The 4 best stretching apps to loosen up all your tight muscles, ranked by certified trainers

So I decided to try out a bunch of stretching apps to see if any of them actually made me want to maintain a consistent stretching routine. As it turns out, there are four that I can really advocate and recommend.

Best Overall: StretchIt

As a competitive athlete, StretchIt is my favorite stretching app because it takes the flexibility aspect of fitness and is goal-oriented. You choose your personal goals and then the app creates specific workouts and challenges for you based on those goals.

I think one of the problems with my constant stretching is that I often ignore the value of stretching and I don’t see much progress with it. By identifying certain goals and then feeling like I have a personalized routine that works for me, I feel more motivated to actually do the stretching routines in this app.

After each stretching class or workout, you can rate how the stretch felt and this information is used to help personalize the next recommended stretching exercises and challenges. (You can even upload progress photos to the app to track your flexibility improvements.)

Detail:

• Price: $19.99 per month or $160 per year after free trial
• Average customer rating: 4.8 stars
• Advantage: Personalized routine, user-friendly interface, allowing you to track progress
• Defect: expensive

Best for beginners: Stretch & flex at home

If you just want to learn the basics of stretching, I recommend using the Stretching & Flexibility at Home app. There are both voice and video instructions for all the stretches, which is extremely helpful for learning how to stretch specific muscles. (Though to be honest, the audio guide is a bit creepy since the voices are computer generated.)

Another great feature of this stretching app is that there are specific routines based on your needs. For example, you can choose warm-ups, stretches to improve flexibility, stretches to help you relax before bed, or stretches for specific muscle groups that you feel tight. This customization is a nice feature for those who just want to drill down to the exact time slots they have the time and need for without having to add a lot. For example, as a runner, I especially like that there are stretches designed to cool down after a run or loosen tight muscles after a run.

Detail:

• Price: $4.99 per month after free trial (free version also available)
• Average customer rating: 4.8 stars
• Advantage: Exercises with video and voice guidance, focus routines, reasonable prices
• Defect: The free version is quite simple, with computer-generated voice acting

Best free stretching app: Start Stretching

Many fitness apps can be pricey if you want premium features, but there are some pretty good free stretching apps. My pick for the best free stretching app is Start Stretching.

While there are in-app purchases if you want to upgrade, you can access pretty much all the stretch content you need without paying a dime. Additionally, if you don’t have a lot of time or aren’t interested in stretching, almost all stretching exercises are quite short and you’ll still feel like you’re accomplishing something.

That said, if you’re looking for flexibility-boosting exercises, this may not be the right stretching app for you. The library is limited and most sections are quite basic.

On the other hand, if you are one absolute beginners need a bit more guidance on how to stretch properly, this may not be the best introduction as there is no video, only illustrations. Perhaps after learning some of the best stretches from other apps, you can cancel your premium subscription and then use this free stretching app to continue working towards your stretching goals. your body.

Detail:

• Price: Free with optional in-app purchases
• Average customer rating: 4.9 stars
• Advantage: Free stretches, beginner-friendly, short workouts
• Defect: Limited library, no video or audio (only illustrations)

Best for stretching enthusiasts: Flexibility

The Pliability (formerly known as ROMWOD, which stands for range of motion during the day) stretching app is somewhat unique. It was created specifically for athletes to improve flexibility and is especially popular among CrossFit enthusiasts.

Most stretching exercises are quite long, which can be good or bad, depending on your stretching preferences and the amount of time you want to spend on stretching exercises.

For me personally, I like the emphasis on mobility as well as flexibility, because I feel mobility is equally, if not more important, than flexibility for to my own needs as an athlete, as well as to the daily functional movement of most people.

You can focus on a specific body part or flexibility goal each day, and there are thorough videos to guide you through stretches. That said, this is a stretching app aimed at athletes and CrossFitters so it’s a bit more advanced and the instructional videos can be complicated for those with limited understanding of muscle parts body and physical fitness in general.

For me, since most of the stretches in this app are 15 to 20 minutes long, I feel a little intimidated or unmotivated to use this app because I don’t always have much Time to practice stretching. (Though to be fair, that probably says something about my priorities.)

Detail:

• Price: $13.99 per month
• Average customer rating: 4.8 stars
• Advantage: Combining portability and flexibility, thorough video
• Defect: Not beginner-friendly, takes a long time to practice and is more expensive

Verdict: What is the best app for stretching and flexibility?

Call me basic, but my recommendation for the best stretching app is StretchIt. It has an easy-to-use interface and you can organize your stretches based on the amount of time you have, body part, goals, etc. I really love the challenges, which makes me more inclined to towards actually using the app and stretching more. Isn’t that the problem?