6 Apps That Will Make Your Morning Walks More Fun

Every January, we tell ourselves this is going to be the year we become our happiest, healthiest selves. Many of us even excitedly invest in exercise equipment, running watches, and other gear, telling ourselves that if we spend enough money, we can stay focused longer. Unfortunately, this newfound enthusiasm can wane after a few weeks because starting a new routine always feels stressful in the beginning, especially when it's not fun.

Thankfully, when it comes to exercise, it doesn't have to be intense to make a big difference. According to Harvard Medical School, there are many advantages to simply walking. Not only can it counteract the effects of weight-promoting genes, but it can also help ease joint pain and tame a sweet tooth. 

These days, there are plenty of ways to make running (or walking) more enjoyable. Aside from wearing comfortable shoes, staying hydrated, and choosing a scenic route, you can also enlist the help of technology to keep you on track. Sure, you could download a tried-and-true running app like Nike Run Club, Couch to 5K, or Strava, but if you've done that before and it didn't seem to help, you may want to explore more creative options.

If you're looking to finally make that new year walking habit stick, here are some apps you can download today that can help make it more enjoyable.

When you first launch Fantasy Hike, it already feels like a game. After clicking the floating "Begin" text, it starts with a story about how a wizard sends you on a quest to return a ring, reminiscent of "Lord of the Rings." Then, you'll be asked to give access to your phone's Motion & Fitness Activity data, Apple Health walking and running distance data, and location tracking.

In your quest stats section, you can see the date you began your quest, estimated date you'll reach your destination based on your rate, and the progress of your imaginary challenger "Mr. Underhill." To beat him, the game's developers claim you should aim to average at least 13 km each day with a "Paddling bonus."

The Paddling bonus is basically a feature wherein you avatar is paddling down-stream on a boat, which means you'll be moving two to five times faster than your normal walking speed. Aside from this, it also includes some quirks about things like late morning, second breakfasts, elevenses, and afternoon tea, which basically help explain all the hours in-between wherein you are not moving.

Currently, Fantasy Hike is available to download for free for iOS. Although it hasn't been released for Android, the developers claim that it's in progress. One of the best things about the Fantasy Hike app is that you can buy it for a single-app purchase, which means no sneaky subscription fees if you decide if it's not for you.

When Pokémon GO launched in 2016, it took the world by storm and became a global phenomenon with 50 million downloads just 19 days after launch. After choosing from one of the three teams (Mystic, Instinct, or Valor), players walked around hatching eggs, getting candy, catching Pokémon, visiting Pokéstops, and battling for supremacy at gyms.

Although it's been years since its release, and fewer players are regularly logging on these days, Pokémon GO is still a fun way to get yourself moving and exploring. If you activate Adventure Sync, you'll be incentivized to keep walking to get special item bonuses weekly, such as a 5 km Pokémon egg if you reach 25 km and 10 km Pokémon egg if you reach 50 km, which is more than running at half marathon (21 km) or marathon (42 km) respectively.

If you want to make the most out of your walking, you may want to buy in-game items like incubators. While all players will have one infinite use incubator, you can purchase extra single-use ones, so you can hatch multiple Pokémon eggs at once. Pokémon eggs are acquired by spinning Pokéstops or gyms, your weekly adventure syncs, opening gifts, and defeating Team GO Rocket Leaders.

Pokémon GO is available for free on iOS and Android. Although you don't necessarily need it to enjoy the game, there are also in-app purchases.

With The Conqueror Virtual Challenges, you can collect medals, track your progress, and amass a community by using your fitness tracking watches or manually logging distance-based activities, such as walking, running, cycling, and rowing. In the middle of your journey, you'll receive virtual postcards when you hit milestones. Aside from this, the Conqueror Challenges promises to plant up to five trees throughout the course of your journey, lessening your carbon footprint.

To join a challenge, you'll need to buy a code through its website. If you're not sure what challenge to participate in, you can take a short quiz, wherein it will ask you ten questions to assess your goals, current fitness level, if you've done virtual challenges before, and preferred type of exercise. Among the challenges include the route of the original Greek marathon (42 km), the highest volcano in Japan, Mt. Fuji (74 km) or the journey Frodo and Sam's from Lord of the Rings took from The Shire to the village of Bree (233 km) to meet Gandalf or to even Mordor itself (454 km).

