When Fitness + dropped a few weeks ago, we were quite impressed by the introduction, but the service is not perfect. One of our issues was that you could only filter workouts by music, height and coach – those among us hoping to scroll to the goal (i.e. to run a 5K, work you up after a pull up, etc.) or intensity was out of happiness. So I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the Fitness + app today to explore the new workouts that fall every Monday.
A video message from HIIT coach Kim Ngo greeted me at the top of the app with a description that read: “Goal Training Sessions and a New Limited Edition Award.” My eyebrows fly into the stratosphere. It’s clear that Fitness + is still being built, but it had to be record speed for a fitness program that implements early user feedback. In the video, Kim – who despite being a bubbly personality is a cardio-killing machine – pointed to two workouts this week that are part of a “series of goals.” Oh, there’s a new challenge for limited edition for Apple Watch owners in the new year (close all three rings for seven days in a row at some point in January.)
I was stoked. I did the two marked workouts – a 20-minute strength workout and a ten-minute HIIT workout. I sweated enough. What I did not realize was that what Apple meant by ‘goal setting’ was not some kind of fitness program … just as much as the instructors who encouraged me to get my New Year’s fitness goals up and running. Because, have you heard? IThis is apparently a new year.
In strength training, Coach Gregg mostly talked about how I should notice what my weaknesses and strengths were, and that I need to focus on what areas I want to get stronger in the coming year. Well yes. But getting fairly obvious advice and pep talks was not exactly what I meant when I said Fitness + should include targeted programs.
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Other fitness programs often include some programs that allow you to work on something. In running programs, these are often structured classes such as a bench up to 5K or to improve your pace over a specified distance for 8-32 weeks. In Aaptiv there are programs with the theme “Gain stronger,” which is a collection of classes ranging from goals such as’ muscle strengthening,” learn how to use kettlebells, or to perfect your push-ups. Although Fitness + has an Absolute Beginner program to facilitate new beginners in different types of workouts, it is about that.
That does not mean that Fitness + is bad – it just emphasizes that this platform is built on the idea of further connecting you to Apple’s ecosystem. A dumb part of my lizard brain definitely said, ‘Ooh! Limited Edition badge that ultimately means nothing? Sign me up! What a great integration! ‘Do I feel more prompted to do Fitness + exercises with every notification I get on my wrist and say that a friend has just completed a Fitness + exercise? Unfortunately yes. I’m a fitness blade. In Apple Music, there has been an Apple Fitness + Studio series since its launch – a group of playlists compiled by instructors for different genres and types of exercise. If you browse through the accessories in Apple’s online store, you’ll find it now links to the products the instructors used in the videos – including a $ 120 Manduka yoga mat.
What Apple does with Fitness + basically takes a page from Marvel’s playbook and builds a universe of interconnected products, services and personalities. It is no different than what Peloton has done, but it has a lower access cost, because even if you bought an Apple Watch, iPad and Apple TV, it is still possible to get it all for less than the price of one Peloton bike. (But unlike Peloton, Fitness + needs at least some hardware – you can subscribe to the Peloton app without having to pay for a bike.)
Cynically speaking, you can make a convincing case that Fitness + is first an Apple ad and a second fitness app. It’s a little hard, considering there are things that Fitness + does really well. The service is really thoughtful design and inclusive. But much of the thoughtfulness is the way it connects to Apple’s hardware and services. Just ask the dozens of people who complain in forums that Fitness + is not compatible with AirPlay 2 for exercises to a larger screen. It’s not something ever built to stand alone or to play nice with other ecosystems. If it were, I do not think I would sit here and crave some missing features such as more targeted applications, options for diverse equipment, a focus on intensity and problems, and the ability to have a workout of my my Apple-free TV.