Get fit with Apple Fitness+: a comprehensive guide

Love guided and trainer-led workouts and using your Apple Watch to track your activity? Then Apple’s newest subscription Fitness+ is likely for you!

This article describes the ins and outs of Apple Fitness+ so you can see if it’s the right fit for you and your family.

So let’s get right into it!

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What is Apple Fitness+? A snapshot

Much like a Peloton membership or Fitbit Premium, Apple Fitness+ is Apple’s very own fitness and home workout subscription service paid via monthly or yearly fees (more on this later.)

Fitness+ integrates with Apple Watch to track metrics, so you need an Apple Watch Series 3 or later to take advantage of Fitness+. Apple’s Fitness+ does not work without the Apple Watch.

In a nutshell, Fitness+ is an Apple Watch service that provides you with guided workouts and how-to videos from real trainers that you watch on an iPad, iPhone, or Apple TV.

It uses the Apple Watch’s sensors to track all your workout metrics, including things like calories burned, heart rate, and total workout time.

And it all happens in real-time, from anywhere, at any time of the day!

And all those stats show up in a window on your ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, or ‌Apple TV‌ , so you don’t need to keep looking at your wrist to see how you’re performing.

And whenever a trainer asks you to check your metrics (like your heart rate) or if they start counting down, those specific numbers animate on your screen, so they’re easy to see.

Plus, you’ll never get bored as Apple Fitness+ releases new on-demand studio workouts every week!

Fitness+ is a personalized fitness experience built for Apple Watch

What makes Apple’s Fitness+ so unique from other fitness subscriptions is that Apple built it from the ground up specifically for Apple Watch users.

Fitness+ uses your Apple Watch’s sensors intelligently to track your personalized metrics and offer ways to improve your fitness level.

And like other fitness subscription models, Apple’s service comes with plenty of workout videos/guides on strength building, endurance, yoga, and more taught by industry-leading Apple Fitness+ trainers.

Intelligent workout suggestions

Fitness+ taps into your workout history via the Watch’s Workout app and your iPhone’s Health app to offer you personalized recommendations inside Fitness+. 

So the more you workout with your Apple Watch or via apps connected to Apple Health, the better Fitness+ customizes workout recommendations for you!

Don’t forget about the music!

Fitness+ works with your iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV and is integrated with Apple Music.

All of the workouts in Fitness+ feature music selections curated by Apple Music. If you don’t like the current track, choose another from a list of alternatives.

And no, you don’t need to subscribe to Apple Music to take advantage of Fitness+ music!

For folks that subscribe to Apple Music, there are options to download the workout playlists so you can listen to them anytime, not just when working out.

How to start a Fitness+ workout

1. Open the Fitness app on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV
2. Choose the Fitness+ icon or tab
3. Search through class options and choose a workout
4. Choose your trainer, how long you want to work out with Apple Fitness+, and make any changes to the workout music
5. Tap Let’s Go
   1. You can also tap Preview to check it out before you start working out
6. Wait for your watch to countdown, and then get busy!

When you select a workout on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, the workout automatically starts on your Apple Watch. And your health & fitness data from the watch immediately start to sync between devices.

Love competing? Check out the awesome Burn Bar

During your HIIT, treadmill, cycling, and rowing workouts, there’s an additional feature– The Burn Bar.

The Burn Bar is for folks who enjoy a little healthy completion.

The on-screen Burn Bar compares your workout performance against anyone who previously completed that same workout. So it’s easy to see how you measure up!

The Burn Bar is optional, so if you don’t want to compare yourself to others, it’s easy to turn it off.

Just finished your Fitness+ workout? View your stats 

After completing your workout, all your stats show up in a nice summary.

Featured metrics include your total time, total calories, active calories, average heart rate during the workout, and distance and pace information (when appropriate).

So, how do I sign up for Apple Fitness+?

Currently, Apple charges $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year (equalling 12 payments of $6.67 per month) for a Fitness+ subscription.

Okay, that’s not cheap…but there are ways to save, especially when you are part of an Apple family sharing plan!

First, if you recently purchased a new Apple Watch Series 3 and above (anytime after September 15, 2020), you qualify for three free months of Apple Fitness+.

If you don’t qualify for the three-month free trial, Apple still offers everyone a chance to try Fitness+ for free for one month to see if you like it or not.

