Trying out Apple Fitness+

I’ve switched to indoor cycling since mid-November when it got too cold and windy to perform an outdoor ride.

My indoor routine is to typically hop on my road bike which is affixed to a trainer (Kinetic Road Machine), and watched an Electronic Dance Music (EDM) filled with either English or Chinese dance mixes.

For each workout, I do my own HIIT sessions that usually last for about an hour or so. A typical session looks something like this recording on Strava. I try different things on different rides. Sometimes I do 1:1 intervals, sometimes I do 1:4 intervals on rest days, and other rides I do pyramid build ups, etc. I try to do an hour and at least for 45 min. The intervals can be between 30 seconds to 5 min depending on how I feel.

Yesterday Apple released their Fitness+ service. Since I’m part of their Apple One subscription, we get the service along with the subscription, so I figure I give it a go.

Today, I did two workouts, one 45 min with Emily and another by the same trainer for another 20 min. I think these workouts are nice for those who wants to get moving, but I personally found it hard to my liking.

The trainer is motivating, and upbeat. The workout is of a lower cadence than I am use to. The only lead in that you get is from the trainer, so there is no visual cue to help you with the next set of effort, or prep you how much rest you are going to get before the next hard effort. I also missed the power and cadence reading on the screen. For those measurements, I have to look down to my Garmin unit.

In short, at least for cycling, these programs are not going to replace Zwift and TrainerRoad. They are good for those who want to replace their typical gym classes. I may give other forms of exercises a shot later on.

Overall I think many will like the service. The integration with Apple Watch is pretty seamless and super friendly. However for cycling, I’ll probably continue with my EDM videos.