Apple Fitness+ Now Offers Over 4,000 Workout and Meditation Videos

[MacRumors]

Men's Journal's Jacob Krol was recently invited to tour the Apple Fitness+ studio in Santa Monica, California, providing another behind-the-scenes look at the subscription-based workout service. Krol had the opportunity to speak with Jay Blahnik, Apple's VP of Fitness Technologies, and met many of the trainers involved in the workouts.

The first Fitness+ studio tours were shared last year, and this one provides some more details. Krol said the studio is one large room with equipment spread across several workout and meditation areas, and videos are recorded with 13 robotic cameras and a few human-operated cameras under a dense lighting grid. The live productions are monitored by a crew in a control room to ensure everything is being filmed correctly.

Apple said Fitness+ now offers over 4,000 workouts and meditations, with new ones added every week. The videos range from 5 to 45 minutes in length, and there are a dozen workout types available, with the latest additions including pilates and kickboxing.

"Everything we look at going forward is about how do we make sure that people have great success in their fitness journey, whether Apple Fitness+ is a complement to something they already love to do outside of our service, or whether Apple Fitness+ is the only thing they do to get moving and meditate," said Blahnik. "What can we do to make the experience even easier, smoother, something they can fit into their life more regularly?"

Launched in 2020, Fitness+ is available in the Fitness app on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The service can now be used with just an iPhone, but an Apple Watch is still needed to view real-time, personal metrics on screen during workouts, such as heart rate and calories burned. In the U.S., Fitness+ is priced at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, or it can be bundled with other Apple services via Apple One for $32.95 per month.

A single Fitness+ subscription can be shared with up to five other family members, and the service comes with a free one-month trial for all users. Users who purchase a new ‌iPhone‌, iPad, Apple Watch, or Apple TV qualify for a three-month trial.

Article Link: Apple Fitness+ Now Offers Over 4,000 Workout and Meditation Videos

 

[LeeW]

Best Apple service ever. For me, at least.

 

[Brad7]

Cool to see the Studio is an actual place. I’d wondered if it was some type of VR/green screen. Also good to know it’s not in Apple Park like they showed in a recent keynote. And of course it’s in Santa Monica. 😆

 

[Brad7]

Best Apple service ever. For me, at least.

How do you use it? Do you tune in to different classes on certain days? I’m trying to figure out how to best use it.

 

[slash8slash1]

I must say, it took some time but now I really like it! Still, I have one complaint (controversial, don't shoot me). It seems very US tailored.

 

[coolfactor]

Never could get myself into standing in front of a screen and doing exercises.

 

[breather]

Wish they released this service in Sweden.

 

[coolfactor]

I must say, it took some time but now I really like it! Still, I have one complaint (controversial, don't shoot me). It seems very US tailored.

You are not be wrong about your perceptions on the content being US-centric. Americans are a very proud people, to the extent that they think they are the "best", not unlike China or Russia or a dozen other countries. While Apple is a very proud American corporation, I'd like to see them take a truly international effort with their Fitness like they have with Music.

 

[coolfactor]

What would be truly amazing is if Apple opened up "Apple Fitness Studios" around the world like they do with Apple Stores. All Apple+ users get free access. That would be world-changing, but extremely expensive for them. Maybe they could open up Stores that have a Fitness Studio within it?

 

[coachgq]

Best Apple service ever. For me, at least.

Agree. I’m a huge fan. I use it daily.

 

[coachgq]

What would be truly amazing is if Apple opened up "Apple Fitness Studios" around the world like they do with Apple Stores. All Apple+ users get free access. That would be world-changing, but extremely expensive for them. Maybe they could open up Stores that have a Fitness Studio within it?

Would be similar to the peloton studio. But the fact there are only 2 of those a large portion of the user base never get to take a live class.

 

[Lioness~]

Nothing of that in Scandinavia /Northern Europe at all - as usual, ask me about 3 years 😐

Edit: But there’s other services then Apple's to subscribe to 😉

 

[Orange Bat]

I like it and use it daily. My only pet peeve is how they acknowledge special months which winds up dating the videos. It’s pretty annoying when they acknowledge some special month and it’s a full 6 months later. I know it’s a small thing, but it just annoys me every time.

 

[CarAnalogy]

How do you use it? Do you tune in to different classes on certain days? I’m trying to figure out how to best use it.

