Try These Fitness Apps And Resources To Boost Your Walking Routine

Walking serves as a popular workout among folks looking for affordable options to get their daily workouts in. According to research, the number of people walking for fitness increased by 1.77 million between 2020 and 2021. And there are several health benefits. A 2022 study conducted by Nature Medicine found that daily walks can reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Other research has found having a consistent brisk walking habit for fitness can improve cardiovascular fitness, strengthen your bones and muscles, and improve your mood, cognition, memory and sleep.

Social trends like Hot Girl Walk challenges have encouraged more women to include walking in their exercise routines. The National Library of Medicine states, “healthy younger adults (approximately 20-50 years of age) take 7,00-13,000 steps a day.” Here are some apps and resources that can help keep count of daily steps to hit this goal.

Strava is a membership based app that allows users to track their walks and runs in community with others. Currently sitting at No. 4 in the Health and Fitness category of Apple’s app store, the app has coined itself as the “social network for athletes.” Friends and followers can use their Strava feeds to share workouts, send messages of encouragement, and leave comments on other users’ activity. Beacon, a software within the app, allows users to share their location with up to three users at once. This can put users at ease knowing others are able to track the routes they choose to go on.

Users can download the app for free, and the paid version costs $11.99 per month and $79.99 for the annual subscription. Strava recently introduced a family plan option, where users can save an average of 50% when they join with a group of three or more people. 

StepsApp Pedometer leads in desired step counter app for users. Users can use month and year walking history reviews where users can take note of their most active days and identify activity patterns. The app syncs with Apple Health as well as Google Fit for Android.

StepsApp also has a blog for users to read up on different fitness trends, including posts focused on keeping count of steps. Blog posts like “How to easily make 5,000 steps a day – Let’s go!” provides realistic guide posts for daily walking exercises. Users can download the StepsApp for free. The app’s pro version can be paid monthly at $4.99 a month, or $19.99 a year for the annual plan. 

MyFitnessPal serves as a meal tracking and calorie counting app, as well as a steps tracker, and currently sits at No. 8 in the Health and Fitness category of Apple’s app store. It can sync with over 35 apps, including Strava, Apple Health and Google Fit. When syncing when Google Fit, however, is that the step count won’t appear the exact same, but will be in a similar range of each other.

The app’s basic free version comes with limited tracking tools and has pop up advertisements. The paid version costs $19.99 a month and $79.99 a year. Similar to Strava, MyFitnessPal offers community bonding through the app’s message boards where users can invite friends and follow other members. 

The Fitbit App is another great tool to track daily steps and pairs best with Fitbit smart watches. According to CNN’s review of the best 2024 fitness trackers, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is the best tracker to date. It offers 20 workouts to choose from, with the ability to use up to six at a time. Through the app, users can also track their menstruation cycle, blood glucose levels, and historical fitness data. Apple Watch users won’t be able to sync their Fitbit app data directly with their watch but can use a third-party app like Strava to sync their data up. The Fitbit Inspire 3 costs $99.95 but users don’t need to purchase it to use the app. There is a free version that offers the majority of the desired features, and a Fitbit premium membership costs $9.99 a month and $79.99 a year. 

Under Armour powers their own steps tracking app called MapMyWalk, rated 4.8 stars out of 5 in Apple’s app store and the Google Play store. Within the app, users can track and map out work outs, use the Routes feature to find places to walk, and share routes with other users. The app pairs with Apple Watches and can also  connect to the MyFitnessPal app. MyMapWalk can also pair with Under Armour SpeedForm Gemini 2 Record-Equipped Shoes, for those that already own this pair of shoes. Users can purchase the app for free or use the paid version, which costs $5.99 a month and $29.99 for the yearly subscription.