I Recommend This Fitness App to Everyone (Literally)

Why the Ladder App is a game-changer

It’s personalized for your lifestyle, goals, and needs

What sets this app apart is how personalized it feels. While you have the community of a “team” and accountability from your coaches, you truly can make it work for your life and schedule. Don’t have access to a gym? There’s a coach for that. Only have 30 minutes? There’s a plan for that. Want to work out three days a week instead of a full week of workouts? You’ll get a well-rounded three-day plan. If you want more, you can add on other days choose as your fitness or lifestyle changes. The Ladder App give options to progress and regress more complex movements making it work for fitness beginners and pros alike.

You’ll get stronger, no matter what exercise you prefer

It’s 2024 and the girls know we need to be lifting for a wide range of benefits beyond just increased muscle strength. Weightlifting can also help with metabolic health, hormonal health, and more. Picking up weights is so beneficial for your overall health. But I know that traditional weightlifting approaches are not everyone’s cup of tea (and we’re all about doing workouts we actually enjoy!). So I love that every program in the Ladder app is built with strength training at the center. Even if you’re there for Pilates, yoga, or running, programs seamlessly integrate your exercise of choice with strengthening so you can get the benefits of strength training blended with the movement you love. 

You’ll never get bored

Going to the gym and doing the same exercises over and over will help you get stronger, but it also might make you bored. Fitness should be fun, and I strongly believe in finding ways to move that you love. Ladder is the perfect marriage of consistency and novelty. They structure their training into six-week series focused on a specific goal. While you work through similar movements for these six-week cycles, the specific exercises change slightly every two weeks giving you the chance to work the same muscle groups in new ways. At the end of the series, there are a few weeks to try other coaches for free and play around before you lock in for the next six-week series. If you like to lift but find the same routine feeling boring, you can experiment with kettlebell strength or try a powerlifting program. There are endless opportunities to play around with different training methods to find one that you love. Ladder encourages you to try new things, challenge yourself, and mix it up so you never get bored.

It has features meant to make your workouts better

Besides even just the workouts themselves, they have a ton of other features that have made a major difference in my motivation, experience, and fitness. Here are some of them that I love:

• Badges: I am an eldest daughter and I can’t pretend that I am completely unmotivated by external validation. So yes, I do appreciate getting a fun little badge for hitting all my workouts in a week or working out on National Yoga Day. The badges are a fun reward that keeps you motivated.
• Timed Rest Periods: One thing about me is I will be zoning out in between sets. Having a timer keeps me engaged and working harder than I might on my own.
• Coaches I Trust: Long before I started using Ladder, I followed Kelly Mathews and Lauren Kanski because I respected their knowledge and leadership in the field. Getting to follow their programs and have them in my ear from the Ladder App was such a fun bonus.
• The Mute Button: While all the cues and visual demonstrations can be helpful, sometimes I know what I’m doing and just want to lock in with my own killer playlist. Having the option to mute the workouts is fantastic. 
• Setup Time: You can always pause the workout to set up your weights, but I love the option to program in time to set up. 
• Integrate Your Music: It easily integrates with Spotify or Apple Music so you can DJ while you work out.

At what cost?

Before you commit, give it a shot with their free trial week (and keep an eye out for special month-long offers they run on occasion). The base plan will run you $29.99 a month or $179.99 for the year (coming out to about $14.99 a month). For comparison, a personal training session will run you on average $50- $100 per session, and a personalized plan will come at a similar cost. For all the features Ladder provides (coaching, team chats, tracking features etc.) you’re definitely getting your money’s worth 

If you want to feel confident every time you walk into the gym, I can’t recommend this app enough. Not only is knowing exactly what to do every day such motivation, but watching yourself get stronger is so empowering. Cheer on your teammates in the team chat, ask your coach questions, or just tap in and out. Ladder makes it easy to find a routine that works for you.