The Best Workout Apps for Girls Wanting to Take Fitness in the Palm of Their Hands ...

Whether you've got a vacation coming up and you want to look your best or you're just wanting to be healthier, there's something just for you on our list of best workout apps for girls wanting to take fitness in the palm of their hands! These apps provide step-by-step instructions for little to no cost. According to Tom's Guide, the end results will be just as if you went to an expensive personal trainer. From running, to strength training, to yoga, you'll find the perfect workout partner with these workout apps!

1. Map My Fitness (Free; Android, IOS)

Under Armour’s Map My Fitness (Android, iOS) logs more than 600 different fitness activities and syncs with more than 400 devices to give users a complete picture of their athletic performance. Users can search for nearby running routes or share their favorite routes. Map My Fitness saves data on pace, distance, and calories burned for GPS-based workouts; you can use this data to set new personal goals. Through the Map My Fitness community, users can join challenges as well as motivate friends. The latest versions of May My Fitness are compatible with Android Wear and Apple Watch. Premium versions of the app offer personalized training programs and the ability to monitor heart rate zones.

2. Workout Trainer (Free; Android, IOS)

Skimble's Workout Trainer (Android, iOS) offers users thousands of free workouts complete with timed step-by-step audio and video instructions to help you get into shape. Whether you're looking to sculpt six pack abs or improve your conditioning for that next race, Workout Trainer has a routine just for you. In addition to the built-in workouts, users can access the app's library to build their own custom routines and share them online, as well as try out routines shared by the community. A premium subscription unlocks more features such as HD workout videos, more exercise routines, as well as removing ads.

3. Fitted Lifts ($2.99; IOS)

Variance’s Fitted Lifts (iOS) is for experienced athletes who have been using pen and paper to record their weightlifting sets. You can create a routine from a list of exercises within the app’s database or, if necessary, add your own. Exercises are grouped according to the muscle group they focus on, such as chest or triceps. Fitted Lifts includes custom rest timers for each exercises, which takes the guesswork out of resting between sets. As you log your routines, Fitted Lifts can display your progress in a table or graph; the app also tells you how long it’s been since your last workout for a specific muscle group.

4. Nike+ Training Club (Free; Android, IOS)

The Nike+ Training Club app (Android, iOS) features workouts designed by professional athletes and celebrities. Workouts focus on strength, endurance, or mobility and offer three levels of difficulty. The app’s audio cues let you focus on the workout instead of the screen; Nike+ Training Club can also be streamed onto a television using Apple TV, Chromecast, or an HDMI cable. After completing a workout, users can share customized photos or posters with the Nike+ community. The app syncs with Nike+ Run Club to keep track of your runs; you can also manually enter activities such as basketball, gym training, or tennis.

5. JEFIT (Free; Android, IOS)

JEFIT.com's apps (Android, iOS) serve as an incredible resource for users looking to do strength training and bodybuilding. Loaded with an exercise database of thousands of routines sorted by targeted body part, it comes complete with detailed instructions, a workout planner, exercise log, progress tracker, numerous timers and options and synchronization with your JEFIT profile. The free version is ad-supported, while a pro version offers more features and removes advertising.

6. Yoga Studio ($3.99; Android, IOS)

Gaiam’s Yoga Studio (Android, iOS) includes a library of more than 70 yoga and meditation classes that range from 10 to 60 minutes. These classes address strength, flexibility, relaxation, balance, or a combination of all four, and the app lets you filter based on duration, focus, and ability level. More advanced Yoga Studio users can create their own classes from the app’s library of nearly 300 poses as well as 20 pose blocks. Users can download videos and play them later, without an Internet connection, while class instructors can sync Yoga Studio to a television using Chromecast, Apple TV or AirPlay.

7. Lose It! (Free; Android, IOS)

FitNow’s Lose It! (Android, iOS) aims to help users set and achieve exercise, nutrition, and other wellness goals. Users start by logging food and exercise, using the Lose It! calorie counter, along with the recipe builder and exercise planner, to stay within their daily calorie budget. Users can join existing peer support groups or challenges, which run the gamut from eating more vegetables to logging more exercise. While the app uses the phone’s built-in pedometer for step tracking, Lose It! also integrates with several health and fitness platforms, including Fitbit, MapMyFitness, Nike+ and Strava.

8. Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout App (Free; Android, IOS)

Beginners and veterans alike will appreciate the Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout App (Android, iOS). The app guides users through the original 7 minute workout, as well as more advanced routines of varying duration and intensity, complete with short videos. A Smart Workout feature can function as your personal trainer. We also like that users can create their own custom workout routines.

