Apple Fitness+, the first fitness service built entirely around Apple Watch, will introduce guided Meditation, a simple way to practice mindfulness anywhere, anytime, and Pilates, a new low-impact, body-conditioning workout type, on September 27.
Fitness+ is also introducing a new program — Workouts to Get Ready for Snow Season — featuring and designed with two-time Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion skier Ted Ligety, along with Fitness+ trainer Anja Garcia.
Inspired by winter sports, the program will help build strength, balance, and endurance so users can have more fun on the slopes, all the way to the last run.
Later this fall, Fitness+ will introduce Group Workouts with SharePlay, where users can work out with up to 32 people at once to keep each other motivated.
And later this year, Fitness+ will be available in 15 new countries with the addition of Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Fitness+ will be available in English with subtitles in six languages, so more people can experience the workouts led by a diverse and inclusive team of trainers whose approach is tailored to every body at every fitness level.
“Whether you’re just getting started, trying something new, or switching up how you train your mind and body, the amazing and welcoming Fitness+ trainer team is here to help users live a healthy lifestyle, no matter where they are in their fitness journey,” said Jay Blahnik, Apple’s senior director of Fitness Technologies.
“We are excited to be introducing new workouts that bring Fitness+ users more options to stay active and motivated, plus immersive guided Meditation experiences that are approachable for all and easy to fit into your day. With new ways to work out together or alone — and coming to more countries later this year — we can’t wait to welcome even more people to experience Fitness+.”
Guided Meditation
Meditation can help users reduce everyday stress, develop a greater sense of awareness, and build resilience to face life’s challenges. Building on the popularity of Mindful Cooldowns in Fitness+, guided Meditation will help users develop a regular meditation routine and improve their overall sense of well-being.
Users will be able to choose from nine guided Meditation themes — Purpose, Kindness, Gratitude, Awareness, Creativity, Wisdom, Calm, Focus, and Resilience — for an engaging video experience alongside the Fitness+ trainers. Each practice will be five, 10, or 20 minutes long.
In addition to the high-quality video experience on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, the same meditations will be uploaded each week in audio form in the new Mindfulness app on Apple Watch, so users can experience guided Meditation at their convenience anytime, anywhere.
With watchOS 8, the Breathe app becomes the Mindfulness app, featuring an enhanced Breathe experience, a new session type called Reflect, and Fitness+ guided Meditations. These new audio meditations in Fitness+ can be played directly from Apple Watch when paired with AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones.
Users who want to practice meditation while moving will also be able to track their activity with the Workout app on their Apple Watch while doing their meditation, allowing them to meditate while walking, hiking, or stretching.
Guided Meditation will be led by a group of Mindful Cooldown and Yoga trainers that Fitness+ users know and love, including Dustin Brown, Gregg Cook, Jessica Skye, and Jonelle Lewis, as well as two new trainers specializing in Meditation, Christian Howard and JoAnna Hardy. Christian and JoAnna have a combined 40 years of experience teaching both traditional and insight meditation in a personal and inclusive way.
The guided Meditation trainers will offer a variety of experiences with different styles and approaches that are welcoming to all, whether it’s a person’s first practice or they are a seasoned expert. For those just getting started, a new Meditation for Beginners program will help users understand the fundamentals before diving into the studio sessions.
Pilates
Pilates will now be added to Fitness+ as a new low-impact workout type, providing users with more options for maintaining and improving their strength and flexibility. Most Fitness+ Pilates workouts can be done with just a mat, while some also incorporate the use of a resistance band. All Pilates workouts will be 10, 20, or 30 minutes long.
Pilates will be led by two new Fitness+ trainers, Marimba Gold-Watts and Darryl Whiting. Marimba is an award-winning Pilates trainer who started her career as a professional dancer, and Darryl is a former professional athlete who brings an athletic approach to his Pilates workouts. Both trainers bring a broad range of styles to Pilates for Fitness+ users, making Pilates approachable to everyone who tries it.
