8 Great Online Tools to Help You Get Fit

Sure, you'll have to do the sweating yourself, but the Internet has a huge variety of tools and resources that can help you to get and stay fit.

Here are some ways to use the power of the Internet to achieve your fitness goals:

1. Find a group of people who are training for an event. Training for a series of events each year can be one of the best ways to stay motivated over a long period of time. With the Internet, you can find a group of people in your area who are training toward specific events or fitness goals, whether it's a 5K, a marathon, or a simple fun run; a mountain biking race, or a triathlon. Start your search with Facebook or Meetup.com.

2. You can also look into charity sports training in your area, such as Team in Training (TeaminTraining.org). This charity sports training organization trains people for marathons, half marathons, triathlons, 100-mile century bike rides, and hiking adventures – all while raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It's a great way to make fitness fun while helping people, too.

3. Subscribe to blogs of top competitors, athletes or coaches in your favorite sports. Once you find some you like, check the blogs on their blogrolls. Reading these athlete's tips and ideas and even just following them through their own training process and schedule can be motivating and fun, and you might find a community of likeminded individuals to trade your own stories with.

4. Download motivational mp3 workouts. ITrain.com is a cool tool to help you lose weight. It's a virtual personal trainer that allows you to download workouts in mp3 format.

These audio workouts are really motivating, with high-energy music and the voices of celebrity fitness trainers. The trainers update their music and workouts each month. At the time of this writing, the iTrain library of workouts features more than 300 different workouts for various disciplines, from Cardio (cycling, climbing, outdoor running and treadmill) to Sculpting, Strength, and Stretching (including yoga and pilates).There are even teen hip-hop workouts.

iTrain also has customized bundles (called Albums) that are offered at a special rate. There are albums for: 6-week body makeovers, triathlon, post-natal, wedding prep, and more.

6. Audiobooks. Take your workout time to catch up with the work of your favorite author of speaker. You can easily download and listen to mp3 audiobooks, from classic literature to self help to seminars. This has been particularly nice for me because I always feel like I don't have to work out and I don't have time to read, but when I can combine these two things, it's perfect. I also love listening to Philosopher's Notes while I work out.
Websites to check out: Audible.com and PhilosophersNotes.com

7. Look online for free trial offers at local gyms and fitness centers.

8. Track your progress online. There are some amazing websites available today that can help you track your fitness progress, whether it's through a Garmin ForeRunner (tracking your run or bike ride through GPS), a simple application on your iPhone, or a simple training log that you print out and stick to your fridge.

Websites to check out:
http://www.active.com
http://www.mapmyrun.com
http://www.mapmyride.com