The workout from home movement has gained serious momentum this year and is likely to stay with us even after the pandemic. As we approach the Holidays and people contemplate their New Year resolutions, health and fitness are going to be on the top of the list of resolutions for next year.
Peloton and Apple are both trying to offer fitness services to customers looking for an excellent digital fitness offering.
Contents
- 1 Peloton Digital vs Apple Fitness+
- 2 What is Peloton Digital membership?
- 3 What devices work with Peloton Digital?
- 4 Apple Fitness+ subscription offering
- 5 Which Devices work with Apple Fitness+?
- 6 Is the Apple Watch Mandatory requirement for Apple Fitness+?
- 7 Peloton Digital vs Apple Fitness+
- 8 Peloton Digital or Apple Fitness+. Which is better?
- 9 Other Fitness subscription options
- 10 Summary
Related Reading
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- How to put your Peloton Bike into Recovery mode and clear Cache
- Peloton: The best Power Tray Tables for your Indoor Trainer
- 12 must-have accessories for your new Apple Watch in 2020
- Peloton lowers the price and not offering any Black Friday or Cyber Monday promotions for 2020
Peloton Digital vs Apple Fitness+
In this article, we look at some of the offerings from Peloton Digital and Apple Fitness+ and provide you our insight.
Many readers think that Peloton is only about indoor cycling. Not true. The company has been expanding its services on non-equipment related fitness offerings.
Isn’t Peloton only about cycling?
You will be surprised to know that more than 38% of workouts completed on the Peloton digital platform were across non-cycling fitness verticals in 2020.
Peloton’s members have shown a strong interest in indoor/outdoor running and walking, bootcamp, strength training, stretching, yoga, and meditation offerings.
Peloton’s subscription revenues have grown from 67.2 million dollars in 2019 to 156.5 million dollars in 2020 for the quarter ending September 30.
67% of Peloton’s connected fitness subscription members also use the company’s popular app, Peloton Digital.
Given the success of Peloton’s digital subscription services, Apple realized the potential of this area and announced its Apple Fitness + services in September this year.
Apple’s fitness+ service is expected to launch in the next few weeks and the company has provided some insights around its upcoming fitness subscription services.
What is Peloton Digital membership?
You can work out on any equipment or none at all with an individual Peloton Digital Membership, starting at just $12.99 a month.
You do not need to buy the expensive Peloton Treadmill or their Bike/Bike+ products to use the Peloton digital platform.
The Peloton Digital platform provides thousands of classes based on 10 major workout types.
The Peloton Digital app provides access to the company’s full library of workouts streamed live and on-demand from their studio. Work-out with a trainer live or access the workout videos on your own time.
What devices work with Peloton Digital?
You can access Peloton Digital and workout by using any of the following devices or methods that may be available in your household.
- Apple TV
- Amazon Fire TV
- Roku
- Android tv
- Chromecast
- Airplay
This means that once you sign up for the Peloton Digital subscription, you can start streaming the fitness routines directly to your TV in your living room or bedroom. For users who work out of their garages or small places, you can use your iPad or your iPhone to stream the classes live or on-demand and follow along.
One challenge around using the Peloton Digital platform is that
One Peloton Digital Membership allows you to take Peloton classes on only one device at any given time.
Peloton Digital subscription Highlights
Beyond the thousands of different classes that are available to you, the Peloton app has the following bells and whistles to keep you motivated as you strive to meet your fitness goals.
The app is very intuitive in that the fitness content is neatly categorized into different classes programs and collections. With a couple of taps, you can select your favorite workout program, sign up for an upcoming class, and even check out your workout metrics.
For users who like the community aspects of working out, the Peloton app allows you to workout alongside others. Participate in monthly challenges along with your friends or other members in the community and earn achievements!
The app also does a good job of keeping track of your detailed workout metrics such as calories burned, resting heart rate, distance, speed, and more.
For indoor cycling enthusiasts who want to use the Peloton Digital, you can connect your Bike cadence sensor for additional metrics.
The Wahoo RPM cadence Bluetooth device works great with the Peloton digital app. You can also link up the Peloton Digital app with your Apple Health app and review all your workout metrics there.
Apple Fitness+ subscription offering
Apple Fitness+ subscription is a new Apple service offering targeted exclusively for Apple device owners.
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.
The app is not available on Android devices.
Apple Fitness+ streaming programs integrate Apple music and health metrics into the class offerings.
Your metrics such as calories burned or heart rate are tracked via your Apple Watch and displayed on your device ( TV, iPad, iPhone) as you work out with the trainer or on your own.
Based on your health metrics, the Apple system is able to provide real-time notifications when you are working out.
For example, you will see messages such as “Ahead of the Pack” based on your calories burned when participating in a group class.
There is a unique feature called the ‘Burn Bar’, that shows you how you are benchmarking compared to others in the class.
Apple Fitness+ offers intelligent recommendations based on your workout history. It automatically suggests new trainers and workouts help you with your fitness goals.
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.
If you are a member of Apple’s Family Sharing, you only need ONE Fitness+ subscription.
Members are able to share their Fitness+ subscription with up to five other people in their family when part of a Family Sharing plan.
