Doing exercise is really important and I'm sure many of you are trying to be more active just like I am. Going to the gym can sometimes be quite expensive and time consuming but nowadays there are so many good ways of exercising from the comfort of our own home, and Fitstar is one of my favourites.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has included exercise in their list of New Year's Resolutions, you can read mine here if you're curious. Going to the gym is a great idea, specially if you can go with a friend, and if you have a great gym instructor you can have loads of fun whilst doing targeted workouts.

The problem is that going to the gym isn't practical sometimes: it takes more time to go to the gym, there might not be one near where you live, it can be pricey or perhaps you just want to complement your gym workouts with something at home.

 

I thought it would be interesting for me to show you some options you can do from the comfort of you own home, Fitstar is my favourite and all my family is hooked! It's great to use technology to  our advantage and this app is a great example. The best about this app is that it is geared to what you need and it'll change with time as you get fitter.

When you first start it you will have to do a quick fitness test. It's short and easy and will be the reference for the programme so that it starts at a similar level to your abilities. This programme is designed to improve your fitness and stamina using your body weight via squats, twists, leg-lifts, yoga moves, planks and cardio moves to help you get fitter and stronger.

When you do a workout (and also in the first basic fitness test) you get a plan with a series of movements which you must complete. Before each set starts it explains how to do the exercise with voice and a video of a woman or man completing the task. I find this is very important to get the movement right and not injure oneself.

Then you start the set and you must repeat a number of times a movement or during an amount of time. You should do the set without stopping to rest and following the set rhythm. Once you have finished you can rate the exercise and if you weren't able to complete it you can also input what you were able to do.

That's the secret of the programme: it'll evolve with you! At first you may not be able to do ten planks but the programme will adapt to you and as your fitness improve the exercises will be more difficult or longer. As this happens you will be given assigned badges for certain areas (say a Level 6 Back and a Level 4 Legs, for instance).

This is great because it means that anyone can use this app to become fit. All my family is using it at the moment and it's tailored to each of them. My brother is very fit so he has tough exercises whereas my parents who have just started have shorter routines with simpler movements.

One of the problems about doing exercise at home is motivation, but Fitstar helps by setting you routines and challenges which are easy to achieve. Every so often there are special challenges which are awarded with a special badge or even with prize draws! If several friends or family members use Fitstar you can also comment on their progress and challenge them! NFL star Tony González is the face to the programme and sometimes his wife Summer also appears doing exercises too, both of them to motivate you as much as possible!

The only problem for me is that when you reach a certain level it may ask you to do pull ups but I don't have a pull-up bar, which is annoying. Other than that you will only need a clear surface, a mat and perhaps a wall for some exercises.

The app is free to download for iPad or iPhone and you can do the basic routines and a couple of freestyle sessions at no cost at all. Nevertheless if you want a detailed routine for a particular need (get strong, lose weight, keep fit...) you can pay for a month or a year of use and you get complete access to all the routines and sessions. It's cheaper than a month at the gym so it's well worth it in my opinion!

All my family is hooked and we all have a laugh challenging each other and seeing what Tony González has in store for us next. Have you tried any fitness apps?