Best Fitness Apps Of 2012

Among the 19 percent of smartphone users who use health-based apps, nearly 40 percent use at least one fitness-based application in an effort to kickstart a health goal, according to Pew Center data. Apps can be useful for any goal, whether it's small -- say, dropping five pounds, specific -- like increasing flexibility and strength, or as life-changing as deciding to run a marathon.

While some research suggests that many fitness apps aren't useful for effecting the kind of behavioral change necessary to stick to a fitness goal, those who use them know there's a clear benefit to including the right kind of app in an overall healthy lifestyle. That's why we picked out our top choices from the previous year. We chose apps that truly help you stick to your goals and exert your willpower, apps that help track complicated data and even apps that get you to push yourself and try new things.

So here you have it -- what's new, what's updated and what really works: