Apple Fitness+ expands with Time to Run and curated workout Collections

Apple’s Fitness+ service is expanding to include a few new motivational exercise features, something many of us here at Input could always use more of. The most significant addition is the Time to Run feature, an audio running experience meant to get you back in shape.

Just like its predecessor Time to Walk, the new Time to Run feature is comprised of a series of “episodes” narrated by Apple’s community of trainers. The episodes also include “motivating and energizing” music playlists curated by those trainers. Subscribers will be able to download those playlists for use outside of the episodes, too. The first three episodes will launch on January 10, with one episode releasing each Monday after.

A third season of Time To Walk will be added to Fitness+ on the same day, with episodes featuring big names like Chris Meloni, Chelsea Handler, Hasan Minhaj, Bernice A. King, and Rebel Wilson.

And Collections — Time to Run won’t be the only new feature Fitness+ subscribers wake up to on January 10. Apple is also introducing Collections that day — a set of curated workouts meant to help users hit specific goals. These Collections take existing Fitness+ classes and organize them into easy-to-follow regiments.

Six Collections will be available on January 10:

• 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

Towards a fitness empire — In just over a year, Fitness+ has grown to be a full-featured service capable of taking on industry giants like Peloton. That’s impressive for a company that, before 2020, had only the barest of fitness offerings.

The overwhelming success of the Apple Watch has been pivotal in building Apple’s fitness business. Once capable of merely tracking your heartbeat and how far you’d run at any given time, the Watch is now one of the best fitness trackers available across any brand. It’s just really hard to beat the Apple Watch, especially the latest Series 7.

Add to that Fitness+’s extensive offerings and you have yourself a winning formula for market success. Is Time to Run groundbreaking? No, it’s really not. But as Input senior reviews editor Ray Wong learned when he fell in love with Time to Walk, Time to Run might help you build good, healthy habits.

Where Apple really succeeds is putting all these services together across its family of devices. If you already have an Apple Watch and an iPhone and are looking for a full-service workout app, Fitness+ is a no-brainer.