Introduction: 6 Social Workout Apps

If you’re serious about your workout goals, the best thing you can do is find a workout buddy or a group of friends. Studies have found that working out with others helps motivate you, stay consistent, and set better goals.

Let’s take a look at some of the best social workout apps which make it easier to exercise or compete in groups and achieve fitness goals together.

1. Find Your Fitness Buddy: Stridekick for Activity Tracking

Stridekick is a simple and easy-to-use activity tracker app. You can easily track your progress, connect with like-minded fitness enthusiasts, and get the most out of your workouts. To get started, you’ll need to sign up for an account and connect to a data source.

The app analyzes GPS data from your phone, wearable devices (Fitbit or a Garmin watch), or apps and uses it to determine how far you’ve gone and how long it took.

With Stridekick, you can get fit and stay motivated with a social workout community. You’ll find friends who are just as committed to their fitness journey as you are. You can share workouts, ask questions, and post motivational photos.

When you’re ready for a change in routine or want to take your fitness goals up a notch, Stridekick is there for you. You can create a challenge or participate in one in the Challenges tab and earn badges for your milestones or personal bests.

2. Step Up the Challenge: StepBet for Competitive Step Counting

One of the most popular forms of working out as a competitive group is counting steps. Of course, hundreds of apps do that already. StepBet tries to address this imbalance in good measure for fairer step-counting competition.

Step Bet allows you to select and connect your favorite activity tracker—Fitbit, Apple Health, Google Fit, Samsung Health, or Garmin to get personalized fitness goals every week. Then, based on your historical step data, it will calculate two personalized goals for you: an Active Goal (somewhat challenging) and a Power Goal (more challenging).

Every participant’s steps will be different, but the field is now level. Each weekly competition asks you to hit a certain number of active days and power days.

Then it’s a typical step challenge, with a bet element (as putting something on the line has been shown to motivate people). Each game or group has a minimum $10 bet and a maximum of $60, with the pot being shared by all who achieve the target. Groups allow you to talk with others and share your milestones, giving the community the ability to push each other forward.

3. Run, Ride, and Connect: Strava for Outdoor Enthusiasts

Strava is undoubtedly one of the best apps that can help you track a variety of workouts such as cycling, hiking, running, and other outdoor activities. Notably, it has features like group challenges where you can work together to complete a goal, and this makes it ideal as a social workout app.

It offers several features that make it a great choice for fitness enthusiasts. You can access popular spots via Segments and Routes. Meanwhile, detailed maps allow users to find and navigate through the best routes for their workouts.

Strava uses GPS technology to track your location and then uploads this data to the cloud. Then, it uses it to create the app’s Global Heatmap feature, which helps you discover new trails or popular routes across the globe.

Strava also has an extensive library of challenges for fitness enthusiasts. These challenges range from simple activities to more complex challenges like marathons and climbing activities. It also syncs seamlessly with other apps like Google Fit and allows you to share your progress with friends.

4. Train Together: Squaddy for Group Workouts

Squaddy provides a dedicated space for large groups of participants. If you want to start training with your friends or colleagues, then this is the perfect app for you.

The app allows you to create a personalized journal or training diary to set your fitness goals, and record training sessions, and movement history. You can create “Squads”—add your friends, colleagues, clients, and teammates to share workouts. The best part is that it comes with templates for a variety of workouts, which you can find in the Templates tab, and customize them according to your needs.

To get started, sign up for an account and create a team (or squad). Choose a profile image, and hit the + button to start a session. You can communicate with fellow squad members or training buddies using its chat features.

The free plan allows you to record workouts and session content from a list of movements. The pro version helps you add circuits, complexes, super sets, and more.

5. HIIT It Right: Love HIIT for Timer-Based Workouts

Made for interval training exercises, Love HIIT asks you to add exercises in a row. It’s as simple as adding a timer for each exercise, the duration of rest between workouts, and the total rounds of the workouts you want to do. When you start the workout, Love HIIT behaves like the best countdown timer apps for interval training. It will call out the exercise name, rest period, and finish times.

With a simple interface that anyone can use, Love HIIT makes it easy to set up a workout and share it, making it perfect for a workout group that’s not too tech-savvy. Anyone with the link can use it through a web browser (desktop or mobile) and apps.

6. Community and Goals: ASICS Runkeeper for Running Enthusiasts

Runkeeper is a leading social workout app that offers a range of features designed to enhance your fitness journey and keep you connected with a supportive community. It accurately tracks your workouts, whether it’s running, walking, cycling, or any other physical activity.

The app offers a variety of challenges and goals to keep you motivated and engaged. You can compete against yourself or join community challenges to push your limits and achieve new milestones.

You can add friends, create or join groups, and participate in challenges together. This community aspect of Runkeeper fosters support, accountability, and healthy competition, ultimately making your fitness journey more enjoyable.

To get started with community workouts, head over to the Community section in the bottom panel and tap on Create a Running Group. Set the goals, duration, and frequency for the group.

Runkeeper provides customizable training plans tailored to your fitness level and goals. Whether you’re training for a marathon or aiming to improve your overall fitness, you can follow expert-designed and guided workouts to stay on track and make progress at your own pace.

Table: 

App Name	Key Features	Platform	Price
Stridekick	– Activity tracking using GPS or wearables<br>- Connect with fitness enthusiasts<br>- Create and join challenges	Android, iOS	Free
StepBet	– Competitive step-counting game<br>- Connects with various activity trackers<br>- Weekly challenges	Android, iOS	Free (In-app purchases available)
Strava	– Track various outdoor activities<br>- Group challenges<br>- Detailed maps and routes	Android, iOS	Free (Subscription available)
Squaddy	– Group workouts with friends or colleagues<br>- Customizable training templates<br>- Training diary	Android, iOS	Free (Subscription available)
Love HIIT	– Timer-based interval workouts<br>- Simple and shareable workouts<br>- Suitable for group workouts	Android, iOS, Web	Free

These apps offer a range of features for different fitness preferences, from tracking outdoor activities to group challenges and interval training. Choose the one that aligns best with your fitness goals and enjoy a more social and motivating workout experience.

Conclusion: Social Fitness for a Healthier You

Taking advantage of these social fitness apps can help you make fitness a more social, enjoyable part of your life. What this means is that you need to ensure you hit your group targets and, at the same time, not get caught up in competition and comparisons.

Whether you wish to do a virtual competition with your friends or simply share your progress and old workout videos to keep you accountable and motivated to achieve your fitness goals, there are plenty of options these days to help you stay on top of your health. Social fitness is all about motivating and helping your workout buddies to achieve more together.