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These are the apps the pros use to take their training to the next level.
These are the apps the pros use to take their training to the next level. (Photo: Lifemoment/iStock)

The Best Training Apps for Athletes

Follow these pros' lead and turn your phone into a fitness tool

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These are the apps the pros use to take their training to the next level.
(Photo: Lifemoment/iStock)

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Your phone can't make you stronger, faster, or healthier on its own. But it can give your workout a boost by helping you track your fitness, holding you accountable, and connecting you to huge databases of information. These are the apps pro athletes use to take their training to the next level.

Training Peaks (Free for Basic; $20/Month for Premium)

(Courtesy Training Peaks)

Mike Foote, Ultrarunner

Montana-based ultrarunner Mike Foote records his runs on his Suunto GPS watch and uploads the data to , which is essentially a user-friendly data analytics tool. It crunches the numbers about heart rate, pace, elevation, distance, and more into easily digestible information. 鈥淚鈥檝e found it to be the most customizable app for really digging into the data,鈥 Foote says. 鈥淚 work with a coach, and we are each able to access the platform and communicate through it, which is great for keeping everything in one place.鈥 The premium version offers compatibility with various calendar apps to help you plan your training, in addition to more nuanced data analytics tools, unlimited storage to design and save workouts, and the ability to edit your logged data.

PeakFinder ($5)

(Courtesy PeakFinder)

Cody Townsend, Skier

Professional skier Cody Townsend鈥檚 training usually just looks like fun: a ski tour or a mountain bike ride near his home in Lake Tahoe. His go-to training apps have less to do with tracking stats like heart rate and more to do with moving through the mountains efficiently. helps Townsend orient himself. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an app that you can hold to the horizon and it鈥檒l show you the names of the peaks you鈥檙e looking at,鈥 he says. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e going somewhere new or even don鈥檛 quite know all the names of the peaks in your backyard, it鈥檚 a superfast way to show you what mountains you鈥檙e surrounded by.鈥

Townsend also uses the compass app that comes predownloaded on his iPhone. 鈥淚n the case of an emergency, even without any service, it鈥檒l give you your GPS location, which is absolutely essential in coordinating a rescue,鈥 he says. 鈥淭he second use is simply taking note of where you are. If I鈥檓 deep in the backcountry and want to know where I鈥檓 at, I take a screenshot of the coordinates. Then, when I鈥檓 back home, I plug the data manually into Google Earth.鈥

Seconds Pro Interval Timer ($8)

(Courtesy Runloop)

Emily Harrington, Climber

For high-intensity interval training or circuits, a good stopwatch is key to a successful workout. Emily Harrington recommends the . It syncs to the Apple Watch and is customizable to time even the most complicated workouts. If you鈥檙e doing a wide variety of intervals, you can preprogram your whole workout and avoid fiddling with an analog stopwatch or your phone鈥檚 built-in option. You can even sync the intervals with music for a little extra motivation. 鈥淐limbing training is complex and can require a variety of timing exercises,鈥 Harrington says. 鈥淭his app is the only one I have found that makes it easy to have many different timers for a variety of training techniques.鈥

AllTrails (Free for Basic; $30/Year for Pro)

(Courtesy AllTrails)

Joe McConaughy, Ultrarunner and Speed Hiker

McConaughy has the fastest known time on popular routes, including Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. For lesser-known trails, he pulls up , which includes crowdsourced beta on more than 50,000 trails and is the most extensive pocket-sized guidebook ever created. 鈥淚t gives an easy-to-digest elevation profile, so if I鈥檓 trying to find a relatively flat but long trail, there are detailed descriptions to search,鈥 McConaughy says. There鈥檚 a free version with route reviews and photos from other users; $30 a year lets you track your GPS, toggle between map layers, and get real-time information on weather and air quality.

Strava (Free for Basic; $60/Year for Premium)

(Courtesy Strava)

Payson McElveen, Mountain Biker
Hillary Allen, Runner
Brittany Phelan, Ski Cross and Mountain Bike Racer

claims it鈥檚 the number one app for runners and cyclists, and by all accounts, that鈥檚 true: Nearly early every athlete we interviewed swears by the app. Mountain bike racer Payson McElveen uses Strava to choose routes in new places. 鈥淪ometimes you see a supersweet climb that you want to go do, but if only seven or eight people have ridden it, you know it鈥檚 a highway with no shoulder or something,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t allows me to create routes and consult with others in areas I have never been before,鈥 says ultrarunner Hillary Allen. Ski cross and mountain bike racer Brittany Phelan uses Strava to track her mileage and vertical gain. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e feeling run-down the next week, you can look back to see how much riding you did,鈥 she says. The premium version offers live feedback, more advanced workout analysis tools, and customizable training plans and goals.

Lead Photo: Lifemoment/iStock

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