As with all Fitness+ studio workouts, Marimba and Darryl will be joined by members of the Fitness+ trainer team to show modifications for those who are just getting started, need a different option for specific moves, or are ready to try more advanced moves.
Snow Season Workouts
Over 100 million skiers and snowboarders around the world hit the slopes each year to enjoy being outdoors, get some exercise, and spend time with family and friends. To prepare users to get back to their favorite winter sports, Fitness+ is now introducing Workouts to Get Ready for Snow Season, featuring and designed with two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion Ted Ligety, who is recognized as one of the world’s best alpine skiers, along with Fitness+ trainer Anja Garcia, who is an experienced snowboarder.
These studio workouts are a fun way to build up strength, improve balance, and increase endurance — all important components to preventing injury. The program’s moves are inspired by exercises Ted adapted from his training program as an elite athlete, and include HIIT, Strength, Yoga, and Core.
As with all Fitness+ studio workouts, modifications are shown so users can enjoy the workouts at their own level.
“I spent the last 17 years of my life training as a professional athlete, and now more than ever, I know how important it is to continue training in an accessible and realistic way so I can stay on the slopes longer, prevent injury, and have fun with my family,” said Ligety.
“I hope people enjoy the workouts Anja and I put together, with some moves inspired by how I used to train as a professional athlete, and some that reflect life as a dad, carrying my kids’ skis, my skis, and my kids through the parking lot. This program is about fitness, but it’s also about finding ways to bring fitness into the areas of life that you enjoy the most.”
Fitness+ previously introduced workouts designed to help users reach their goals during a specific season of life — like Workouts for Pregnancy and Workouts for Older Adults — or a specific moment in their fitness journey — like Workouts for Beginners. The programs are intended to provide users with an important foundation for living a healthy lifestyle beyond a single workout.
Artist Spotlight and Time to Walk
Fitness+ will add to the popular Artist Spotlight series with new workouts featuring the music of Billie Eilish, Calvin Harris, Imagine Dragons, and Nicki Minaj. The Artist Spotlight series dedicates an entire workout playlist to a single artist. Every Monday for four weeks, new workouts featuring music by each of these artists will appear in the service across different modalities.
Workout types include Cycling, Rowing, HIIT, Strength, Yoga, Dance, and Treadmill, across music genres such as Latest Hits, Chill Vibes, Everything Rock, Pure Dance, Upbeat Anthems, and Hip-Hop/R&B.Inspired by these Fitness+ workouts,
Apple Music and Apple One subscribers can enjoy the Fitness+ Spotlight series, which includes a unique playlist for each individual Artist Spotlight musician, including motivating, high-energy tracks from their entire catalogues, as well as collaborations and remixes for motivation outside of their Fitness+ workouts.
Throughout the fall, Fitness+ will also introduce new episodes of Time to Walk, an inspiring audio experience on Apple Watch designed to encourage Fitness+ users to get active by walking more often. Time to Walk features some of the world’s most interesting and influential people, who share stories, photos, and music with Fitness+ subscribers.
As the series continues its second season, new guests will be added each week, including singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha; singer-songwriter Camila Cabello; country musician and actor Reba McEntire; activist and founder of the Me Too movement Tarana Burke; professional basketball player and 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony; and actor, activist, and author Gabrielle Union.
Group Workouts with SharePlay
Training with friends and family is a great way to stay motivated and accountable on your fitness journey. Later this fall, Group Workouts powered by SharePlay will come to Fitness+, with support for up to 32 people at a time.
Users will be able to start a Group Workout from a group message thread or FaceTime call on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV with AirPlay. From there, they will navigate to the Fitness app, select a workout or Meditation, see their friends and family onscreen, and get started.
During a Group Workout, users will see their metrics and progress toward closing their Activity rings, while also seeing and hearing friends as they work out. With Group Workouts, when someone moves ahead on the Burn Bar or closes their Activity ring, users will be notified so they can celebrate together — or even trade some friendly smack talk to keep each other going.
Fitness+ is currently available in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. It will be available later this year in Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UAE.
