It’s the age of digitisation, and making lifestyle changes in our diet and fitness regime is as easy clicking on an app. With all those sought-after tips right at our fingertips, one is spoilt for choice.
From yoga to zumba to calorie tracking to sleep, there is an app for every fitness need. Many of these apps are also endorsed by celebrities - like Malaika Arora who backs fitness startup Sarva, or Shilpa Shetty, who runs the wellbeing app Simple & Soulful.
If your smartphone can be your fitness trainer, counsellor, or dietician, and urges you to get moving, get enough sleep, and manage your time better - go on then - get addicted!
The demand for fitness apps also skyrocketed in the last couple of years, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising awareness among consumers, increasing smartphone penetration rate, and busy lifestyles causing people to look for digital healthcare solutions even when indoors saw the emergence of fitness apps all around.
According to Grand View Research, the global fitness app market was worth $1.1 billion in 2021, and is expected to grow at a 17.6 percent CAGR from 2022 to 2030.
YourStory brings to you a list of health and fitness apps that are a must-try in today’s busy world.
HealthifyMe
Founded in 2012 by Tushar Vashist, Sachin Shenoy, and Mathew Cherian, Bengaluru-based is a health and wellness app that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and allows users to track nutrition, fitness, calorie intake, water intake and calories burnt.
HealthifyMe team (from left): Sachin Shenoy – co-founder, Tushar Vashisht co-founder & CEO and Anjan Bhojarajan – chief business officer
HealthifyMe’s app has about 20 million downloads on Google Play Store.
The startup also connects users with qualified trainers and nutritionists who review their progress, provide exercise and diet plans, and work with them to achieve their fitness goals.
Tushar says, “AI is transforming business models. Our business has transformed from a services-led model to product led and this comes at a fraction of the price point. We were looking to provide an affordable plan, which is also scalable,”
Wellnesys
Founded by Muralidhar Somisetty, Sankar Dasiga, and Vinod Ajjarapu, Bengaluru-based is a health-tech startup for interactive fitness, digital wellness, and remote therapy for therapists, wellness practitioners, corporates to hospitality and insurance companies.
Wllnesys’ mission is to integrate modern technology with ancient science to promote holistic wellbeing.
The deep-tech wellness startup’s flagship product, YogiFi, has revolutionised the way yoga sessions are delivered at-home through an immersive and interactive experience.
It is a fusion of multiple technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), edge computing, IoT, sensors, computing vision, and apps to create a nonpareil offline and online yoga studio experience at home.
“YogiFi is a game-changer in the fitness industry as the mat can support other forms of fitness exercises well. Thanks to the Jio wave, we are observing an encouraging trend around smartphone adoption and digital media consumption. However, our markets follow behind the US market trends when it comes to adopting hi-tech gadgets,” Muralidhar adds.
GOQii
Founded in 2014 by Abhishek Sharma, Sachin Janghel, and Champ Alreja, US and Mumbai-based is a smart-tech enabled, integrated preventive healthcare platform that provides end-to-end healthcare and wellness experience for users.
It offers a wearable fitness band with a mobile-app, and personalised remote coaching, fitness tracker, app, healthstore, insurance, and others.
The startup is also targeting several therapeutic areas across radiology, diabetes, women’s health, etc, via its digital therapeutics offerings.
In February 2022, GOQii raised $50 million in Series C round led by Blacksoil Capital and Trifecta Capital to grow the insurance and digital therapeutic vertical in India.
Vishal says “We have spent the last few years validating our platform and forging partnerships with global insurance and healthcare providers. Along with the power of Mitsui, our goal is to be the dominant healthcare platform for millions of users globally and empower them with a better lifestyle and healthcare solutions and be the force of good.”
Fittr
Founded in 2016 by Jitendra Chouksey, along with Sonal Singh, Jyoti Dabas, Rohit Chattopadhyay, and Bala Krishna Reddy, Pune-based is a fitness and wellness startup which provides a tech-enabled community-first health and fitness platform.
The startup provides coaching across areas such as strength and conditioning, fitness and lifestyle, and martial arts, among others. It aims to reach out to 50 million people and make them fit, teach people how easy it is to stay fit, and create jobs in the fitness industry.
In September 2021, Fittr raised $11.5 million in Series A round led by Dream Capital, Elysian Park ventures for product development, hiring, and growth and expansion into new markets.
“Fittr offers a B2C freemium model and provides free use of its diet and training tools and access to a community of fitness experts and enthusiasts. Users can get personalised guidance, customised plans, and weekly check-ups through Fittr’s certified coaches by paying a small premium fee, ” Jitendra says.
Fitelo
Founded by Mehakdeep Singh and Sahil Bansal in 2019, Chandigarh-based startup 's AI-enabled platform helps clients get fit, lose weight and track their overall wellbeing.
It aims at helping its users develop healthy habits, and operates on a subscription-based model and assigns customers a health coach who is aligned to their needs.
“Powered by our platform, we work on modifying the lifestyle of an individual, step by step. We work on creating healthy habits so they get fit and can stay fit in the easiest possible way,” Sahil says.
The app is available on Android and iOS, and users can track daily updates including metrics such as diet, water intake, body measurements, and activity levels.
Edited by Anju Narayanan