While the Conqueror Challenges app is free to download for iOS and Android, there is a fee for each challenge you take on which can range from $31.99 to $49.99. Although, if you're serious about conquering more trails, there are discounted bundles available for purchase.

For those who have strong survivalist instincts and need a little sense of urgency to work out, the Zombies, Run! app lets you get fit while experiencing an interactive zombie-themed adventure. Co-created with Naomi Alderman, the author behind the award-winning speculative science fiction novel "The Power," you'll be able to experience an audio drama alongside the thrill of building a post-apocalyptic base.

Before you start every workout, you'll be given a short description of the mission, including its audio companions, set duration, and music. From upgrading your armory to adding on solar panels, missions offer different story collectibles and vital supplies for your community. Every now and then, you'll need to run faster when a zombie approaches. And it's coupled with dynamic audio to help make the chase feel more real.

ZRX: Zombies Run + Marvel Move is available on iOS and Android for free. Alternatively, you can also subscribe to Abel's Runner's Club to unlock more than a 500 story missions for you to play. Although you can download them on the same app, Marvel Move will have different story lines and subscription plans.

Alternatively, if you want a basic experience, the Zombies, Run! 5k Training app is a softer version that helps beginner runners who just want to get started. Similar to the Couch to 5K app, this version of the Zombies, Run! app basically holds your hand throughout the eight-week training program combined with an endearing audio adventure.

If your will to live isn't that strong, and the thought of being zombified is not what gets you out of bed, maybe the thought of your virtual pet being unhappy will. With Habbie, you get a Tamagochi-like virtual pet that lives on your phone, which you can feed by hitting your self-selected daily step goals.

After downloading the Habbie app, you can customize your virtual pet to make it as cute as possible, which makes you more likely to take care of it. Apart from how many steps you've made and its corresponding percentage of your step goal, Habbie will also keep track of your progress in the form of streaks.

In addition, Habbie lays out for you how many of your target steps you've fulfilled throughout the week in a nice little graph. If you've consistently been falling short of your targets, expect Habbie to share its disappointment with you through virtual droppings on your screen. Thankfully, you can quickly clean this up by hitting your target the following day.

Habbie is available for download with a one-time purchase of $4.99 on iOS and Apple Watch. Aside from the app itself, you can also track Habbie's happiness on your iPhone through widgets, lock screen, and Apple Watch screen.

If you feeling like a hero is what keeps you walking, Fit for Battle might be for you. It's an adventure game that integrates distance movement, such as walking, with an epic quest. And it isn't completely devoid of pressure, because your performance may impact the direction of the story.

Instead of a zombie approaching, Fit for Battle gives you two adventure buddies, Shia the elf and Keg the dwarf, who not only describe the world around you, but also caution you when you should take the speed up a notch. For every calorie burned, you'll be compensated with gold, which you can use to make your avatar look more like you (or the fantasy version of you).

Although it's not entirely built for walking, and there is a focus on high intensity interval training (HIIT), you can opt for a lower difficulty, follow a relatively steady space, and just enjoy the story (plus the random encounters that go with it make it fun).

As of this writing, Fit for Battle is still not available on Android, but it can be downloaded on iOS for free. However, developers did share that the Android app is in the works, so you can opt to join the mailing list for updates. If you're willing to spend some cash, it also offers several in-app purchases from health potions, new quests, and gold for $2.99 or less.

In the beginning, new fitness routines can feel a little daunting, especially when your body isn't used to it. In the midst of worrying about how our bodies look, it can be easy to forget that the ability to move is a gift that we shouldn't take for granted. 

For people just getting started, are too busy or financially stretched to commit to gyms, or are recovering from injuries, walking with these apps is a great way to re-introduce gentle movement into your life. In the future, you can also consider integrating other forms of movement to complement walking as well, like resistance training or stretching. 

However, when it comes to holistic health, exercise is only one piece of the puzzle. Aside from regular movement, having the right amount of sleep can also impact mobility and other areas of your life. With so many tracking apps and devices, there are endless resources to aid your quest for better sleep every night. While there are cases of sleep trackers causing anxiety, it's important to view them as guides, instead of non-negotiable goals. 

Lastly, you can't expect to move well if your body doesn't have the right fuel. Because every body is different, the right diet to augment your goals may take some time to find, whether it is anti-inflammatory, plant-based, or low fat. There are also some tried and tested truths when it comes to diet advice that you should certainly follow, such as reducing artificial sweeteners in general.