Apple Shared a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Its New Fitness+ Studio

Outside the door to the studio, there’s a quote that reads: “Please be responsible for the energy you bring into this space.” (A different team member selects a quote or mantra every month.) Blahnik opens the door, and inside, an instructor is warming up on a spin bike, about to start a cycling workout with two other trainers. “Fitness+ creates incredible workout experiences that are also beautiful.” Apple Watch debuted in 2015, and after several years of development, Fitness+ launched on December 14, 2020, with a library of around 200 workouts ranging in duration from ten to 45 minutes in ten modalities: strength, HIIT, core, cycling, walking, running, rowing, yoga, dance, and mindful cooldown. “We’re excited for Fitness+ to uniquely bring together great music, trainers, and the metrics from your Apple Watch—everything you need in a really simple, easy-to-access way with a goal of helping people exercise more,” says Apple’s chief operating officer, Jeff Williams. It’s hard for fit people,” says Blahnik. “The spirit of what we’ve been doing from the beginning is to try to make fitness, whether it’s your all-day activity or your actual workout, a little easier, a little more motivating, and a little simpler to measure.” He and his team spent several years examining how to bake different kinds of motivation into the Fitness+ experience. “When the trainer says in a HIIT workout, ‘Sprint all-out for 30 seconds,’ being able to see that time is an incredible motivator,” says Blahnik. “We needed trainers who are open to feedback from experts who know their stuff in that workout type, as well as fitness experts not in their space,” says Blahnik. There are two Apple fitness DJs who help the roster of 21 trainers find new music in nine genres and map their workouts to the rhythm. The concept of doing a workout to discover new music isn’t brand-new (thank you, SoulCycle), but Apple’s commitment to diverse musical options serves that goal of giving more people just a little bit more motivation to move.As the tour winds down, we dip into the control room, where a team of three direct the workout, control the lights, and direct the cameras.