Artist-Themed Fitness+ Workouts, New ‘Time to Walk’ Experiences Coming Soon

When Apple’s Director of Fitness Technologies took the virtual stage earlier this month to talk about watchOS 8, she had more to say about what’s coming to the company’s Fitness+ service than she did about the Apple Watch itself, and the good news is that we won’t have to wait for the next Apple Watch software update before we can enjoy some of these new experiences.

During the presentation, Julz Arney mentioned that Apple’s Fitness+ service was poised to introduce a new series of workouts featuring fitness expert Jeanette Jenkins, alongside an Artist Spotlight series that would present focused workout playlists from leading music stars.

Apple has now announced that all this will be going live on Monday, June 28, alongside several new episodes for fans of its more casual Time to Walk workout series.

Artist Spotlight Series

The Artist Spotlight series will feature a set of workouts backed by full playlists of music from Alicia Keys, Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, and Lady Gaga. These artist-themed workouts will be available across a variety of disciplines, including HIIT, Yoga, Dance, Strength, Treadmill, and Cycling.

For now, however, it looks like the new series will unfold a bit more gradually, with only four workouts launching on Monday — one for each artist. Apple promises that new workouts featuring each artist will appear in the service across different modalities every Monday throughout the month of July.

There’s no better way to supercharge a workout than with the musicians who are a part of the Apple Fitness+ Artist Spotlight series — from Lady Gaga’s signature dance-floor anthems and Jennifer Lopez’s energetic global smashes, to Keith Urban’s pop-tinged country hits and Alicia Keys’s sophisticated neo-soul.

Zane Lowe, Global Creative Director, Apple Music

The playlists will include “motivating, high-energy tracks” from each artist’s catalog, along with collaborations and remixes, which Apple promises will create a “one-of-a-kind workout soundtrack.”

The Artist Spotlight workouts will appear alongside the current genre-based options like Upbeat Anthems and Latin Grooves.

New Time to Walk Experiences

For those who prefer to exercise at a more leisurely pace, Apple unveiled its Time to Walk Fitness+ workouts earlier this year, and now it’s expanding the service with even more interesting and influential people.

Time to Walk allows Apple Watch users to enjoy listening to stories from numerous celebrity personalities to keep them company while going for an outdoor walk. Stories often include a few photos, and end with a playlist of music chosen by the celebrity in question.

The service initially launched with Dolly Parton, NBA star Draymond Green, Emmy Award winner Uzo Aduba (of Orange Is the New Black fame), and pop musician Shawn Mendes, and has since expanded to include an eclectic collection of personalities such as Jane Fonda, Nick Jonas, Malcolm Gladwell, Wanda Sykes, Kesha, Anderson Cooper, Ibram X. Kendi, and more.

Now, Apple is launching “Season 2” of Time to Walk with a collection of new stars, including:

• Actress Gina Rodriguez from the TV show Jane the Virgin
• British Olympic boxing gold medalist and Heavyweight Champion of the World Anthony Joshua
• Award-winning actress, singer, songwriter, and producer Cynthia Erivo.
• Olympic marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson.
• Award-winning actress Marsai Martin, of Black-ish fame.
• Actress and singer Michaela Jaé “MJ” Rodriguez, from the award-winning drama Pose.
• Supermodel, activist, and businesswoman Naomi Campbell.
• Marvel and DC universe actor, writer, and producer Randall Park.
• CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
• Actor, writer, presenter (and huge Apple fan) Stephen Fry.
  

While Apple hasn’t shared a schedule of when we can expect each of these episodes, it normally releases a new one each week, so the list above will likely carry us through the summer. In the first new episode on Monday, Gina Rodriguez will talk about learning resilience from her dad and how she built confidence in everything from her body image to feeling part of a community.

New Workouts

Apple has also added a new Fitness+ trainer to its team, renowned fitness expert Jeanette Jenkins, who will be releasing seven workouts on Monday focusing on HIIT and Strength training. They’ll follow the same format as other Fitness+ workouts, although Jenkins will also be sharing songs from some of her favourite celebrity clients.

Jenkins is considered the first “featured guest trainer” to appear on the Fitness+ service, suggesting that this could just be the beginning of a trend.

Apple Fitness+ is available in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US for $9.99 monthly or $79.99 per year, and is also included in the $29.95/month Apple One Premier bundle. Apple is also still including three months of Apple Fitness+ with the purchase of an Apple Watch Series 3 or later, and existing Apple Watch users who haven’t tried the service already can still qualify for a one-month free trial.