9. FitStar (Free; IOS)

FitStar functions as your personalized digital training coach, adapting its exercise routines to match your physical capability, carefully calibrating workouts to be challenging without being too difficult. Users can configure their ideal exercise duration and workout goals, and the app will whip up a workout session for you. Once done, you can rate the difficulty of the workout, allowing the app to slowly learn and adapt to your workout capacity, challenging you without breaking your body.

10. Sworkit (Free; Android, IOS)

Stop procrastinating and Simply Work It, or Sworkit! Rather than focus on set exercise routines, Sworkit (Android, iOS) has users creating targeted workout routines. Select whether you want to build strength, do yoga, practice cardio, stretch, pilates or build a custom routine, as well as a duration, and Sworkit builds you a routine of randomized exercises that fit your exercise goals. Each workout is different, making sure that you stay alert and are never bored by your workout. A premium version unlocks more features such as exercise variations, a workout history and the ability to save custom workouts for a fully customizable experience.

11. Pocket Yoga ($2.99; Android, IOS)

You can now carry around your own Yoga studio with Pocket Yoga (Android, iOS), an exercise app that lets you practice the ancient art of stretching and breathing at your own pace and time. Pocket Yoga comes with detailed voice and video instructions for hundreds of different poses, complete with writeups on each one's proper execution and health benefits. Users can choose between three practices and three durations. Then the app logs your exercises and progress for future reference.

12. Strava Running & Cycling (Free; Android, IOS)

In addition to being a top-notch running and cycling tracker, Strava Running and Cycling (Android, iOS) adds some pretty neat competitive and gamified features to the usual run-tracking recipe. The app records your running speed, distance traveled, time and course taken, but also combines it with leaderboards, achievements and challenges. Strava supports a variety of running trackers, in addition to Android Wear and Apple Watch. A premium subscription improves on the formula with filtered leaderboards, the ability to create exercise goals and view more detailed analytics and more.

13. Fitocracy (Free; Android, IOS)

The social network for exercise junkies, Fitocracy (Android, iOS) uses a combination of gamification and peer pressure to encourage your exercise habits. Users can look up exercise routines and then log them in to score points, level up and gain achievements, all of which is displayed in a social media stream that other Fitocrats can view, comment on and share and otherwise encourage. Signing up at the Fitocracy website also provides data syncing between the Web app and mobile, as well as the option to automatically post your updates to Twitter or Facebook.

14. Calorie Counter by MyFitnessPal (Android, IOS)

A good exercise regime is nothing without a balanced diet to back it up. MyFitnessPal's Calorie Counter (Android, iOS, Windows Phone) app helps you out on that front, functioning as an easy to use calorie and nutrients counter with a database that boasts more than 6 million foods (and it's growing every day). Easily look up and track the foods you're consuming with the help of a barcode scanner as well as a recipe calculator for inputting custom creations. The calorie counter app integrates with and shares data with more than 50 different fitness trackers and apps such as Fitbit, MapMyFitness and Strava.

15. CARROT Fit (iOS, $2.99)

Meatbag, meet your new fitness and training AI overlord, CARROT. The snarky AI CARROT returns with CARROT Fit app, a workout app built around the 7-minute workout idea, only much saltier. The sadistic AI will lead you through "7 minutes of hell", complete with wry commentary and hilarious exercises such as Kowtowing to Cthulhu (push ups), Dragon Mating Dances, Spear Lunges and more. In addition to the workouts, the app comes with a weight log, BMI calculator, workout reminders and mini-rewards, with more exercise variations available through an in-app purchase.

16. Seconds Pro ($4.99; Android, IOS)

Runloop’s Seconds Pro (Android, iOS) helps athletes keep time during interval training workouts. The app offers templates for Tabat`a, circuit training, and HIIT, along with the ability to customize and combine timers. Once a workout begins, Seconds Pro will display the current interval and the next interval; text-to-speech capabilities will announce what’s next. Users can customize music playlists and alerts to match the mood of the workout. Seconds Pro connects to heart rate monitors using Bluetooth. iOS users can use AirPlay Mirroring to display timers on a big screen — a handy feature for class instructors.

17. VeloPal (Free; Android, IOS)

MatixSoft’s VeloPal (Android, iOS) displays eight data fields during a ride, including calories burned and climbing ratio. VeloPal supports the creation of segments during a ride, along with interval training and alerts when a rider reaches a target. The app uses Bluetooth to sync with external heart rate monitors or power meters. VeloPal’s group ride features will rank participants on a leaderboard, letting you see who pulled the pack on a particular segment or the entire ride. After a ride, the app will graph your power output over the course, allowing you to visualize your performance; you can also enter notes about the weather, track conditions, or your mood.

