Stay Active On The Go: Make Wellness A Priority With T+L Editors’ Fave Fitness Apps

As the day’s first sunrays knock at your window pane, you rise from the satin creases of your plush bed. Measuring up with the holiday charm, your wellness app convinces you to complete 15 minutes of morning stretches, down that glass of warm water, and pen down the highs and lows of your thoughts in a journal. Before you know it, good health has trailed its way into your fun-filled itinerary. Albeit understated, the joy of maintaining a health streak on your fitness app, sticking to a routine (even when on the go), and meeting fitness targets is a joy that only adds to the holiday experience. After all, the creme brulés, extra tacos, and bar-combing hit better when complemented by an equally solid wellness regime. Wondering how to do it all? With insights from our globetrotting team, we’ve curated a list of tried-and-tested fitness apps that are all fun and no frills.

Wellness on the go: Top free fitness apps to consider

Headspace

Marketed as “your everyday mental health app”, Headspace lives up to the hype with over 500 guided meditations and programmes, expert-led advice, and a library of relaxing sounds and exercises to ensure holistic well-being – physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Jeninne Lee-St. John, Editor-in-Chief of T+L Southeast Asia Hong Kong & Macau, shares her experience with the Headspace app. “Travelling can be mentally stimulating. Between adjusting to new environments, capturing moments for social media, and managing work commitments (even on leisure trips!), my mind can get overloaded. Headspace is my go-to app for unwinding at the end of the day. The soothing voices and immersive soundscapes help regulate my breathing and heart rate, setting the stage for a peaceful night’s sleep.”

Download the Headspace app for iOS and Android.

Nike Training Club

This application has truly revolutionised how people perceive workouts. With bite-sized fitness routines, spanning anything from 15 to 45 mins, Nike Training Club doubles up as a portable trainer, delighting with tailor-made workouts curated based on equipment (or the lack thereof), time available, and the muscle group you wish to focus on.

Whether you’re working out remotely, on vacation, or simply short on time, Nike Training Club has you covered. Personally, it’s my go-to app for efficient and effective workouts wherever I am. My top recommendations include an energising 15-minute yoga routine, the perfect way to start your mornings (best enjoyed on velvety shores on tropical getaways), and a quick core blast with short but sharp ab workouts.

Download the Nike Training Club app for iOS and Android.

Apple’s Health App

Free of cost with a bounty of benefits, Apple’s Health App lets you manage your health data, from height and calories to steps, in the most seamless fashion. While the app’s accelerometer counts your steps, its Nutrition tile helps keep tabs on food intake. Additionally, its bedtime feature helps you clock in the hours of sleep you’re managing, and its Cycling Tracking feature helps users stay abreast with menstrual and fertility tracking. Need we say more?

Nishtha Grover, Senior Editor – Growth at Travel + Leisure Asia, shares her experience with Apple’s Health App. “Apple’s Health App is a lifesaver when I travel. It helps me track my steps, monitor my sleep patterns, and keep me on top of my menstrual cycle regardless of location. Sharing data with friends adds another layer of accountability, motivating me to stay active while on the go.”

Download Apple’s Health App for iOS.

Smoke Free

If you’ve been wanting to quit the nicotine stick but the withdrawal tendencies get the better of you, turn to Smoke Free. This fitness app boasts over 40 evidence-based techniques that help users quit smoking amiably. From rewarding you for no-smoking achievements to working with an AI Quit Coach, this app goes above and beyond in making your no-smoking journey a success. While most features of Smoke Free are free to use, the app’s ‘pro’ version offers enhanced tools to tackle cravings, and rewards with badges, and offers creative customisation options tailormade to your needs.

Download the Smoke Free app for iOS and Android.

Calm 

While the conventional perception of fitness is limited to workouts and diets, deeper influences like breathwork, meditation, and sound sleep also impact our health. Calm offers free and paid tiers, providing varying levels of sleep and meditation assistance for a calmer, more restful you.

Eshita Srinivas, Writer at Lifestyle Asia, shares her experience with the Calm app: “For someone who struggles with sleep, especially during stressful periods, Calm has been a game-changer. Instead of mindlessly scrolling before bed, I now unwind with bedtime stories on the app. The familiar, soothing stories trigger nostalgia and lull me into a peaceful sleep, even when I’m travelling.”

Download the Calm app for iOS and Android.

Streaks

The joy of maintaining habit trackers and monthly challenges remains uncontested. Motivating us to realise our daily goals, the Streaks application allows users to set up to 12 daily tasks and encourages them to follow through. The to-do lists and daily habits you add to this app will hold you accountable for maintaining your self-care streak. The items on the list can range from ‘ditch smoking’ and ‘read 20 pages’ to something as simple (yet hard for most of us) as getting at least 7 hours of sleep. The user-friendly interface, cosy graphics and rising streak count on this app are bound to fuel your passion for routine wellness.

Download the Streaks app for iOS. While this app is not available for Android, a good alternative is the HabitNow app,which allows users to organise tasks, record progress, and seamlessly blend habit-building into everyday routine.

Look out for these features to pick a well-fitting app for your next travel

Understanding your unique challenges is key to finding the perfect wellness app. Some common struggles travellers face include maintaining healthy eating habits, staying active, staying hydrated, resisting cravings, and managing stress. The good news? There’s a wealth of apps that can tackle all these concerns without compromising on the fun factor.

Stay healthy on the go: Benefits of having health apps

If you’ve started a wellness regime or a workout streak, a vacation doesn’t mean you fall out of habit. Health and fitness apps ensure your vacation is a hearty mix of food, flair, shopping, and fitness. So when you get back home after days of holidaying, you’ve gained memories, happiness, and health.

Beyond fitness apps: Get inspired by fitness influencers

In a world where social media is instrumental in finding jobs, match-making, and instant gratification, it comes as no surprise that the trusty medium is simmering with easy-to-grasp workouts (courtesy of able influencers), diet guidance, and wellness hacks that can be incorporated in our everyday lives. To learn the latest ab workouts and foam roller challenges, consider following Namrata Purohit. For guidance related to running, joint mobility exercises, and bulletproofing your core, look no further than Ayesha Billimoria.

To stay healthy from the inside out, follow Rujuta Diwekar’s profile for dietary direction, the right way to detox, portion control, and much more.

(Feature Image Credit: Caterina Trimarchi/Shutterstock)

Related:Fashion, Family and Biophysics: Why Wellness Can Be Anything That Sparks Joy

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

– What are the best healthcare apps for solo travellers?
Some of the best health and wellness apps for solo travellers include Apple’s Health App, Calm, Headspace, Strava, and Nike Training Club, among others.

– What are the best healthcare apps to use while travelling with family?
While healthcare and wellness apps assist with personal growth and betterment, you and your family can collectively benefit from apps such as Streaks, Headspace, and Nike Training Club.

– What are the best travel apps to use while travelling by air?
Planning to prioritise fitness whilst you’re on a plane? We recommend downloading wellness apps like Calm and Headspace which assist with guided meditations, bedtime stories, and breathwork, Alternatively, you can explore Apple’s Health App to keep tabs on your food intake, menstrual cycles, steps walked, and weight changes, among other factors.

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