I Tried Apple Fitness+ For a Month and Here’s What I Think…

Great for people who live busy lives!
It’s that time of year again, when many of us are determined to stick to our New Year’s resolutions, no matter how ambitious they may be.
This year, I want to work on my health and fitness, as I didn’t pay much attention to it last year.
As someone who lives a busy lifestyle, it can be difficult to find time to go to the gym, especially when you don’t live near one. That’s why I decided to invest in basic gym equipment for home. At present, these only include an exercise mat and some dumbbells, but you have to start somewhere.
After I started working out at home, I quickly discovered that I wasn’t as motivated as I was when going to the gym and that I would often get distracted.
That’s when I decided to give Apple Fitness+ a try. Apple Fitness+ is a monthly subscription service that offers a wide range of trainer-led workouts including meditation, strength, HIIT, yoga, core, pilates, dance, kickboxing and more.
At the time of writing this blog post, the subscription costs £9.99 per month or £79.99 per year.
But is it worth it?
I’ve been using it for around a month and here’s what I think…
What is Apple Fitness+?
To put it simply, Apple Fitness+ is a monthly subscription service that offers a wide range of workouts through the Apple Fitness app for iOS.
The subscription is optional, and you can use the Fitness app without it, but it does mean that you won’t have access to the Fitness+ features.
Fitness+ is essentially a library of instructor-led training videos that gets constantly updated with new content.
Sessions range from 5 to 45 minutes, and you can get personalised recommendations based on the workouts you’ve completed. You can also create your own schedule with Custom Plans.
If you have a compatible Apple Watch, you can get real-time in-session metrics, which help you track your progress. I think that this is a fantastic feature, and it makes the whole experience more interactive.
Speaking about an interactive experience, each session contains curated playlists, which you can add to your Apple Music library if you are subscribed to it. I’ve rediscovered some great songs through workout sessions, which I added to my Apple Music library.
Why I Decided to Try It
As someone who lives a busy lifestyle, it can be challenging to find time to visit the gym, especially when you don’t have a gym nearby or there isn’t one on your commute.
To save time on travel, I decided to purchase basic equipment for working out at home. However, I quickly noticed that I wasn’t as motivated to work out as I was at the gym. I also discovered that I was constantly being distracted.
That’s when I had the idea to try Fitness+. At the beginning, I wasn’t convinced that this was going to work, but I was wrong.
Instructor-led workouts helped me stay focused on working out and, I started getting motivated to work out regularly.
Best of all, these workout sessions work really well with my Apple Watch and help me keep track of my fitness, as in the past, I didn’t really use my Apple Watch for tracking gym workouts.
To answer the question, the main reason that I decided to try Fitness+ this time last month was that I wanted to see if it will help me achieve my goal this year of getting back into shape.
My Experience
Setting it all up was effortless on my iPhone 14 Pro Max, and I primarily cast sessions to my TV through my compatible Roku Streaming Stick using AirPlay.
I primarily tend to use Fitness+ for strength workouts, which I cast to my Roku stick. But there are some workouts that I prefer to use my phone and Beats Fit Pro earbuds with, such as indoor cycling workouts. I simply mount my phone to the handlebars and start the workout.
Fitness+ has many trainers to choose from, but I think it’s fair to say that so far, I’ve enjoyed working out with every trainer I’ve tried.
All the strength sessions I tried have three trainers doing workouts, one of which does the modified version, which is usually lighter and less intense.
One of my favourite features is the filter feature, which allows me to filter by trainer, time, music, equipment, and body focus. I frequently use this feature as it allows me to find the workouts I want to do faster, and it allows me to customise them to the music I wish to listen to.
My overall experience with Fitness+ has been very positive and motivational. I think it’s all down to the fact that I’m influenced by the music and that I’m following instructions.
What I Like About Apple Fitness+
Having tried following similar video-based workouts before, I don’t think that I was ever as motivated to work out at home as I am with Fitness+. I think the primary reason for that is that the service is helping me achieve my goals and fill my rings within the Apple Fitness app.
I’m a big fan of the metrics appearing on-screen, as it allows me to focus on my workout instead of looking at my watch. I know that it’s only a small feature, but it seriously makes the experience feel more interactive.
In fact, the whole integration with the Apple ecosystem is pretty good. The app works well with Apple Music, and I can easily add songs to my Apple Music library.
I also like the wide range of workouts that are available and the fact that new workouts are constantly being added.
What Could Be Improved
This is a tough one because in my one month of using the service, I haven’t really come across anything that, I feel, needs improving.
I had to think about it for a long time, but the one feature I would love to see Apple add is the ability to filter works based on whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced.
Saying that, every workout that I tried felt that it was catered for everybody, which is a massive bonus in my view.
This really is nitpicking, but I feel that many would appreciate it if it was accessible to more people in the same way that Apple Music is available on other systems. It would also be nice to see Apple release a fitness band so that those who prefer a traditional watch or can’t afford an Apple Watch could have better access to metrics throughout the day and during workouts.
Conclusion: Is Apple Fitness+ Worth it?
Based on my experience with the app so far, I definitely think it’s worth it, especially for people living busy lifestyles, Apple ecosystem users, beginners, and people who want to try something new.
The pricing may put some people off, but the way I look at it is that it’s cheaper than a gym subscription. For comparison, my closest gym charges around £60 per month, or if I go further afield, I can usually find memberships starting from around £17 per month.
To summarise this review, I think that the subscription is worth it based on my current experience. The subscription has helped me get back into fitness after a long break, and because I am more active, I feel better during the day.
I work a hybrid 9-to-5 job, and going to the gym can have its challenges. To me, it either means waking up very early so that I can commute to my closest gym or attending the gym tired after a busy day in the office. On top of that, on office days, it takes me over an hour to commute home.
Being able to work out at home means that I don’t have to worry about commuting, which means that I can be more rested for the day ahead, or I can spend a longer time working out.
What are your fitness goals for this year? If you’ve found creative ways to stay active or are considering Apple Fitness+, share your journey in the comments!