18. Cyclemeter (Free; IOS)

Abvio’s Cyclemeter (iOS) collects a wealth of data for cyclists and provides mid-workout feedback to improve performance. During a ride, Cyclemeter tracks cycling cadence and power, along with heart rate and weather conditions. If you stop, the timer stops until you start cycling again. Users can set up interval or tempo workouts and hear announcements related to zones, targets, or time/distance intervals. After a ride, users can view, export, or share data to social media sites as well as iOS Health; training plans can be synced to both iPhone and online calendars. Beyond cycling, the app tracks sports such as running, hiking, and skiing.

19. StrongLifts 5x5 (Free; Android, IOS)

Based on the strength training program of the same name, StrongLifts 5x5 (Android, iOS) stands for five sets of five reps of five free-weight exercises — squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press, and barbell row — done in three 45-minute workouts per week. The app tells you which exercises to do in each workout, complete with video tutorials, and how long to rest in between sets. As you log your reps, StrongLifts 5x5 graphs your progress in a weekly or monthly view. The Power Pack upgrade unlocks additional arm, ab, and calf exercises; the upgrade also syncs with Apple Health and Google Fit.

20. 30-Day Fitness Challenge Workout (Free; Android)

If you’re looking to add some variety to your exercise routine, then NorthPark.Android’s 30-Day Fitness Challenge Workout (Android) is worth a look. The app includes 30-day programs for ab, arm, glute, and full-body workouts, with video tutorials for each exercise. The ab workout, for example, has 15 specific exercises. There are three difficulty levels for each programs, and two plans per program, so the 30-Day Fitness Challenge Workout will keep you exercising for quite some time. The app syncs with Google Fit to track data on calories burned.

21. Sleep Cycle ($0.99, Android; Free, IOS)

Getting fit is more than just diet and exercise. A good night’s rest plays a critical role as well. Using your smartphone’s built-in accelerometer, Northcube’s Sleep Cycle (Android, iOS) monitors your movement while you sleep. The app can differentiate between deep sleep and light sleep and helps users wake up in their lightest sleep phase, when they will feel naturally rested. Sleep Cycle comes with 15 alarm melodies and a customizable wake-up window, ranging from instant to 90 minutes. Premium features in the iOS version include online data backup, sleep aids, and notes on how coffee, stress, and other factors affect sleep.

22. Fooducate (Free; Android, IOS)

‌‌More than just a calorie counter, the Fooducate Weight Loss Coach (Android, iOS) helps steer people toward real-food diets. Fooducate can be personalized depending on activity level, dietary goals, desired weight loss, or health condition. Users track food intake and exercise as well as sleep, mood, and hunger levels — all of which affect what you eat. Scan a barcode at the supermarket and Fooducate will tell you if that item contains unhealthy additives such as sugar, preservatives, MSG, or artificial sweeteners; the app will also recommend healthier options. In-app purchases cover specific dietary needs such as food allergies, low-carb diets, and even diets for pets.

23. Moves (Free; Android, IOS)

In a nutshell, ProtoGeo’s Moves (Android, iOS) is a free alternative to low-end wearable fitness trackers. The app uses a phone’s acceleration, cell tower, and Wi-Fi location data to track a user’s daily walking, running, and cycling activity. (To save the battery, Moves uses GPS and phone sensors sparingly.) This information is presented in an easy-to-read timeline, with route maps saved and familiar locations such as the office and the local coffee shop flagged for future reference. Moves also displays this information in daily and weekly snapshots, which makes it easy to track your progress.

24. AllTrails (Free; Android, IOS)

‌‌ AllTrails (Android, iOS) offers information on more than 50,000 hiking and mountain biking trails throughout North America. Users can filter lists based on whether trails are dog-, child-, or wheelchair-friendly; you can also save lists of trails you have done and still want to do. AllTrails provides driving directions to get you to the trailhead and, through the phone’s GPS tracking, will ensure you don’t get lost. The app also calculates pace, distance, elevation, and maximum speed along the trail. The Pro version of AllTrails lets you download maps for offline use, among other features.

25. Daily Workouts (Free; Android, IOS)

‌‌ Daily Workout Apps has separate apps for ab, arm, cardio, glute, and leg workouts — and they all come together in Daily Workouts (Android, iOS). All told, this app features nearly 100 exercises, which are grouped into targeted workouts (five to 10 minutes) or full-body workouts (10 to 30 minutes). For each exercise, Daily Workouts includes on-screen instructions and a timer set to the length of the interval. The app works without an Internet connection. The full version of Daily Workouts adds workout types such as Pilates and kettleball, as well as additional workout routines.

What's your favorite workout app for taking fitness in the palm of your hands? Do you use one of these apps listed? Let us know in the comments!