my favorite things about CrossFit gyms is the camaraderie of the members of the gym with friendly competition during each daily workout. Some of the best workout apps have a similar support and community. CrossFit apps can help you compare WOD results with other users, as well as post, share, and like other people’s workouts. An app with good support online can bring the CrossFit community right to your home gym.

Connect With Your Community

Simply log the foods you eat using one of our easy food tracking tools, and we’ll show you a complete nutritional breakdown for each food, meal, day, and even week. Any way you want to look at your data, you’ll gain a better understanding of your personal nutrition so you can make smart choices that align with your weight, health, and fitness goals. The level of instruction for each workout is also great, as coaches explain the stimulus and focus for each exercise and workout.

Can I cast workouts to a bigger screen?

There are a lot of features and things to track on MyFitnessPal, which earns it a 4 out of 5, although the amount of tracking features might be overwhelming to some. If you’re just looking for a workout logbook, then MyFitnessPal probably isn’t the best option. However, if you’re interested in tracking the important things outside the gym as well as in the gym, this can be a great option. If you’re needing an AMRAP or Tabata workout on the fly and are looking for an inexpensive option, WOD Roulette is a great app with a budget-friendly price. The app comes with a free version with full functionality and ads. The only payment you can make is optional, to get rid of the ads, which is a one-time payment of $0.99.

WOD Roulette offers thousands of random WODs, including benchmark, Open, and even hotel-specific metcons, with the click of a roulette button and a shake of your phone. There are no preset training options so may not be a good fit for those with specific fitness goals. One of my favorite features of this app was its ease of use, as I rate it a 5 out of 5. After creating an account, you’re taken to some basic mobility routines for different needs or times of the day.

Butt Workout: Fitness at Home

That’s why we at Garage Gym Reviews have compiled our list of the best CrossFit apps on the market. As a former CrossFit gym owner and L-1 trainer, I know what to look for in app features and programming to get you the most out of your CrossFit training. If you do use other apps and fitness devices as part of your overall health and wellness goals, more than 35 apps and fitness devices connect to MyFitnessPal. Automatically sync your steps, calorie burn, weight, and even sleep! Connect to Apple Watch, Fitbit, Garmin, Samsung Health, Google Fit, Health Connect, smart scales, and many more. You don’t need a separate intermittent fasting app, or different apps for water tracking, weight tracking, or fitness tracking.

Fat Burning Workouts, Fitness

• However, the best CrossFit apps provide programming by CrossFit experts, both expert coaches and top athletes.
• WOD Roulette offers thousands of random WODs, including benchmark, Open, and even hotel-specific metcons, with the click of a roulette button and a shake of your phone.
• CrossFit affiliates can also use Beyond the Whiteboard as their platform for programming.
• To help you set safe weight goals during signup, we use a BMI calculator.
• These features, along with the customer experience, helped us determine the best apps for CrossFit.
• Expert product tester and founder of Garage Gym Reviews Coop Mitchell tried it for a month and rated his experience a 5 out of 5, saying it helped push him out of his comfort zone.

When logging workouts, the app will also record benchmarks and personal records. One of the biggest draws in CrossFit gyms is the community and social aspect of people mutually enduring tough workouts. For the fitness lover who enjoys the support of others, there’s SugarWOD. This app provides the CrossFit mainsite workout each day, and connects you with other users to perform and record results.

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WOD Roulette provides a random WOD from their pool of workouts each day, and also provides scaling options in the form of easy, medium, and hard versions of the workouts. While the program doesn’t have a free trial, Street Parking does offer a week of sample workouts on their website, which will show all available scaling options and workout descriptions. At only $19 a month, this is also one of the more inexpensive CrossFit programs available, too. Still, apologies to Android users; Street Parking is only available to those with iPhones. CrossFit already focuses on variety in its program design, but for the CrossFit enthusiast who likes to change it up day to day, there’s SmartWOD. This great app is a WOD generator that can be customized to the available equipment you have, or to certain skills and movements to focus on.

You can choose a routine to do while at the office, in the morning or evening, or before or after a workout. From there, you can adjust the amount of time and the mobility equipment you have available to you—foam rollers, massage guns, or bands—and it will customize a mobility workout for you. Train Hard is a virtual training program designed by former CrossFit champion Jason Khalipa designed to help people get through training slumps and accomplish their fitness goals. With your membership, you’ll get CrossFit.com mainsite workouts as well as several programs from VNR (Varied, Not Random). They have tracks for beginning, intermediate, and advanced CrossFit athletes, as well as dumbbell-only and bodyweight-only programming. Utilizing these templates can streamline your fitness journey, making it easier to track progress and stay motivated.

It’s so simple, in fact, that we know you can eat better by focusing on these eight things. Looking at CrossFit apps, this can be a much more affordable option, with the pricier apps costing $40 monthly, although most are $20 or less. That monthly price can be a much cheaper option, especially for those with a garage gym and equipment already. This is all in the free version, but the price of the premium version isn’t too much, at $2.50 per month. Still, Amanda does add that “The upgrade features aren’t super compelling—access to warm-up videos, bookmarking and favoriting capabilities, and more filtering options.

Custom Interval Timer

For athletes, the mobile app will allow workout tracking of different strength workouts, as well as metcons, AMRAPs, EMOMs, and benchmark WODs. The base subscription price also includes a workout log and access to a fairly large social community. Maintaining a consistent workout routine is crucial for physical health, mental clarity, and overall well-being.

SMART HOME GYM? FITVYR!

Ultimately, the best Notion workout planner template is one that is simple yet functional, allowing you to focus on your workouts and progress without unnecessary distractions. If you want to know how many calories are in the foods you eat, or how many calories you eat each day, the MyFitnessPal app makes it easy. If you’re looking for a free calorie counter app, you’re in the right place.

Optimize training with personalized metrics

Beyond the Whiteboard is a comprehensive workout planning, tracking, and analysis fitness platform which includes preprogrammed plans. It offers both individual and gym subscription options but may not be well-suited for smaller establishments. However, with the fast pace of today, it can be difficult to find the time to get into a CrossFit gym consistently.

You can also filter out movements, like selecting pull-up bars for equipment, but deselecting muscle-ups for exercises. SmartWOD offers both a free timer and workout generator which creates high-intensity workouts customized to available equipment. I tried out Beyond the Whiteboard for logging my weightlifting workouts, and I give the app a 4.5 out of 5 for its user-friendly functionality and ease of use. There’s a lot you can do on it, so navigation on the app might be muscle building apps overwhelming at first, but I got used to it in a short time.

CrossFit apps can vary in their programming and you should know which kind you want for your workouts. Some are WOD generators, where the app will create or generate a CrossFit workout, either a unique workout or a CrossFit benchmark, like Angie or Fight Gone Bad. With programming from a certified CrossFit trainer, you can be sure that each training cycle will work on improving skills and strength, and that the workouts will help accomplish those goals. I tried a few last week, and my legs were jelly after each one,” Lindsay continues.