This is Technology Bytes, episode 101 for February 9th, 2025.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
Enjoy, and here we go.
So today we’re going to talk about another Apple technology, surprise, surprise.
And in this little coverage of a topic, I’m going to talk about, um, Apple Fitness on my microcast for today.
Now, the first question that might pop into your head is, is Apple Fitness really a technology?
Well, maybe it isn’t fully, but that is where it starts.
I mean, Apple Fitness is something that happens inside a technological world.
In fact, you can’t use it without having some level of technology.
So I just want to talk about my experience with it and how I use it.
Maybe a little background to start.
Apple Fitness is an app, uh, maybe a health package.
I mean, it’s wrapped up into all that Apple is doing in health, but it gives you workouts, all kinds of varieties of workouts.
And the, you know, there are so many from, um, treadmill and bicycle and rowing and, um, exercise through hit high intensity interval training, core training.
Um, uh, they, they have so many, um, mindful cooldowns and weight training.
It there’s just a vast list of things that Apple has put together workouts that Apple has put together to help people create a more healthy lifestyle.
And while I was not necessarily unhealthy, when I got my Apple watch, I started walking and now that’s the one thing that Apple really doesn’t have in their Apple fitness, except for in a sense of a treadmill.
But I do my walking outside and, and I walk every morning.
Of course I use Apple technology.
I use Apple fitness to track my walking, to track the workout, how many calories I burn, all of those kinds of things, the distance that I go.
And, and then I also use Apple fitness for core workouts, for some mindful cooldown stretching after a high intensity interval training, which I do.
And then I also do it for weight training.
In my case, I just have a two adjustable dumbbell sets that, that will go from five to 50 pounds.
And, um, pretty much any weightlifting program on Apple fitness and it’s Apple fitness plus, I guess, to be real specific.
Is all with dumbbells.
So if you’re doing weights, it’s all with dumbbells and it’s on a mat, you don’t have to have a workout bench or anything else.
And they’re very good workouts.
There are some that I like more than others.
Most often I will do the full body workout because I want to work every part of my body.
And I do that three days a week.
And then the other three days of the week, I do some high intensity interval training.
And then the last day of the week, or the first day to me is Sunday.
And that is really my off day.
I do a stroll.
I still go two miles, but I don’t try to do it fast and mostly I do that because my insurance company pays me to walk and I get two bucks for doing that.
So I guess it’s worth a half hour.
I know it’s not, I mean, what’s that?
Four bucks an hour.
So, you know, not really what I get paid in my everyday walk, uh, everyday work, but, but still it’s free money.
Um, so I have been doing Apple fitness workouts now for yikes, I think going on six years, maybe.
How long has it been available?
Pretty much from day one, I’ve been using it and it really does help me to stay active.
It helps me to, um, keep my muscles working.
I’m not trying to gain muscle.
I’m not doing it in that aspect.
I really want to stay kind of fit, keep my muscles active, being used in a resistance training mode.
Um, I do some core work, which I haven’t done a lot of in my lifetime, but I find that to, to help as well.
I’ve got a relatively bad back from childhood.
And so that helps me keep my, my core helps me keep my back in line most of the time.
And I really do enjoy the work and the, the benefits that come from it.
And so I do, um, workouts with the Apple fitness on my main TV in my living room and just run it, um, in connection to my Apple watch.
And so it tracks everything, all my vitals while I’m doing those workouts.
And so you get to see what your heart rate does, how well you recover.
And it keeps track of all that data for you and lets you know how you’re doing.
I know there are other workouts that you can do similarly with the similar technology, I guess, in that, you know, YouTube has channels, you know, my wife has done some of those, but because I live in the Apple ecosystem, I find that Apple fitness does everything I want it to do for me.
And they are starting to expand it a little bit, just this year for the first time they did a, what was called three weeks of progressive strength training.
I already did that three week exercise program.
I will repeat it at least probably two more times throughout the year, if not more, I thought it was a pretty good program and they continue to add and build so that they can reach more of an audience.
And, and so I enjoy it.
I find that it motivates me to stay healthy, to, um, stay active and to work out.
It hasn’t necessarily motivated me to eat better, but maybe they’ll add something like that in the future.
I’m not sure.
There are lots of calorie tracking programs, some easier than others to enter your food, but that’s a topic for another day.
But if you have access to Apple fitness, I would suggest trying it, whether it’s dance, whether it’s weightlifting, whether it’s yoga, whether it’s try, um, treadmill work, whether it’s a stationary bicycle work, a rowing machine, whatever you have available.
I think there’s probably a program that would fit what your abilities, capabilities, and what the equipment that you have would allow you to do.
So I find that it’s very helpful to me and I would recommend it highly.
Well, that is all I have for today.
As always, I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bites microcast.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, you can send them to technologybites at merrickfamily.com.
And I look forward to the next time we are together taking another bite of technology.
