iPhone Apps: Top 10 iPhone Apps for Keeping Fit and Healthy

You've all heard the adverts. If you have an iPhone then 'there's an app for that.' Fitness apps are one of the most popular iPhone applications around, so here's my top ten fitness apps for the iPhone, everything you would ever need to keep in perfect shape from head to feet.

1.  GymGoal

With one of the gym orientated apps your iPhone could become your new best friend. There are tonnes of paid apps which can be quite expensive and may be a waste of time when there is so many great fitness websites on the internet such as Holosfitness.com which can not only provide advice and instructions on various workouts but can help you keep a track on your exercise. The advantage of the iPhone however is obviously its portability which makes GymGoal one of the best apps available for building up your muscles. With this app you can take your iPhone with you when you go to pump iron and have a whole world of advice and instructions at your fingertip to help you make the most of your gym membership.

2. RunKeeper

For your heart, there are plenty of apps for cardio based exercises like jogging and cycling. The latest app for bicycle enthusiasts is The Pedal Brain application which will record data and also show you your current cycling performance in real time on your iPhone screen. You will even be able to upload the collected data to the Internet for a detailed analysis but the down side is the price. The app comes with hardware which clips to your bike and together they are going to cost from $130 to $190 when they are released in March, plus they'll be a subscription fee.

For runners there is the Nike + kit but there are cheaper alternatives such as the RunKeeper app which is available as a free download and as it uses the iPhone's built in GPS it requires no additional hardware. What's great about RunKeeper is that it is not just for running. It can keep track of your running, cycling, even skiing.

3. Weightbot

If you're tracking your exercises, you may want to track your weight as well. One of the best weight tracking applications out at the moment is the fun and simple weightbot which calculates and tracks your daily BMI. You can set a goal weight and watch yourself get closer (or further away) from it whenever you want.

4. Brain Tuner

Eye training and brain training really kicked off with the Nintendo DS but now they're everywhere including the iPhone. There are plenty of apps out there including some great free ones like the brain tuner. It's perhaps not the first thing that (no pun intended) comes to mind when looking at fitness apps, but the brain and sight training can really help improve concentration, memory and hand-eye coordination. Not bad for a few minutes a day on the bus or at the breakfast table.

5.  BBC GoodFood

Not only can it track your food intake. The iPhone can even tell you what to eat. For £2.39 the BBC good food app will stuff your iPhone with 120 healthy dishes, with healthy twists on everything from chicken korma to chocolate brownies. The recipes have all been tested three times by an expert cooking panel and come with instructional videos.

6.  NHS Drink Tracker

A great app to help us party animals survive is the free NHS drink tracker which is available from the NHS website and the App store now. Quite simply if you can be bothered to use it this app will work out how many units of alcohol you are consuming and will advise you on the health risks of the associated with the amount you consume. Even if you aren't planning on cutting down on alcohol at least you can show off how many units you can
handle on a night out.

7. Quitter

First drinking and now smoking I'm beginning to sound like I'm working for the NHS but in reality smoking and drinking are two of the main culprits when it comes to bad health and fitness so they are bound to end up somewhere on a fitness based blog. We all know the dangers of smoking and I know you don't want to hear it all again but if you want to quit then take a look at Quitline which helps put you in touch with smoking councillors, or Quitter which keeps a track of how long you have been cigarette free and most importantly how much money you have saved.

8.  Ringing Relief

Tinnitus i.e. ringing ears can plague us after a night at a concert or a loud nightclub but some geniuses have invented the Ringing relief pro for iPhone. This app which can be downloaded as a free trial plays a ringing into your ear, fighting fire with fire and thus hopefully ridding your ears of annoying ringing.

9.  Loseit

To help you reach your weight loss goal is the Loseit! app which helps to track your calorie input. Although inputting the data may become tedious and some of the measurements are strange like how many 'cups of cereal' per day, it is a free application and could come in very useful for those who are trying to shed a few pounds or simply want to watch what they eat. What this app does is work out how many calories you have eaten and how many calories you have burned with exercise. It has a large library of branded and non-branded food with their accurate values to make things nice and simple.

10.  Skin, Hair and Nails

Don't stop at your figure. Your skin is the largest organ of your body with a surface area of about 2 square yards. Nails are made up of layers of a hardened protein called keratin. The average person has 5 million hairs. The free skin, hair, nails app offers advice and information on, you guessed it skin, hair, nails. Although aimed more at medical students, the free guide to skin, hair and nail disorders could come in useful for information on the go. If you're worried about the state of your skin then nothing can replace a doctor but at least with this app you can have advice to keep yourself beautiful whenever you need it.

So if you want to keep in perfect shape like these lovely iPod people, then head down to the app store now
where all the fitness apps mentioned and many, many more are available.