Fitness+ is a fantastic addition to your fitness regimen. From great trainers to broad variety of workouts, it will bring you happiness in the journey to achieving your fitness goals.
My first workout with Fitness+ was over the holiday break, shortly after it was first released. We couldn’t attend class at our normal gym and needed a good sweat. We’ve been huge fans of Fitness Blender for years, using their free YouTube videos to get a good sweat in while away from home. Since 3 months of free Fitness+ came with the purchase of an Apple Watch Series 6, I though we’d give it a go.
Our first workout was a HIIT class with Bakari. It was a burner! We really liked the movements that Bakari picked out, and enjoyed his joyful approach to pushing through discomfort. Each move had a modification to reduce impact, which made everything all the more accessible. Don’t want to jump today? No worries, here’s a low-impact modification. We tried workouts of all durations, with our favorites being longer for that really satisfying burn. HIIT from Fitness+ checked all our boxes and left us sore and energized.
Like thousands of households across the U.S., we purchased a rowing erg this year for our home. I gave a 20-minute workout with Anja a try, rowing away to some “Upbeat Anthems” and the encouraging coaching from Anja. The structure was on point and you can scale your effort up and down depending on what you’re looking for. Two thumbs up here.
Next, I tried yoga. As someone who’s only dipped his toe into yoga in the past, this felt fairly challenging to me. Some trainers move through poses too quickly and can leave an inexperienced person frustrated. Others offer a more measured approach. I generally pick shorter sessions in yoga to help ensure it’s a good experience.
Most recently, we tried dance! What a thrill. We laughed the whole time, trying desperately to stay in sync with the instructor. These are workouts you’d want to do over and over to get the most out of them unless you’re an experienced dancer. We were lost half the time! Every time the instructor said “4 steps,” we were ready for 4 steps but then he took 4 steps backward. Things like that trip up casual consumers.
Time to Walk was recently released and immediately stuck itself at the top of my Workouts app on Apple Watch, which is extremely annoying. The list of workout types (e.g. HIIT, Rowing, Outdoor Run, etc) are ranked by how much you use them – except now “Time to Walk” takes top spot even though I’ve never used it. This goes against the muscle memory I have of always tapping the top spot since it’s my most-often-used workout. No longer. I am surprised Apple would make such a stupid move – frankly, I don’t want to see that if I don’t use it.
Fitness+ has been a great addition to our fitness regimen, and especially shines on days we can’t attend the gym. I’d recommend it to anyone in the Apple ecosystem who is looking to sweat a little!