It certainly doesn’t seem oriented toward the usual search filters of time and intensity, at least not that I can find. It seems very trainer-centric. Mostly I’ve just gone to the category of what I want to do and just looked at the time and description. They could improve the filtering. Seems very focused on you having a favorite trainer and style of music more than anything.

 

[armhol]

I never thought I'd be the sort of person to get up early and exercise, and I was right!

 

[sos47]

Heartrate 118. Thats a warmup not a workout. lol

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Going to cancel my current gym membership to try this out.

 

[Kiscsak]

yeah that's cool and all but when will they expand it to more countries? It's been years and it's still not available where I live

 

[TheGeneralist]

I think Apple Fitness+ is working quite nicely as an online service for sports. The integration of Apple Watch metrics is unrivaled and works great, the whole thing is very beginner friendly and the workouts are designed to gently engage the muscles, joints and tendons, thus minimizing the risk of overload and injuries. And being able to use it without the watch just on an iPhone makes it even more accessible.

The only thing I'm really missing out are workouts for advanced athletes. Of course, when performing dumbbell workouts you can just add additional weight, but in other disciplines like e.g. yoga this doesn't help a lot. Usually, the yoga workouts at Fitness+ consist mainly of beginner poses, with the option to perform one or two intermediate level poses in the longer workouts. Advanced or Expert poses are left out completely. But that's really not enough if you want to engage a little more - I'm not anywhere near being an expert yogi, but I use workouts in yoga apps or on youtube which consist mostly of more ambitious poses, and the sequences are a lot more demanding there. In Fitness+, I always have the impression to stay on the "eternal beginner level" - there are a few options to do a little more demanding work, similar to a gym course, but if you already reached a certain level which is not necessarily anywhere near competitive sports, but also not on the greenish side of beginners anymore, there is no real chance to grow.

There are so many workouts now, such a huge number of great exercises to choose from, with new ones added on a regular basis.
I think it would just be great to dedicate a few of the new ones to the advanced sportspeople.
Maybe in a separate section, where members could be warned that the content is only recommended for the experienced? This would minimize the risk for the beginners...
Combining the specific strengths of Fitness+ with a programme for well-advanced athletes would just be such a great opportunity, at least in my humble opinion.

 

[dss33k]

There has been almost zero innovation since they launched. I’ve been asking for the ability to play your own music but apparently that’s just too hard for them pull off. It’s annoying to find the workouts you really want and then have to listen to the same music everyday.

 

[75Batt]

I must say, it took some time but now I really like it! Still, I have one complaint (controversial, don't shoot me). It seems very US tailored.

Since the service is aimed at all users and Apple are representative of everyone then I applaud their trainers being of all body frames. It’s far healthier, realistic and a more body positive message to be sending to users And none are overweight in any way.

Plus, at least 5 of the trainers are British, so I personally don’t feel it to be US tailored. Having said that, I do really like 2 of the British trainers so mostly follow their sessions.

 

[LeeW]

How do you use it? Do you tune in to different classes on certain days? I’m trying to figure out how to best use it.

No specific approach. On each day I am doing cardio I will jump into a 30 min HIIT and 30 min Cycle. On some weight days, I will throw in a 20 min core and so on. I just mix it up.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

yeah that's cool and all but when will they expand it to more countries? It's been years and it's still not available where I live

There are very likely some regions that Apple’s not in a hurry to move into due to the regulatory regimes there. If they don’t offer a service somewhere, then they’re not regulated by that region.

 

[CapitalIdea]

There has been almost zero innovation since they launched. I’ve been asking for the ability to play your own music but apparently that’s just too hard for them pull off. It’s annoying to find the workouts you really want and then have to listen to the same music everyday.

Since the workouts are timed with the songs, not sure why you think they should accommodate your use case. You could just turn down the volume and listen to your own music instead.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Heartrate 118. Thats a warmup not a workout. lol

That counts as moderate exercise for the majority of people. The quick rule is moderate intensity exercise is [0.5, 0.7] * (220 - age). So a 30 year old would have moderate exercise with heart rates of 95 to 133. Regular (at least 180 minutes per week) moderate exercise is sufficient to minimize health risks across the lifespan. More exercise or more intense exercise can be beneficial but as far as someone's health is concerned, gains would be fairly minimal.