Thoughts on Fitness+
Fitness+ is Apple’s latest subcription service offering, which launched in December 2020; focused on health with deep integration with the Apple Watch.
Some of the earliest news about Apple was doing something more with fitness came to us as far back as March 2020, when rumours of something titled Project Seymour begin to make the rounds in early leaks of iOS. Announced in September and debuting on December 14, 2020, Apple Fitness+ is a $9.99/month ($99/year, or bundled into the Apple One Premier tier) subscription fitness service currently being offered in six countries (The United States, Canada, Ireland, The UK, Australia, & New Zealand). Fitness+ provides a range of workout classes (9 currently, including HIIT, Core, Strength, Treadmill, Dance, Rowing, & Yoga) and is deeply integrated with the Apple Watch and Apple Music.
Fitness+ could not have come at a better time in my life. Already forced out of the gym since early March due to COVID closures, developing and maintaining a fitness routine at home initially started strong, but began to fizzle in the late summer as the workouts started to feel monotonous and uninspired. I know other classes existed before Fitness+, but I felt so blasé with fitness that I lost a bit of my mojo to seek out more challenges to my routine. However, since its introduction, Fitness+ has breathed new life into my training with challenging workouts hosted by enjoyable & personable trainers. Its tight integration with the Apple Watch has added additional motivation and reinvigorated my focus on fitness.
Classes I've Enjoyed:
Strength with Amir (Dated: November 16; Music: Latest Hits)
Strength with Amir (Dated: November 23; Music: Latest Hits)
Strength with Gregg (Dated: November 23; Music: Pure Dance)
Strength with Gregg (Dated: December 14; Music: Hip-Hop/R&B)
Strength with Kyle (Dated: November 30; Music: Hip-Hop/R&B)
Version 1.0
Here are a few of my early thoughts and hopes for the future of Fitness+. Since launch, I've done approximately two dozen workouts (including a few repeat courses). While I have predominately focused on strength, I have also done a couple of core & HIIT workouts. My experience with those courses informs my impressions.
TIGHT Integration
It's Apple, so of course, you expect tight integration with other products. Easily accessed on any iOS or AppleTV device, Fitness+ grabs health data from the Apple Watch (heart rate, rings, calories) and displays that live during your workout. And sure, the instructors highlighting your rings & asking you at least once per class to review your heart-rate seems a bit cheesy, but I'd be damned if I said that it didn't cause me to push a little harder during my workouts. The addition of the Burn Bar to some exercises is an excellent feature to help Fitness+ feel more competitive - showing your ranking for calories burned relative to other Fitness+ users.
I've had absolutely no issue connecting my Apple Watch to either my TV, iPad or iPhone to view my metrics on screen, though my partner did, but that was quickly fixed by signing out and back into her iCloud account on the non-responsive device.
Time Well Spent
Classes on Fitness+ range from 5-minute mindful cool-downs to 45-minute cycling & treadmill exercises, with a variety of 10-minute intervals to choose from in each category. Having stuck mostly with strength classes, I was quickly disabused of the idea that a 10-minute workout meant it was "half as hard" as a 20-minute workout. Regardless of its length, each class to-date has provided me with an effective yet achievable challenge that can be scaled by changing your weight, pace, or with guided modifications to increase or decrease each exercise's difficulty.
Historically one of the things that always kept me away from fitness videos was feeling obligated to complete the entire 30-45 minute routine. With Fitness+'s more expansive range of workout durations, I've found it easier to commit & complete a 10-minute workout while avoiding the trap of all-or-nothing thinking that I've experienced with fitness classes in the past.
No WiFi, No Excuses
The option to download classes to my iPhone or iPad for when I might one day be back on the road and contending with shitty hotel WiFi is fantastic.
Personalities
Apple's done an excellent job of recruiting a large roster of likeable trainers for their first wave of classes. They're energized (sometimes to a fault, as when Gregg dons his cheeky smile, knowing full well your shoulders are about to explode off your torso), occasionally quirky, and easily relatable. They also do a top-notch job clearly describing and highlighting the modifications to each exercise, regularly reminding participants about proper form and how to get the most out of each set.
Other Impressions
It can be unclear what a light, medium, or heavy dumbbell for a particular exercise should be. Be prepared to have the option of changing or acquiring weights as you adjust to what these descriptions mean for you.
The additions of limited sign language to the classes thanking the participants or beginning a workout are excellent.
Pausing the workout on the iPad/iPhone instantly pauses it on the watch. This is an excellent feature if you happen to have a dog who suddenly needs your undivided attention halfway through a workout.
“I see you’re trying to improve your health… u pet me instead? K. Thx.” - Dog
Maturing the Platform
As a Version 1.0 product, Apple Fitness+ hits the most critical pieces to launch a successful service. Smooth integration, likeable instructors, quality-videos, and a range of challenging yet achievable workouts. At present, there are enough features and benefits for me inside in Fitness+ to keep me committed. Listed below are a few wishlist items that I would like to see rollout to Fitness+ as the service continues to mature.
More Filtering
Most of my routine is focused on strength training, and currently, the workouts in that category are limited to filtering by trainer, time, and music type. At the same time, the video descriptions offer little-to-no information about what muscle groups are being emphasized inside a particular workout. For example, the January 04 class with Kyle Ardill is described as "The four moves in this workout are down on your left side first, then on your right, in standing and kneeling positions." As the library grows, I would love to see more information about each workout and the ability to filter workouts by the main muscle groups targeted during the particular class.
I'd also extend this request to the "My Workouts" section of the app. As the workouts I add to my collection begin to pile up, it will become harder to keep track and locate a particular exercise without a better way of tagging and filtering classes.
Multiple Watch Support
If you want to workout together, be prepared to have two devices on hand to make sure each user gets their workout recorded. Bonus points if you spotted my super needy & judgemental dog in the background.
In the app's current state, only one watch can be paired to a given workout session. As both my partner & I have taken to doing classes together, I'd love to see the option of adding multiple watches (2-4) to each workout. Our current workaround is to use one device as our main screen, then place an iPhone on mute beside it, and then simultaneously start the classes on each device. It's not elegant, but I'll do for now.
Clearer Organization
As the platform and the number of courses expand, I would like to see a way of easily displaying information about my workout history. For example, having a calendar inside the app showing the Fitness+ workouts I did on a particular day or throughout a specific week. These are currently tracked only inside the Fitness app on the iPhone, but they are embedded inside each day, so it becomes cumbersome to see the Fitness+ workouts you did without drilling into each date. I'd also like to see more metrics, such as streaks (e.g., days worked out, workouts per week, improvements in HR or calories burned for repeat classes), and the ability to set reminders and calendar events for Fitness+ classes.
Having the Fitness App on my iPad and knowing that it syncs Fitness+ data with my other iOS devices, I wish there was also the option of displaying information about my ring progress and activity. Currently, this information is locked to the iPhone and Apple Watch.
No Mac App
The lack of a Mac App at launch is quite disappointing given that Macs have some of the largest screens in the Apple Ecosystem, and since there is nothing I've seen to suggest that adding the App and Watch integration to the Mac shouldn't be possible.
Outdoor Workouts
One additional workout type that could be quite compelling for users would be taking the treadmill workouts and expanding them to be performed outdoors, with the songs and the audio-only coaching downloaded onto the Apple Watch for a phone-free, off-treadmill run or walk.
Other Impressions
I'm hopeful to see Fitness+ expand to more languages and regions in the future. I imagine the work that has gone into first establishing a programme and catalogue of English-only classes may be part of the reason Fitness+ launched in the countries that it did.
