Fitbod Review 2024 – What Is It Like Using the App?

From dad-bod to fitbod, I share my personal experience of using Fitbod Elite and discuss the pros, cons and my overall verdict of this app.

Fitbod review

With 15+ million downloads, Fitbod has dominated the fitness category in the app stores for quite some time now.

I originally tested Fitbod in 2018 and this review aims to see if it is still the champion of champions for exercise tracking and customized workouts.

Below, I share what it’s like to use on a daily basis, how it compares to other apps and tips on using it more effectively for your fitness routines.

In a hurry? Here’s the bottom line… I think Fitbod is still hard to beat when it comes to tracking your workouts and getting a customized workout plan. It’s my top overall pick for fitness apps in 2024 due to the ease of use, rich features, reliability and price point.

Sign up via the button below and a unique lifetime 25% discount will be applied to your account.

FITBOD

Winner of “best overall workout app 2024”, 5+ million downloads, and an average app store rating of 4.8/5.

Fitbod Scorecard

  • Ease of Use – 5/5
  • Exercise/Workout Quality – 5/5
  • Performance Tracking – 4.5/5
  • Technical/Support – 4.5/5
  • Price – 5/5
  • Overall Rating – 4.9/5

Learn more about our review scorecards as part of our editorial review guidelines.

Fitbod – TL;DR

If you don’t want to read this Fitbod review in full, just swipe on the images below for some screenshots to give you a feel for what it’s like.

Creating workout goals leads to a more personalized app experience.
Simple but effective – Only select the equipment you want to use.
Fitbod’s exercise demonstrations and descriptions are fantastic.
The app makes it really easy to log workouts.
Get exercise recommendations and adjust settings with ease.
The app will create a workout for you based on your inputs.
Don’t like an exercise? Simply swap it for a similar one.
Beautiful charts and graphs bring your workout data to life.

FITBOD

Winner of “best overall workout app 2024”, 5+ million downloads, and an average app store rating of 4.8/5.

Fitbod is a fitness app that uses a training algorithm to build personalized workout plans. The premise is simple, by tailoring workouts to specific goals and user preferences, as opposed to more general fitness workouts and programs, users are more likely to get healthier and fitter.

Although the concept of using algorithms and artificial intelligence to build workouts sounds very science fiction, Fitbod explains how it achieves this using quite a simple approach. To build your custom-fit workout, Fitbod’s training algorithm understands your strength-training ability, studies your past workouts and adapts to your available gym equipment.

In other words, the more you use Fitbod and input data about your workouts, the more Fitbod can tailor recommendations for the future that will help you reach your goals.

What I Like About Fitbod

Strength Training

Although Fitbod comes under the broader umbrella of a fitness app, it really focuses on strength training. I think this is a great specialty to focus on as so many people simply ignore strength training because they feel intimidated by it.

Fitbod makes strength training easier and creates a clear roadmap of what to do. It also allows you to select a type of strength training, from bodyweight movements, to HIIT, to more traditional bodybuilding workouts.

Exercises

Fitbod includes an impressive exercise library of over 1,000 movements.

This makes it a great tool for discovering new ways to target specific muscles and keeps your workouts refresh and engaging.

You can filter the exercises by various categories too, such as weighted exercises, cardio, bodyweight, stretching and even pregnancy friendly.

Improved Exercise Library

The video library has also recently been updated and offers great demonstrations of each exercise. They’re fast to load, easy to watch and make learning new exercises a breeze. This feature in itself is probably worth the cost.

Progression

Fitbod’s algorithm is designed to help you reach your fitness goals, so it naturally keeps pushing you if you start to find workouts easy.

Instead of continuing to go through the motions, Fitbod will ensure future workouts have a slight increased difficulty to keep your muscles working hard and seeing progress.

If the workouts are too hard, then it will adjust them to ensure you can do them.

Adaptable

Another great feature is the ability to workout based on the equipment you have access to. This instantly makes it ideal for anyone training at home, or that may not have access to a lot of the expected equipment.

