What is Apple Fitness+?
Ever since the first Apple Watch launched in 2015, the iPhone maker has played an increasingly active role in the overall health and wellness market. With so many of us kept largely at home during the pandemic, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the company is now bringing video-lead workouts to the masses. Fitness+ is a paid subscription service that offers a catalog of workouts across various categories. Among these are cycling, strength, treadmill, and yoga. Metrics like heart rate and calories burned are kept via your Apple Watch. When a workout is complete, the information gets added to your daily activity data. In other words, Apple Fitness+ provides yet another way to close your rings!
Requirements
You can watch the videos through iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. You’ll need an Apple Watch Series 3 or later to use the service. On the software side, your devices must be using iOS 14.3, watchOS 7.2, iPadOS 14.3, and tvOS 14.3. On every device except iPad, Fitness+ automatically installs on your devices with the required updates. You must manually download the free Apple Fitness+ for iPad app from the App Store.
Cost
At launch, Fitness+ is priced at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. Those using an Apple Family plan can share membership with up to six family members. To encourage sampling, existing Apple Watch users receive a free month of Fitness+; new Apple Watch buyers receive three months for free. A $29.95 per month Apple One Premier membership includes Fitness+. At this membership level, you also get Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and 2TB of iCloud storage.
Promotions
There are three current and upcoming promotions involving Apple Fitness+.
Best Buy is offering three additional months of Fitness+ to anyone who purchased an Apple Watch Series 3 or later buyers since September 15, given them a total of six free months. For anyone who already owns an Apple Watch and is a My Best Buy member, Best Buy is giving you an extra free month that’s in addition to the free month from Apple.Wellness brand Life Time membership now includes Fitness+. It’s the first health and fitness company in the United States to offer the service.Finally, starting January 1, UnitedHealthcare offers five additional months of Fitness+ at no additional cost for UnitedHealthcare Motion enrollees with Apple Watch. After the free trial, UnitedHealthcare Motion enrollees may receive incentives to cover the Fitness+ monthly subscription cost.
Apple Fitness+: Availability
Fitness+ is available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom at launch, with other countries and regions being added soon.
What You Can Do
Trained individuals with various backgrounds guide each Fitness+ class. These include professional athletes, yogis, personal trainers, martial artists, health coaches, gymnasts, and more. Classes are organized by type, trainer, and popularity. On Day 1, lessons feature high-intensity interval training (HIIT), yoga, core, strength, treadmill, cycling, rowing, dance, and mindful cooldown. Each lesson includes a recommended soundtrack and links to similar classes. You’ll see real-time performance metrics on the screen during each lesson, including your heart rate, calories burned, time performed, and signature Apple Watch rings.
Accessories
Except for an Apple Watch, special equipment isn’t required to use Fitness+. However, Apple is already highlighting a curated selection of fitness accessories on its website; some are used in the fitness videos. One should expect this list to grow significantly over time.
Apple Fitness+: Conclusion
It will be interesting to see how Apple Fitness+ develops over time and whether it expands to offer non-Apple Watch users programs. For more information and to sign up for Fitness+, visit Apple’s website, or visit the Fitness app on your iPhone or Apple TV. You can also download the iPad version of Fitness through the App Store.
