What Is Apple Fitness+?
Apple Fitness+ is a subscription workout service available on iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2 and later. You don’t need any special exercise equipment to take advantage of the fitness routines. Use what you have at home while tracking your statistics and comparing your performance with others who have taken the same class. Many workouts don’t require any equipment, while some call for minimal gear, such as a set of dumbbells. Workouts include yoga, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), treadmill training, and more. Choose your workout by duration, trainer, or music type to find a class that fits you. The Apple Fitness+ subscription service feels like a direct challenge to Peloton, the company with the expensive, proprietary bikes and monthly workout subscription.
When Was Apple Fitness+ Released?
Apple Fitness+ became available on Monday, December 14, 2020, as did the updates to iOS and watchOS. (Just in time for New Years’ resolutions!) To sign up, go to the Apple Fitness+ website and click Try it free. Apple Watch owners can try the service for free for one month. If you buy a new Apple Watch Series 3 or later, you get three months free. Share your subscription with up to five family members.
Fitness+ Details
Here are all the details about the Apple Fitness+ subscription service, including the price. When you close an Activity ring (meet your daily goal), a congratulatory animation pops on the screen to keep you motivated. The Apple Watch sets three goals (move, exercise, and stand) and tracks them daily. When you use Apple Fitness+, it offers recommendations for workouts based on your history and suggests new trainers and exercises for you to try. Search and filter workouts based on your preferences, such as the length of the class or intensity level. There are even programs tailored to specific populations like “Workouts for Pregnancy” and “Workouts for Older Adults.” Apple’s trainers create workout-friendly playlists in concert with editors at Apple Music. If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, download Fitness+ playlists to your account.
Fitness+ Time to Walk
If you want to reap the benefits of walking as part of your exercise regimen but find yourself unmotivated or bored, Apple Fitness+ has a unique and inspiring feature that may keep you moving. Time to Walk consists of 25- to 40-minute episodes featuring inspiring and unique guests who highlight their personal journeys, motivations, lessons learned, and most vulnerable and defining life moments. For example, Apple released an Earth Day-themed Time to Walk episode narrated by actress Jane Fonda in which she discusses her lifelong environmental activism. These episodes are recorded as the guest walks in an area or at a location that holds meaning to them. As the guest shares their stories, you feel a gentle tap on your wrist to indicate the appearance of photos on your Apple Watch to illustrate their trials and triumphs. When the guest is done sharing their story, you’re treated to songs they chose, so you can continue your walk listening to music intimately associated with the guest’s story. Apple designed Time to Walk to inspire users to walk more frequently and at greater distances, at their pace, as they take walks alongside motivating achievers like Dolly Parton, Draymond Green, Uzo Aduba, and Shawn Mendes. For subscribers who use a wheelchair, Time to Walk becomes Time to Push, automatically adjusting to an outdoor wheelchair workout. New Time to Walk episodes are released every Monday, and all episodes are available with your Fitness+ subscription. You’ll need AirPods or paired Bluetooth headphones to enjoy Time to Walk.
Fitness+ Time to Run
Runners and joggers have a Time to Walk-style feature for their faster workouts, called Time to Run. These curated workouts, called “episodes,” feature popular trainers who curate playlists to motivate you. They also include location-specific photos based on places including London, Brooklyn, and Miami Beach with new workouts launching each Monday. Time to Run supports both indoor and outdoor exercise sessions along with a variant for wheelchair users called Time to Push.
Apple Fitness+ Collections
Those wanting more directed fitness suggestions can use Collections, which are focused, curated workouts that target a single goal or muscle group. Examples include:
Run Your First 5K30-Day Core ChallengeStrengthen and Stretch Your Back and HipsWind Down for a Better Bedtime
Collections pull in exercises, meditations and other activities from throughout Apple Fitness+; they’re “playlists” rather than brand-new workout programs. But they may be useful to people who aren’t sure where to start but have clear improvements they want to make to their fitness.
