Apple Fitness Plus: cost, features and everything you need to know

Apple Fitness Plus: cost, features and everything you need to know

Apple Fitness Plus is a subscription-based fitness service that gives you a huge selection of exercise classes to try at home, including high-intensity interval training (HIIT), indoor cycling, treadmill running, yoga, strength and fitness. pilates.

The main focus of Fitness Plus is to be able to choose the workout you want: each pre-recorded video has a specific workout genre, music, time and trainer, so you can choose the one you like best. fitness class schedules and giving you the option of workouts on the go.

Heart rate data from your Apple Watch is displayed on the screen while you exercise, showing how hard you're working and prompting you to work that little bit harder.

When you want to go out, you'll also have access to a tool called Time to Walk, which lets you wander while listening to inspiring stories from a celebrity or athlete. These are a lot like podcasts and can be uploaded to your Apple Watch before you go, so you can listen to them without your phone.

Update: In the first month of the year XNUMX, Apple launched a new tool called Time to Run, in which a running coach guides you on a virtual path through a particular city. You'll hear a themed soundtrack as you run and receive location-based training hints and tips.

At the same time, Apple launched Compilations, which are exercise programs designed to help you achieve specific goals, whether it's running your first XNUMXK, developing better bedtime habits, improving your posture, or developing your core strength.

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Apple Fitness Plus price

Apple Fitness Plus

Heart rate metrics will stand out when the instructor lies to them (Image credit: Apple)

The cost of the new Fitness Plus service is quite simple on its own: it costs €99 / €XNUMX / AU €XNUMX per month, or €XNUMX / €XNUMX and ninety-nine / AU € eleven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine if you want to subscribe for one year.

However, if you subscribe to the premium tier on Apple One, Apple's new subscription service, you'll get Fitness Plus, News Plus, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade and Apple Music, plus massive amounts of iCloud storage, for $XNUMX. and ninety-five / € twenty-nine and ninety-five / AU € thirty-nine and ninety-five per month.

Plus, if you plan to get an Apple Watch (Series 3 or later), you'll get XNUMX months of Fitness Plus for free, and if you already have those bands, you'll get a free month of sweat anywhere. on your iPhone.

Apple Fitness Plus Workouts

Apple Fitness Plus started out as a service related to Platoon, with trained instructors running classes you can join from home. Over time, though, it grew into something much bigger, with outdoor hikes, runs, meditation sessions, and mindfulness.

At the heart of Apple Fitness Plus are exercise videos. The service offers a wide range of activities: high-intensity interval training (HIIT), yoga, core exercises, strength training, walking or treadmill running, indoor rowing and cycling, dance and mindful restoration. In September 5, Apple also added Pilates, as well as new meditation classes. Whichever activity you prefer, new sessions are added every week, each lasting between XNUMX and XNUMX minutes.

These videos are free on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, and your heart rate will be streamed from your Apple Watch to the screen as you exercise. If the instructor tells you to push harder, you may see your heart rate increase as the intensity increases.

When the on-screen instructor wants you to focus on your heart rate, this metric will expand to be more noticeable to you; it is a fusion of pre-recorded video, apart from active and also interactive statistics of your dedication.

Instructor leading a spin class at Apple Fitness Plus

The Burn Bar is linked and shows how hard you're working (Image credit: Apple)

Trainers can also trigger different highlights of your metrics - whether it's filling up your 'movement rings' (Apple's daily metric of your movement) or the time remaining in a specific interval, these will change. consequently.

As you train, a graph called the Burn Bar will show you how far ahead of the average user you are in any given training. This is evened out for weight and height, so it's meant to accurately reflect how hard you put in without losing to someone with a genetic advantage.

Apple Fitness Plus is also built to give you balance in your workouts: when you open the app, you'll see suggested videos to do, and if you've done a lot of HIIT or running, it'll guide you to strength or flexibility. instead of.

It will also push you to push yourself a little harder sometimes, but there's no way to have a dedicated fitness program to help you get in shape over time; it's up to you to choose the right training you think you need.

If you're just starting out, or the thought of taking a virtual studio class is a bit daunting, there's an "absolute beginner" class to get you up to speed on your fitness goals before you start. There are also modifications to accommodate the elderly and pregnant.

apple time to walk

In January XNUMX, Apple launched Time to Walk, a new feature that encourages you to get outside and take a walk. Free to Fitness Plus subscribers only, it's an audio experience that essentially lets you hang out with well-known public figures like actors, musicians, activists, and athletes.

Each episode of Time to Walk has the voice of a different person, who will tell you interesting stories about their life while you walk. Sometimes a photo will appear on your Apple Watch, which will help bring your story to life. Each guest also chooses 3 songs that have a unique meaning to them, and these are played towards the end of the episode. If you have an iTunes subscription, you can add the playlist to your phone.

Each episode is between twenty-five and forty minutes long, with more being added on a regular basis. If you use a wheelchair, there is a push time alternative that works in precisely the exact same way.

Apple Time to Walk episodes on three Apple Watch screens

Time to Walk episodes automatically download to your Apple Watch (Image credit: Apple)

Time to run from Apple

Time to Run is a new feature added to Apple Fitness Plus in the first month of the year two thousand and twenty two. The beginning is akin to Time to Walk, but instead of hearing celebrity stories streamed from your Apple Watch, you listen to a trainer running as they pass through a city.

While you'll almost certainly be running somewhere else, the trainer is meant to give you an idea of ​​his or her path, and photos of landmarks will appear on your watch throughout the run.

The trainer will also give you running tips on the exercises to follow according to their location. To take an example, one of the first Time to Run sessions was led by trainer Cory Wharton-Malcolm, who came up with a series of tips based on the acronym LONDONER.

You'll also hear a playlist of songs based on the city the bus is traveling in, and just like with Time to Walk, you can save it to your phone later if you want.

Apple Time to Run on an Apple Watch with Airpods

Apple Time to Run takes you on a virtual tour of a city, complete with music and location-based training tips (Image credit: Apple)

Apple Fitness Plus Trainers

Apple Fitness Plus Trainers

There are dozens of Apple Fitness Plus trainers, so you should be able to find one whose style suits you (Image credit: Apple)

There are countless new fitness trainers on offer for the new Fitness Plus service, from all walks of life and disciplines: a trainer who got into surfing and jiu jitsu before he found yoga, athletes from elite, professional runners and more.

The idea is that this is a piece of equipment that you can recognize over time, just like you would in a gym. Different trainers will appear in each other's videos at times (socially distant, we guess) so there is a level of cohesiveness between sessions and it lets you pick your favorites on who you want to train with.

Apple Fitness+ specifications and requirements

While the key you'll need for the Fitness Plus app to work is a subscription, you'll obviously need an Apple Watch as well: it's another move by Apple to embed users even more firmly into its ecosystem.

When it comes to the watch, anyone with an older model is likely to be out of luck - you'll need the very, very superior Apple Watch to use Fitness Plus, and an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV to access for service.

If you have a compatible Apple Watch, you'll also need to make sure it's running the latest watchOS software to stream it to other devices.

Fitness Plus is also compatible with GymKit, which adds another layer of data to things. This means that if you use a connected treadmill, for example, the speed at which you run will be transferred to your watch and shown in your on-screen measurements.

Apple Fitness Plus release date

Apple Fitness Plus instructors lead a rowing class

There are workouts for spin bikes, treadmills and rowing machines, plus bundles that don't just require a gym mat (Image credit: Apple)

Apple Fitness Plus was launched on December XNUMX, XNUMX in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, UK and USA. Since then, it has also been deployed in Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland and the UAE.