It also means you can get recommendations that incorporate the equipment you prefer.

If you don’t like using dumbbells, you can just say you don’t have access to them, and no workout will include them.

Create Multiple Gym Profiles

Here’s a little hack for getting more out of the Fitbod app… If you find yourself working out in different settings (e.g. sometimes in a gym, sometimes at home, or whilst travelling), you can set up multiple gym profiles with the appropriate equipment, so you can get tailored workouts wherever you end up working out.

Automated Programming

Unless you have access to a Personal Trainer, there’s always that element of trying to decide what to do in a workout… and that can often mean subconsciously picking the easier option.

With Fitbod, the workouts are automatically presented to you, so you can simply follow along.

The workouts automatically adapt based on previous performances, so it’s like a continuous fitness program that ensures the workouts always feel personalized.

Simple Design

Fitbod doesn’t overcomplicate things and uses a very clean, intuitive design to map out workouts and exercises. Even if you’re not very techy, it’s an easy app to use.

This is a big bonus and means you can focus on the exercises, instead of getting frustrating with the app.

I’ve also found it to have no bugs or unexpected issues, unlike quite a lot of free fitness apps. Many free apps tend to flood you with ads which quickly becomes very annoying and often means they load slower or freeze too.

You can also sync Fitbod to your Apple Watch if you have one, making the ability to track workouts even easier.

Muscle Recovery

A key component to strength training, or any type of fitness, is recovery. Fitbod naturally takes recovery into consideration and ensures your muscles have time to recover and rebuild.

Depending on what type of workouts you are following, the app will suggest how best to include recovery into the week.

It will also recommend workouts based on your freshest muscles, to help improve your gym performance… which is a subtle but very effective feature for those that like to follow a muscle-group split program.

I also really like the Recovery tab page that includes a nice visual representation of what muscles have had adequate rest from your previous workouts.

Exercise Swaps, Recommendations and Exclusions

A new feature from Fitbod is the ability to select any exercises you want to see more of, and which ones you don’t want to see at all.

This is a really powerful feature and means the Fitbod algorithm can instantly learn your preferences to create better workout plans.

I think this is really useful for anyone who might struggle with certain exercises, such as high impact movements, that they would rather swap out for other exercises.

For example, if your knees simply can’t take a weighted back squat, due to an injury, having the ability to exclude this exercise from appearing in your workouts again makes your fitness plan feel incredibly personalized and tailored to your needs.

The same principle applies to telling Fitbod which exercises you want to see more of, if you think they are helping you hit your goals.

No free workout apps or loggers include this sort of feature and for many, it will likely be used frequently.

Recommend More/Less Often

The more you use the “Recommend More/Less” feature, the more you’ll find your workouts are tailored to your preferences. If you find you like doing the same sorts of movements often, or really dislike certain exercises, getting into the habit of using the “recommend more/less” feature is definitely worthwhile.

Who is Fitbod Best For?

Fitbod is great for anyone who perhaps can’t afford a personal trainer but is looking for guidance and support when working out.

It’s ideal for anyone who is a beginner when it comes to strength training and doesn’t have a particular routine they are following.

By using strength training programs, Fitbod can help achieve all sorts of aims, including; getting stronger, building muscle mass, toning muscles and weight loss.

People can often be surprised when strength training achieves weight loss, but the reality is, it’s actually the ideal partner for any new diet or weight loss plan. Swapping fat for muscle is a key factor in your body’s ability to lose weight.

FITBOD

Winner of “best overall workout app 2024”, 5+ million downloads, and an average app store rating of 4.8/5.

Who is Fitbod Not For?

Although I think Fitbod is great, and tailors to the mass market very well, there are some who may not benefit from it.

Fitbod doesn’t offer live classes to follow along to. If this is your preference, you may want to check out brands like Obe Fitness, Beachbody on Demand and NEOU.

How Much Does Fitbod Cost?

