Apple has delved further into the world of fitness with its monthly subscription service, Fitness+. Designed to work hand in hand with your Apple Watch, Fitness+ offers countless workout videos from a plethora of trainers who all have the requisite cult leader energy. Curious? Here's everything you need to know about Fitness+.
- What is Apple Fitness+?
- How much does Apple Fitness+ cost?
- How do you use Apple Fitness+?
- How much data does Apple Fitness+ use?
- What devices does Apple Fitness+ work on?
- What are the alternatives to Apple Fitness+?
- How do I cancel Apple Fitness+?
What is Apple Fitness+?
Fitness+ is Apple's Apple Watch centric virtual workout subscription service with video routines for you to follow. To start, it offers 11 different types of guided workouts, many of which can be done without equipment such as yoga, core, strength, dance, HIIT routines, and pilates. Some strength and HIIT workouts require dumbells, and you'll need resistance bands for some pilates sessions.
If you've got equipment or access to a gym, there are also rowing, cycling, and treadmill (walk or run) options.
There are also "mindful cooldowns", which are stretches mixed with meditation, and a dedicated meditation section. Meditations are all themed, falling into categories including gratitude, awareness, wisdom, and resilience.
There are now over 1,200 workouts on Fitness+, with Apple adding two dozen or so every week.
In addition to these core exercise groups, Fitness+ has a selection of more focused workout programs. These include Workouts for Beginners, Workouts for Older Adults, Workouts for Pregnancy, and a new Get Ready for Snow Season program.
Given the service requires an Apple Watch, Fitness+ integrates metrics from your wrist-worn taskmaster directly into your exercises, presumably to further guilt you into closing your rings. As you work out, you'll get on screen visuals showing your progress as well as your heart rate and the amount of kilojoules / calories you've burnt so far.
Each workout is set to music - you can pick from nine different styles - but death metal is sadly not one of them. An Apple Music subscription isn't required.
How much does Apple Fitness+ cost in Australia?
Fitness+ will set you back $14.99 per month in Australia, or alternatively, $119.99 per year if you want to pay upfront. Your Fitness+ membership can be shared with up to five family members. If you're new to Fitness+, you can get a month-long free trial. If you've purchased a new Apple Watch as of September 15 last year or later, you'll get a three-month free trial instead.
Alternatively, you can get Fitness+ as part of Apple One, Apple's services bundle. Fitness+ is only available in the top tier Apple One Premier plan that will set you back $39.95 per month. It also includes subscriptions to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and Apple News+, as well as 2TB of iCloud storage.
How do you use Apple Fitness+?
If you're using Fitness+ on your iPhone, you'll find a Fitness+ tab in the Fitness app. Once in the Fitness+ tab, you can find workout routines by type, by newness, and by trainer. When in an individual workout type, you can also filter by length, music, the equipment required, and what part of your body it will work. While there is a series of exercises designed especially for beginners, Fitness+ doesn't currently let you sort routines by difficulty.
If you're on an Apple TV or iPad, you may need to download the Fitness app from the App Store. Ensure you're signed in to the same Apple ID on all devices.
If you can't find Fitness+, check your device is running the latest version of its operating system. On iPhone and iPad, you can do this by following these steps:
- Open the Settings app
- Tap General
- Tap Software Update
On Apple TV, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app
- Select System
- Select Software Updates
- Choose Update Software
How much data does Apple Fitness+ use?
If you're using Fitness+ on your iPhone over 4G or 5G, you may want to be mindful about data usage. In our testing, we found Fitness+ uses about 3GB of data per hour. That means even a 10-minute workout can use as much as 500MB. This makes Fitness+ one of the more data intensive apps around.
For comparison, Netflix's automatic mode on mobile only uses 250MB per hour. That means Fitness+ is using 12 times as much data.
At this stage, Fitness+ doesn't have any options for adjusting video quality to reduce data usage.
What devices does Apple Fitness+ work with?
At a minimum, you need an iPhone 6s and Apple Watch Series 3 or better to use Fitness+. You can also download the Fitness+ app for iPad and Apple TV. If you're already subscribed to Fitness+, you can start a workout if you're not wearing your Apple Watch, but you need an Apple Watch to join.
What are the alternatives to Apple Fitness+?
Don't have an Apple Watch or looking for an alternative to Fitness+ for a different reason? Here are a few options.
Fitbit Premium
If you're a card carrying Fitbit owner, the wearable manufacturer has a Premium service for $14.99 per month. In addition to guided workouts, you'll also get guides on nutrition, meditation, and sleep.
Les Mills On Demand
Les Mills On Demand is one of the biggest at home workout services and isn't tied to any wearable or smartphone ecosystem. You'll get access to over 1,000 online workouts, as well as workout plans to help meet goals. Les Mills On Demand is on the pricier side however, billed at $24.99 per month.
Free videos on YouTube
If free is more your style, there are plenty of channels on YouTube with great workout content. Yoga With Adriene is a favourite, PopSugar Fitness is another great choice, and you should check out 305 Fitness if you're looking for danced based cardio. Of course, you may want to consider subscribing to YouTube Premium ($14.99 per month) if you'd prefer your workouts to not be punctuated by ads.
Nike Training Club
The Nike Training Club app has over 190 free workouts across strength, endurance, and yoga, paired with multiple week-long training programs that adjust to your progress and schedule.
How do I cancel Apple Fitness+?
If you're trying to cancel Apple Fitness+, follow these steps:
- Open the App Store on your iPhone or iPad
- Tap the Account icon in the top right-hand corner on the screen
- Tap Subscriptions
- Tap Fitness
- Press Cancel Free Trial or Cancel Subscription
- Tap Confirm
Just be aware that if you cancel your free trial, you'll lose access to the remaining days and won't be able to reactive it.
Alex Choros
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