Fitness+ and family sharing

If you are a member of Apple’s Family Sharing, you only need ONE Fitness+ subscription.

Members can share their Fitness+ subscription with up to five other people in their family when part of a Family Sharing plan.

Apple One subscriptions

Fitness+ is also available as a bundled offering with Apple One’s Premier membership.

The Apple One Premier plan includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and 2TB of iCloud storage for a single monthly fee. And, for families, one Apple One subscription can be shared with up to six family members (including the original subscriber.)

Are you a Best Buy customer or member?

• For folks that purchased their Apple Watches from Best Buy, the company is offering a six-month promotion of Fitness+ for free if you purchased a new Apple Watch (Series 3+.)
• If you are a member of My Best Buy and already own an Apple Watch Series 3 or later, Best Buy offers you two months of Fitness+ for free.
• Both promotions can be shared with all your family members in your Apple family sharing plan.
• Just look for an email from Best Buy that includes a code to redeem your Apple Fitness+ subscription for your free months!
• Best Buy will be sending the codes via email starting on Dec 15th, according to their support.

Are you a member of Aetna commercial and CVS Caremark? Or a CVS employee or ExtraCare card member?

• Even more good news for you! CVS announced it’s offering its Caremark members Apple Fitness+ a free one-year subscription!
• CVS offers its customers CVS Pharmacy ExtraCare members or current CVS Health employees a free two-month subscription for Fitness+. 
• And the best news, you can share your Fitness+ access with all your family members in your Apple family sharing plan.

Want more details on Apple Fitness+? Here’s a deeper look!

Apple Fitness+ trainers and educators

Apple creates its Fitness+ workout videos with real fitness and health professionals who are influencers and industry specialists. And Apple vets all of these trainers to ensure subscribers get the best of the best.

Apple’s trainers lead you through each workout and share reminders for everyone to keep an eye on their heart rate, workout progress, and things like that.

A big focus in Fitness+ is how to perform exercises with little to no equipment.

Apple made sure to include various workouts, so you don’t need to buy another new thing unless you want to.

• Get to know the 21 Apple Fitness+ trainers who get your fitness goals back on track in 2021

Apple Fitness+ workout modes and trainers

At launch, choose from 10 workout modes:

1. Treadmill Walk
2. HIIT
3. Treadmill Run
4. Rowing
5. Dance
6. Cycling
7. Yoga
8. Core
9. Strength
10. Mindful Cooldown

But, as we mentioned at the beginning, unlike other smartwatches that track your progress, Apple Watches, in combination with Fitness+, can give you videos from real experts. Experts who can show you the ropes and motivate you to do better.

And there are plenty of trainers to choose from as well. Your mileage may differ depending on the workout type. But, generally, there are multiple options.

Compatibility and availability

At the moment of writing this article, Apple Fitness+ is available on Apple Watch 3 and later, iPads, iPhones, and Apple TVs (4K and HD models only.)

Your devices must run at least iOS 14+, iPadOS 14+, or tvOS 14+, and for Apple Watch, you must run watchOS 7+. 

Fitness+ uses the Fitness app for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and the Workout app for Apple Watch.

Buying an Apple Watch Series 3 or anything newer gives you a 3-moth trial. But, after that, you can either pay $9.99 a month or $$79.99 a year – which comes down to $6.67 per month.

As for availability, Apple Fitness+ is now available in the U.S, Canada, New Zealand, UK, Australia, and Ireland. And more countries to come in 2021!

Wrapping up

And that’s about the gist of it.

In summary, Apple Fitness+ is a fitness monthly or yearly subscription service that works through the Apple Watch.

• Your subscription includes help from real trainers and works/syncs with some of the most popular Apple devices out there
• Videos made by professional trainers to guide you and motivate you throughout various workouts
• Tons of metrics both during the workout and after the workout (Heart rate, mileage, calories, etc
• 10 workout modes
• New content coming in weekly
• Syncing with other Apple devices (iPads, Apple TVs, and iPhones)
• Use it to learn how to perform certain workouts while tracking everything and motivating yourself to do better.

If you want to ask any other questions or have anything to add, please let us and everyone else know about it in the comments section.

FAQ

Can I AirPlay Fitness+?

At this time, no. But it is coming for certain devices that support Airplay 2. However, you won’t see your on-screen metrics. 

