Apple’s digital fitness service—Fitness+—is kicking off 2023 with a bang. They’re adding kickboxing workouts, sleep meditation classes and Beyoncé is arriving in their Artist Spotlight collection. Here at Parade.com, we’re all about sharing products we love with our audience. When you make a purchase on an item seen on this page, we may earn a commission, however, all picks are independently chosen unless otherwise mentioned.
Beyoncé x Fitness+
Does your dream workout playlist include “Halo,” “Crazy in Love,” or “Cuff It”? Well, Fitness+ is making that a reality with 2023’s first Artist Spotlight Series. Available now are seven classes that all feature Beyoncé tracks. Unlike previous collections, all of these classes launched on the same day—Jan. 9. Along with class playlists that exclusively feature tracks by Queen B, Fitness+ trainers are offering a wide range of workouts. Those include HIIT, Strength, Pilates, Treadmill, Cycling and Dance. They range between 20 and 30 minutes in length. In addition to the Beyoncé tracks, Fitness+ trainers also rock custom outfits and in a cycling class with Tyrell Dèsean, you’ll see a sparkling disco ball. Later in January, Fitness+ will roll out Foo Fighters and Bad Bunny Artist Spotlights. These join a bevy of other spotlights like Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Prince among many others.
Kickboxing and Sleep Meditations: What You Need to Know
Fitness+ has long offered a variety of workout types, but the count now goes up to 12. Alongside a slew of new classes, Kickboxing workouts are now available. The best news here is that they’re for any level of experience and require no equipment. Teaching the classes are trainers Jamie-Ray Hartshorne and Nez Dally. Kickboxing is a full-body cardio workout and arrives in classes that are 10, 20, or 30 minutes long. Joining Calm, Focus and Resilience is a new Sleep theme. And you guessed it, these meditations are designed to help you fall asleep and ease into the nighttime. Like other meditations on the platform, these arrive in the form of 5 or 10-minute classes. However, Fitness+ is also rolling out a program entitled “Introduction to Meditations for Sleep.” This is a set of four 20-minute meditations that introduce you to this category and help to build habits for getting rest. And these wrap with five minutes of music.
Fitness+: What You Need To Know
Looking beyond the new additions, Fitness+ offers 11 other workout types: HIIT, Yoga, Core, Strength, Pilates, Dance, Cycling, Treadmill, Rowing and Mindful Cooldowns. The service rollouts new classes every Monday and unlike competing services—Peloton or Alo Moves for instance—all of the classes are on-demand. Fitness+ also offers audio-only workouts like Time to Walk or Time to Run. With the former, you’ll be guided through the walk by a personality or celebrity, as they tell stories from their lives. Season five of time to walk is live as of Jan. 9 with a kickoff episode from Jamie Lee Curtis. Fitness+ costs either $9.99 a month or $79.99 for the year, and the plan can be used by up to six people within the same iCloud family. There is a good chance you can get access to the service for free, at least for a month. If you’ve bought an Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad or Apple TV since last fall, you get three months of Fitness+ for free. If you’re new to Fitness+ and haven’t tried the service before, you may be eligible for a month for free. Additionally, if you’re a member of Target Circle you can get four months free. To use Fitness+ you either need an Apple Watch or an iPhone. The latter was a new way to use the service as of last Dec. with iOS 16.1, prior to this you needed an Apple Watch to use the service. With just an iPhone, you’ll still get to fill up your “Move” ring and access the classes from that device as well as an iPad or an Apple TV. With an Apple Watch, the experience gets supercharged as it can pull in real-time metrics and they’re displayed on the screen. If you’re new to Apple Watch we’d recommend checking out the second-generation SE. It’s super affordable at $249 and provides the full smartwatch experience. You can use watchOS apps on your wrist or even take a phone call, plus it can track activity and take heart-rate readings. Those who want more health data, like Blood Oxygen levels and the ability to take an ECG, should consider the Apple Watch Series 8. It boasts an Always On display that is stretched to the edges and those additional health features. Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.
