While a number of exercise apps tell you how to sculpt and tone in the gym, a new app from celebrity trainer Christine Hazelton does that as well as telling you how to work out when you don't have a gym.
Called "Body Fate," the $3.99 app puts users through a "functional fitness" routine, which concentrates on movements that work many muscles at once, which is said to increase overall fitness, strength and accelerate fat burning.
The app allows you to set your fitness level, how long you want to exercise, and what equipment is available. That can range from a towel to all of the weights and machines you would find in a well-stocked gym. Don't worry about knowing all of the exercises. If you don't know what an "assisted reverse lunge" is, an animation will show you.
The app is designed to be like a game, with pages that ask you to tap on a cartoon of a door, a closed hand, or spin the "Wheel of Torture" before revealing what exercise you have picked. You don't know what your routine will be ahead of time. It is not entirely random. For each pushing motion exercise there will be a pulling motion exercise to assure a balanced workout, said the creator, Ms. Hazelton, who counts actors Thomas Jane and Sonia Walger as clients.
Occasionally your screen will show you an inspirational quote, and may be periodically faced with a pop quiz on nutrition or fitness. Correct answers let you take a pass on an exercise. How much you enjoy the app will depend partially on your tolerance for its quirky cuteness.
At the end you will see a summary of how many exercises you did in that time allotted. If you set the app to the most difficult level-"Bring it on! I'm a jock!"-you can count on your quaking muscles to tell you how much of a workout you've had.