There’s no shortage of indoor fitness classes to choose from, from barre and boxing to cardio, HIIT, yoga and strength training – but how can you find the best one and keep workouts exciting and motivating?
Apple recently unveiled their newest offering: Fitness+. The service offers multiple workout types – cycling, running and strength training – with new workouts being regularly added. Fitness+ also comes in cheaper than rival services like Peloton (which offers an app-only subscription service that doesn’t require hardware purchase; full Peloton digital offering is $40/month).
Apple Fitness+ makes it easier for users to get moving by offering a range of options and features designed to ease user engagement with a fitness plan. Their goal seems to be that as more people use Fitness+, its benefits will improve. As soon as you open it, two categories appear – More of what you love or Try something new. These work as expected: they serve up similar workouts as you’ve already completed or recommend new ones that may complement it.
Fitness+’s main tab is a browse page where you can browse different workout types and see completed ones. There’s even an option for beginner workouts! If a class was completed by you there’s also a checkbox next to it to keep track of it all.
Once you select a workout, a video of the class and instructor is displayed on-screen along with metrics, such as time elapsed/remaining (your choice), current heart rate and total calories burned. A ‘burn bar’ ranks your performance against other users of that particular workout for added competitive motivation. In addition, this video can feature music from your Apple Music library while instructors often reference songs during classes to make your music feel like part of the workout rather than simply background noise.
At the core of it all is an experienced instructor that’s truly enthusiastic about her job – you can feel her excitement while she presents. Additionally, the videos were top-of-the-line; I was easily able to follow along and perform each exercise properly.
Fitness+ has been an enjoyable experience, though I wouldn’t claim it’s the ultimate solution. There are some drawbacks compared to previous apps in terms of personal recommendations and programs as well as running/cycling options (especially those connected to treadmills) but overall this app should definitely be given consideration if you own Apple hardware – it provides an interesting alternative to paid fitness subscription services while likely developing further over time.
