The 4 Best Fitness Apps To Compete With Friends

A little friendly competition might be just what you need to get motivated to work out.

Image Credit: Hero Images/Hero Images/GettyImages When you’re a kid, nearly everything you do can be fueled by healthy competition, whether you’re on the playground or in the classroom. As you get older and the stakes get higher, competing gets a little more tiresome. But it might be just what your workout routine needs.

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 Adding a competitive or game-like element to exercise via a wearable device increased the amount of time people spent being active in a September 2019 JAMA Internal Medicine study.

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  "I believe the best competition in a fitness environment is competition with yourself or as a team," says Caley Crawford, certified personal trainer and director of education at Row House.

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 With that in mind, here are a few apps that can put the fun back into your workouts by sparking some healthy competition.

Activity (for Apple Watch)
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Apple Sure, you likely already know that the Apple Watch Activity app tracks data and alerts you when you hit certain goals. But did you know you can connect with your friends and turn your data into a competition? Jesse Alexander, senior master instructor at CycleBar, says he competes with a fellow instructor so they can help hold each other accountable. Each week, the winner gets bragging rights on social media.
Advertisement To share activity, open the Activity app on your iPhone and tap the Sharing tab. Invite up to 40 friends (they also need to have an Apple Watch). Once you’re connected, challenge each other to complete activity goals, including closing all three rings, finishing workouts or earning achievements. It’s a great way to check in on each other and motivate your friends to meet their goals.
Advertisement Download it: Standard on iPhones
Strava
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Strava Strava touts itself as “the social network for athletes,” and for good reason. The app takes data from your smart watch, phone, personal GPS unit, fitness tracker and other devices and puts it into your “Strava feed” where you can share photos, keep up with friends’ activities, compete and cheer each other on.
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Advertisement The app also lets you to discover new trails and find more heavily trafficked areas for safety or more remote areas for solo conquests. Download it: iOs, Google Play
Stepbet
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Stepbet Commit to taking more steps with Stepbet and then put your money where your mouth is: This app combines gamification with social support and behavioral economics.
Advertisement “All our games require that players bet real money on themselves at the start,” says Ally Wertz, VP of digital marketing at WayBetter, the parent company of Stepbet. “We hold the money in the pot during the game and divide it up among all the winners afterwards who are guaranteed to get their bet back and typically make a 25 to 75 percent profit as a reward for sticking to their healthy behaviors.” Download it: Waybetter.com/Stepbet (iOs and Google Play)
Fitocracy
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Fitocracy Fitocracy is gamification at its core. It was even started by a couple of gamers who had the bright idea to track fitness achievements and reward accomplishments as if the users were playing a video game.
Advertisement Enter your own exercises, reps, sets and weights into the app or add exercises from their database. The app saves your data and tracks your progress. The best part for competitive folks is its MMORPG features (that’s “massive multiplayer online role-playing game,” for the non-gamers!). The app tracks milestones and achievements, letting you level up, earn badges and accept “quests” (challenges to complete multiple activities within a certain timeframe).
Advertisement You can find new friends by creating a profile within the app or join with IRL friends and family to compete with each other online. You can even challenge your friends to a Duel for some one-on-one competition. Download it: Fitocracy.com (iOs and Google Play) Tip More interested in being part of a supportive community than competing? Download our MyPlate app and join our Challenge Facebook Group for support and motivation without the emphasis on the leaderboard.
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references & resources
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  Activity for Apple Watch

  Strava

  WayBetter

  Endomondo

  Fitocracy

  Caley Crawford, NASM CPT and Director of Education at  Row House

  Jesse Alexander, Senior Master Instructor at CycleBar,

  Ally Wertz, VP of Digital Marketing at WayBetter
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references & resources
```
  Activity for Apple Watch

  Strava

  WayBetter

  Endomondo

  Fitocracy

  Caley Crawford, NASM CPT and Director of Education at  Row House

  Jesse Alexander, Senior Master Instructor at CycleBar,

  Ally Wertz, VP of Digital Marketing at WayBetter
```
A little friendly competition might be just what you need to get motivated to work out. Image Credit: Hero Images/Hero Images/GettyImages

Image Credit: Hero Images/Hero Images/GettyImages

        Visit Page
        https://go.skimresources.com

Image Credit: Apple

Download it: Standard on iPhones

Image Credit: Strava

Download it: iOs, Google Play

Image Credit: Stepbet

Download it: Waybetter.com/Stepbet (iOs and Google Play)

Image Credit: Fitocracy

Download it: Fitocracy.com (iOs and Google Play)

More interested in being part of a supportive community than competing? Download our MyPlate app and join our Challenge Facebook Group for support and motivation without the emphasis on the leaderboard.

      Activity for Apple Watch
    
      Strava
    
      WayBetter
    
      Endomondo
    
      Fitocracy
    
      Caley Crawford, NASM CPT and Director of Education at  Row House
    
      Jesse Alexander, Senior Master Instructor at CycleBar,
    
      Ally Wertz, VP of Digital Marketing at WayBetter