We created a detailed guide around the new Apple Fitness+ launch. Please check the article below for detailed insights.
Which Devices work with Apple Fitness+?
Apple’s Fitness+ requires that you have an Apple Watch and an Apple device with a display. At the time of writing, it is clear that this will not work with Roku or FireTV.
Apple Fitness+ requires Apple Watch Series 3 or later with watchOS 7 or later and one of the following Apple devices: iPhone 6s or later with iOS 14 or later, iPad with iPadOS 14 or later, or Apple TV with tvOS 14 or later.
Is the Apple Watch Mandatory requirement for Apple Fitness+?
Unlike the Peloton Digital fitness program, the Apple Fitness+ requires users to have an Apple Watch Series 3 or later.
The main reason for this is that Apple’s fitness offerings have been integrated with its health metrics via the Apple Watch.
Apple Watch personalizes your Apple Fitness+ experience by integrating your personal metrics, like your heart rate and the calories you burn, into every workout.
As you workout, you are able to see your detailed metrics such as Calories burned or heart rate directly on the screen.
Just so that it’s clear, the Peloton Digital app also lets user monitor their metrics via their Apple Watch but it is not mandatory to have an Apple Watch.
The integration of Apple Watch into Apple’s fitness+ offering is however unique.
Peloton Digital vs Apple Fitness+
Other than the platform dependency of Apple Fitness+, both these subscription offerings are quite similar in that they offer access to some of the best personal trainers in the industry.
Get an exercise mat, add in a few dumbells, and get started with a tap.
The Apple Fitness+ offering integrated your Apple Watch metrics directly into your workouts and also provides you the ability to choose your tune in Apple music or use the curated music chosen for the workouts by the trainers.
Another plus for Apple Fitness+?
You can download workouts for offline viewing! Peloton does not currently offer offline services.
If you already own a Peloton Bike or Bike+ or the company’s treadmill, Peloton Digital does become an appealing and natural offer since you can combine your equipment workouts with on-floor routines from the Peloton Digital app.
Here are some highlights showcasing the difference between these two very popular fitness subscription services:
| Peloton Digital | Apple Fitness+ | |
| Workouts Available | ||
|
Running |
Yes | Yes |
|
Meditation |
Yes | No |
|
BootCamp |
Yes | No |
|
Cycling |
Yes | Yes |
|
Stretching |
Yes | Yes |
|
Outdoor Running |
Yes | Yes |
|
Yoga |
Yes | Yes |
|
Strength |
Yes | Yes |
|
Interval Training |
Yes | Yes |
|
Chill Vibes |
No | Yes |
|
Walking |
Yes | Yes |
|
Cross-Training |
Yes | No |
|
Dance |
No | Yes |
|
Rowing |
No | Yes |
|
Core |
No | Yes |
| Ability to sign up for trainer-led live classes | Yes | Yes |
| Duration of Workouts | 5 min – 45 minutes | |
| Availability | Android, Apple, Roku, Firetv | Only Apple devices |
| Pricing | $12.99/month | $9.99/month or $79.99 a year |
| Specialized Equipment Required | No | No |
Peloton Digital or Apple Fitness+. Which is better?
This depends entirely on your preference. Both Peloton and Apple offer some of the best personal trainers in the industry.
Some users stick with their preferred trainers in the Peloton world while others like to try out new program offerings and new trainers.
Apple Fitness+ offers new workouts every week that will keep it interesting.
If you are a metrics oriented user, you will be able to take advantage of the real-time Apple Watch fitness-related metrics with the Fitness+ offering.
Apple’s platform also offers top-notch privacy protection and you can rest knowing that your information will not be shared online.
Android users are limited to Peloton Digital since Apple’s offering does not work on other devices except theirs.
The good news is that both these platforms offer you a trial period.
It is also important that you take the ‘thousands of classes’ claim from Peloton with a little skepticism as the company works through different lawsuits pertaining to its digital content. Apparently, the company cant’ shake consumer deception claims over its library size.
Apple Fitness+ is available for free for three months to users who bought a new Apple Watch or a Series 3+ after September 15th, 2020. Existing Apple Watch users get a free month of Apple Fitness+.
Peloton also offers a trial period for their Peloton Digital platform.
You can sign up for a free month of Peloton classes before you are charged.
We suggest that you try out both the programs and decide which one meets most of your preferences and you can stick with it.
Other Fitness subscription options
Since both these fitness offerings do not require any specialized equipment, you can also explore other fitness offerings offered via popular third-party apps that are not subscription-based, if you want to save some dollars.
Spotify now offers a fitness service. There is also the Amazon Halo subscription program that offers health and fitness coaching all integrated into its app.
Existing Fitbit users also have a choice of the Fitbit Premium program that offers fitness classes and heart zone related training.
We were not as impressed with the Fitbit premium platform and found the Peloton Digital platform to be more intuitive and fun!
Summary
At the time of writing, Apple is yet to release its Fitness+ program. It should be ready and available within the next four weeks. We are looking forward to trying it out and will update the article with our detailed findings. Stay tuned.
Either way, we would love to hear from you. Which fitness subscription program did you end up choosing and why?