Fitbod costs $79.99 a year, or $12.99/month. Using our unique discount code, you can get a lifetime deal of 25% off your Fitbod Elite membership, bringing the cost down to $59.99 a year, or $9.74 a month.

This means you can access everything Fitbod has to offer for just $5/month (if you opt for the yearly plan).

FAQs

Is Fitbod Free?

Fitbod isn’t free, but it does offer a free trial. The free trial includes 3 workouts, so you can really familiarize yourself with everything the app offers and ultimately decide if you want to pursue a Fitbod Elite membership.

If you don’t opt for the paid Elite membership, you won’t be able to use the app after you’ve logged your free 3 workouts.

How accurate is Fitbod calories?

Like many fitness apps, Fitbod will provide an estimate for the calories burned after each workout. Fitbod calculates this by using the total volume of weight used in a workout and the duration of that workout, as well as physical attributes like height, weight, gender and age.

I think this provides enough information to create reasonable estimates for calories burned, but they are just estimates… and you’ll likely notice some workouts may be reported higher or lower.

If you’re serious about measuring calories burned during a workout, I’d recommend using a fitness tracker, like an Apple Watch or Fitbit to help provide more data for calories burned (by using things like heart rate).

If you have an Apple Watch, Fitbod can use that data to refine its calories burned reporting.

Fitbod Experienced Level – Explained

Your Gym Profile within Fitbod includes an “Experience” section. This simply helps Fitbod recommend exercises that aren’t too difficult or out of your comfort zone. I feel this is a great feature for beginners, to ensure they can ease into things, without feeling overwhelmed by receiving advanced exercises or workouts.

If you’re unsure what level to select, opt for a lower level to begin with so you can get comfortable with everything, before increasing it.

When you feel you’ve really mastered all the exercises in your program and are looking to continue to challenge your body, I’d recommend increasing your fitness experience level. When you do increase your experience level, for example, from beginner to intermediate, you’ll probably find more isolation movements included, which obviously require more specific strength in a single muscle group.

Do You Need an Internet Connection to Log Workouts?

No… if you don’t have internet connection in the gym, don’t worry. Fitbod will save your stats locally and then upload them once you’ve got connection again.

What Fitness Goal Should I Pick?

When you set up your profile, you can select from one of six goals: general, strength training, bodybuilding (hypertrophy), powerlifting, muscle tone and Olympic lifting.

If you don’t know which one to pick, I’d recommend either general, strength training or muscle tone. These are going to be the most beginner-friendly and will support most broader goals (such as losing fat).

By opting for something like Olympic lifting, you’ll get routines that include these sorts of lifts in your workout plan.

Do Fitbod Offer a Lifetime Membership?

At the time of writing, there are no lifetime membership offers available from Fitbod.

Fitbod have run unique lifetime membership offers in the past, but these are limited. If you are interested in a lifetime membership, I’d recommend subscribing to their email newsletter to be the first to know if they launch similar offers in the future.

Fitbod Alternatives

There are quite a few gym loggers and weightlifting apps that could be considered direct alternatives to Fitbod, including Strong, JEFIT, Alpha Progression and Fitness AI.

I thought it’d be useful to provide a clear overview of the current state of the market, in this comprehensive roundup of the best weightlifting apps. This guide highlights what I like, don’t like and things to consider about each one.

Generally speaking, other apps tend not to have the UX of Fitbod, or come with feature limitations… but I’m excited to see what new innovations are around the corner when it comes to gym loggers and weightlifting apps.

Bottom Line

As fitness apps go, Fitbod is undoubtedly a leader in the space. If you’re looking for a fitness app that focuses on strength training, then Fitbod is worth using.

For the price, it brings serious value and is definitely one of the more affordable solutions for those looking to get fitter.

Use it at home, in the gym, or while you travel, it’s entirely up to you.

Sign up below and start your free trial. 👇

FITBOD

Winner of “best overall workout app 2024”, 5+ million downloads, and an average app store rating of 4.8/5.

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