See this post for the details on Airplay support for Fitness+:

Apple Fitness+ and AirPlay: yes, it’s coming with some limitations

If your TV doesn’t support AirPlay 2

If your TV doesn’t support AirPlay 2, you can connect your iPad with a USB-C port to your TV with a USB C to HDMI cable. 

Unfortunately, this won’t work for Apple devices, including iPhones, with lightning ports!

For whatever reason, you cannot watch Apple Fitness+ using a Lightning to HDMI cable.

Are Macs supported?

We understand that many of you would love to use a Mac instead of an iPad, iPhone, or Apple TV. But, unfortunately, Apple hasn’t mentioned anything about Mac support as of yet.

We suppose it would be possible with an easy update. So, if something like that happens, we’ll make sure to let you know about it.

Currently, there is no support for Macs or AirPlay.

Do we need an Apple Watch?

Yes. An Apple Watch Series 3 or later is required to use Apple Fitnesss+–that’s true for everyone in your family too! 

That’s because smartwatches are equipped with all the sensors required to keep track of the various Fitness+ metrics—things like heart rate, calories burned, distance, etc.

You will need an Apple Watch to sign up for the program. Once you have subscribed, it is not mandatory to use your Apple Watch for using the workouts. You can still workout without wearing the watch. ( We tested out a Yoga program without the watch and it works without any issues)

Can I do the Fitness+ workouts without an Apple Watch?

Yes, as long as you or a family member subscribes to Apple Fitness+, you can follow along and workout with Apple Fitness+, even without an Apple Watch.

You won’t get any on-screen metrics, and the Fitness app cannot save your workout data.

1. Open the Fitness app on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV
2. Choose a workout
3. Tap the button Work Out Without Watch

However, even though you workout following a Fitness+ video without an Apple Watch, the subscription still requires you to pair an Apple Watch with your iPhone.

Do I need gym equipment?

That greatly depends on the workout mode that you’ll choose. Some, such as yoga, don’t require anything beyond your yoga mat.

However, others may require dumbbells, a yoga mat, a stationary bike, a treadmill, etc.

Here is some affordable exercise equipment that you can check out:

• 5 Best Rowing Machines for Apple Fitness+ workouts
• 5 affordable exercise bikes for your Apple Fitness+ workouts

Plus, you can do your workouts any time of day, from almost anywhere–when you’re at home, on the road, or even at your gym. As long as you have your Apple Watch and a screen to watch (like iPhone/iPad/iPod/AppleTV), you are good to go!

Can I share it with my family?

Yes! As long as you are a member of a family sharing plan (or join one), you can share your Apple Fitness+ membership with up to 5 other people that are members of your family.

• How to set up and share Apple Fitness+ with multiple users in your Family

Is Apple Fitness+ available for non-Apple devices?

At this time, no. Apple’s fitness service relies on Apple Watches to work properly. And, unfortunately, Apple Watches do not work with non-Apple devices.

There is a chance we’ll see a version without all the metrics. After all, plenty of Apple’s services are available on other platforms.

So we can’t rule out the possibility that Apple Fitness+ will become available as a service without the advanced metrics

Do I need to wear Apple Watch to start a Fitness+ workout?

Although Apple recommends wearing the Apple Watch, and it is a requirement for using Fitness+, we found that this requirement is not hard and fast.

You can choose a class and complete the workout even if you are not wearing your Apple Watch.

As a result, you will not see any of the workout metrics but only the time-related metrics on the screen.

We tried it with one of the Yoga related workouts without any issues.

How can I watch it on my TV without an Apple TV?

Unfortunately, you cannot currently Airplay Fitness+ content from your iPhone or iPad into your TV.

However, that changes with iOS 14.5, where you can AirPlay Apple Fitness+ workouts to an AirPlay 2 supported television. You won’t get any on-screen metrics–that’s still reserved for Apple TV owners. 

Some users had luck hardwiring their iPad Pro or iPad with USB-C ports to a TV’s HDMI port and enjoy Fitness+ sessions on a larger screen that way. Plus, this mirroring method usually shows your on-screen metrics too!

You need a USB-C to HDMI cable.

Depending upon your TV resolution, you see it in a full screen or a different format. You have to play around with the resolution settings to get the desired experience.

We hope you found this guide helpful in answering some of your questions about Apple’s Fitness+ subscription.