I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for Apple to bring Fitness+ to India. Thankfully, the online workout program finally debuted in the country this week, and Apple is once again being strategic around the pricing. Fitness+ costs just ₹149 ($1.65) a month in the country, and a yearly plan is just ₹999 ($11), which is a sheer fraction of what it costs in the U.S. ($79) and U.K. (£79).
I tried plenty of online workout programs over the last four years: I started out with India’s Cult Fit, and while it has a strong content library, it wasn’t engaging. I then switched over to Les Mills, and it was much more to my liking, and it had a wide variety of bike-related workouts. I moved to Peloton as I got a new bike, and it was the program I used the most — even though it was the costliest by far.
All this time, I just wanted Fitness+ to be available in India. I wear an Apple Watch daily, and I cast workouts to the TV or use my iPad Pro M4, and it’s great to be able to use Apple’s workout program. Fitness+ has a vast selection of guided programs, including HIIT, cycling, yoga, strength training, and meditation, and it integrates seamlessly with Apple products — obviously.
The biggest factor with an online training program is the energy of the presenter, and this is one of the reasons why I stuck with Peloton for close to a year. Thankfully, Fitness+ does a great job in this regard, and it has a diverse set of presenters alongside great production quality. There are no live classes, but that isn’t a big limitation for me.
Overall, I’m enjoying just how easy it is to use — it’s integrated into the Fitness app, and you can pause workouts with your watch. The affordability is a big selling point, and this is where Apple is doing all the right things; all new users get a free month of Fitness+, giving you the ideal opportunity to try out the program and see if suits your needs.
If anything, the introduction of Fitness+ in India shows just how far Google still needs to go. While Fitbit Premium has been available in India, it is without a doubt the weakest offering of any online training program, and Google’s constant efforts to hobble it over the last two years have made it a non-starter.
Even though Apple took its time to bring Fitness+ to India, the service isn’t limited in any way in the country, and you can easily access the entire content library, download workouts, create a custom training plan, and all the features you get in the global version. The only thing left to do is actually use the service consistently.
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