Learn more: Use your phone’s default applications

Most of them if you have a lot of third-party apps installed on our phones, but you might be surprised at what you can do with your Apple or Android phone out of the box, and that extends to health and fitness monitoring.

If you want to start working on your fitness — perhaps after a worldwide pandemic breaks out — you don’t have to look for apps or invest in a new outfit right away, because everything you need to get started is already on your phone.

Google Fit

Google Fit (as the name suggests) is Google’s own fitness tracking app, and is pre-installed on Android phones; if for no reason, you can install it From the Google Play Store. Unlike Apple’s offerings, it’s cross-platform, and you can find the iOS version here. Although Google Fit is the most advanced health and fitness app you’ve ever found, it covers the basics well enough.

The home screen of the app is dominated by two rings, showing heart points (which are achieved through any type of activity) and steps. Scroll down that main screen and you’ll see everything that Google Fit can control, from sleep to weight. You may eventually want to install some third-party applications to track these metrics, but you can also enter data about them manually (or ignore them for now).

Before you do anything else, set some goals for each day: touch Profile, and tell Google Fit how many steps you want to take each day and how many heart points you want. On the same screen, you can enter your birthday, weight, and height so the app can evaluate and calculate your statistics more accurately.

When walking and running, Google Fit should automatically record your movements; it doesn’t seem to happen, go to the Android settings screen and tap Applications and notifications, View all applications, Adjust, and Permits to ensure that the app is authorized to track your physical activity through perceived movements. Just make sure you keep your phone with you and start creating a picture of your daily exercise.

Below, you can buy extras like smart watches and chest straps to follow other types of activities, but when you’re just starting out you can add these workouts manually. On the front screen of Google Fit, tap the plus button (bottom right) and select Add activity. You can determine the type of activity you have performed and how long you need it, and how hard your heart has been.