Apple Watch Fitness+ users gain Time to Run

Apple has announced new curated workouts and a brand-new audio-backed running experience for Fitness+ users. These new things will be made available from Jan 10.

What is Time to Run?

The brand-new audio-backed running experience is called Time to Run. The company says these are designed to help users, “Become more consistent and better runners, featuring popular running routes in some of the most notable cities.”

Each episode is composed of inspiring coaching tips led by a Fitness+ trainer. You can expect motivational, energizing curated music playlists designed to match each run’s intensity, location, and coaching, capturing the spirit of the city where the run takes place.

During Time to Run, users will also receive photos taken by the Fitness+ trainer of notable sights along their route. Photos will be available in the workout summary afterward, and users can save them to their photo library or share with others.

Time to Run will launch with three episodes: London, coached by Cory Wharton-Malcolm; Brooklyn, coached by Emily Fayette; and Miami Beach, coached by Sam Sanchez. One new episode of Time to Run will be released each week on Mondays.

For Apple Watch customers who use a wheelchair, Time to Run becomes Time to Run or Push, and once selected, it gives users the choice to start a run or an Outdoor Push Running Pace workout.

What about Time to Walk?

Apple has not forgotten about Time to Walk and will usher in the third season of these delightful walking accompaniments Jan 10.

Time to Walk features some of the world’s most interesting and influential people, who share stories, photos, and music with Fitness+ subscribers. I’ve listened to lots of these and think they provide great insights into the people you virtually meet narrating them.

Guests in the latest series include Bernice A. King, Rebel Wilson, Hasan Minhaj, Chris Meloni, Ayọ Tometi, Chelsea Handler and Sugar Ray Leonard.

Introducing, Artist Spotlight workouts

Apple is also introducing something new, Artist Spotlight workouts featuring music from Pharrell Williams, Shakira, and the Beatles.

The 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, such as cycling, dance or yoga.

“For me, a great playlist can make or break a workout,” said Shakira. “Music has that power to energize you and make it more fun, so I hope these playlists can be inspiring for the Apple Fitness+ users who choose them too!”

What are Collections?

Collections consist of curated collections of workouts and meditations gathered from across the 2,000 now available in the Fitness+ library organized to help help users reach their goal. Collections will include a suggested plan to help users make intentional training choices over the next several days or weeks.

The following six Collections will be available at launch:

• 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

What did Apple say?

In the press release announcing these tweaks, , Apple’s vice president of Fitness Technologies, Jay Blahnik, said:

“With these new additions, Fitness+ makes it easy to get motivated and stay active anywhere, with the most complete library of high-quality and diverse content to train your mind and body, no matter where you are on your fitness journey. We can’t wait for people to get motivated to reach their goals with Collections, and inspired by Time to Run’s exploration of iconic cities with rich running history.”

[Also read: Does Apple plan a Books+ subscription service?]

Apple Fitness+ costs $9.99/m ($79.99/y) and is also available within the Apple One Premier plan for $29.95 (US) per month. It requires an Apple Watch Series 3 or later paired with iPhone 6s or later.

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