Apple Fitness+ gets outdoor running boost with new features and content
Apple Fitness+ is about to get even better for runners, with a range of new features coming to the service.
Apple has announced a host of features for Apple Fitness+, its subscription workout service that works hand-in-hand with the Apple Watch.
First up is a new focus on outdoor running – with a new Time to Run series.
It’s an evolution of Time to Walk, the walking podcasts with famous figures that was launched last year.
However, Time to Run puts more of an emphasis on running training, with structured sessions designed to change up your workouts. Each Time to Run is designed around a city – starting with London, Miami and Brooklyn.
The trainers will talk about each city (you can do the exact route if you’re ever in town) but also take you through a specific type of training. Miami is about interval training, while the London run uses the letters ‘LONDON’ to impart running tips as you go.
And there’s more for runners – and people with fitness goals in mind.
Apple has amassed over 2,000 workouts onto the platform in the year since launch, and it’s now creating Collections – grouped workouts that help you progress to a certain goal.
There’s a couch to 5K type collection called Run Your First 5K, but the full list is:
- 30-Day Core Challenge
- Improve Your Posture with Pilates
- Perfect Your Yoga Balance Poses
- Run Your First 5K
- Strengthen Your Back, Stretch Your Hips
- Wind Down for a Better Bedtime
There’s a mix of disciplines, goals and levels of experience – and seems like a great new way to enter the Apple Fitness+ world as we head into 2022.
And that’s not the end of the additions.
There are new Time to Walk guided workouts, from big-name figures such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Chelsea Handler, and also Artist Spotlight workouts from Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Shakira, and The Beatles.
Apple has been relentlessly updating and expanding the Fitness+ service over the last year, and it feels we’ve spoken to execs more about the platform than anything else.
We’ve seen rivals such as Fitbit put a focus on content within their platforms, but few will be able to match the scale of Fitness+, which is setting the standard both for the quality of its workouts, and the scale and breadth.
