REVIEW: FitOn
Let’s be real: exercise is not fun inherently. Those of you who actually enjoy this self-inflicted torture are wired wrong, I’m sure. However, it is definitely essential to living a life of mobility and happiness, so it is something I have chosen to prioritize the older I get. Though I’m sure I’d look fly in a walker, my home is four stories with 42 steps in it and I need thee stallion knees to maneuver it. Hence, I’ve chosen to provide a review for: FIT-ON.
First of all, what is Fit-On?
It’s a free app on Apple’s AppStore and Google’s Play. It provides free comprehensive workouts, recipes for healthy eating, and has a social element so that you can compete, partner with, and encourage your friends that have the app.
OVERALL RATING: User Interface: Workout Quality: Features: Ease of Use: Cool, now that that’s out of the way.. I’ve decided to break this review down into several parts: User Interface, Workout Quality/Efficacy, Features, and Ease of Use. If you’re lazy and need a quick shot, look to your right. If you want the whole enchilada and chitty bang bang, keep on truckin’:
USER INTERFACE
As a designer myself and a superficial Libra, looks are important to me. I am attracted to anything shiny and gorgeous, and I will say that this app does not disappoint. It is sleek, it is symmetrical, and it panes from screen to screen seamlessly. Look at you, Fit-On, you’re so smooth, when I’m around you, I can’t keep my cool.
PROs:
- Home tab is comprehensive and allows easy access to curated programs and courses generated by your profile.
- Workout tab has many categories and search capabilities which makes it easy to navigate and find what you are seeking.
- Advice tab is also easy to navigate with color coded categories which helps users quickly sift through content that is of interest.
- Meal planning tab has lots of filter capabilities and ever recipe has an image cover, which does well to make the food enticing.
CONS:
- The home tab is very busy. There are three different paths to exercising: Courses, Programs, Recommendations and there is little difference between the three. There is also an endless scroll of content that is unnecessary such as:
- A button to connect with friends.
- Trending/new workouts the team launched.
- Promoted exercises.
- Workouts from a trainer
- Challenges that you can opt to sign up for [yet another exercise path]
It literally goes on ad nauseam and can be very distracting for users.
While the UI is sleek, the bloated content on the home page detracts from the use case for this app. It’s an exercise app, and that should be the primary focus. Instead, FitOn seems to be more concerned with creating more of a social media platform.
VERDICT:
WORKOUT QUALITY & EFFICACY
I have worked out several times over the past couple of years with this app, and I will say, the offerings are great as it pertains to workout quality and quantity. There is a breadth of diverse workouts and trainers that can easily meet most every fitness enthusiast’s needs.
PROS:
- There are so many filters available, categories, etc that it is very easy to find what you want. You can select based on target area, fitness type [cardio, HIIT, Circuits, strength], trainer, time, the possibilities are endless.
- Live classes are offered with a schedule that is presented for you. If you have trouble building your schedule independently, signing up for the live classes may make you more accountable.
- Challenges are available that you can join with a friend so that you have someone to keep you motivated.
- The trainers are great about slowly showing you the correct form as well as telling you where you should feel the move in your body. Since they cannot actively correct your form, this added tidbit was great to ensure you knew to adjust your stature to make sure moves were performed as intended. Additionally, trainers also show alternative stances to ensure all activity levels can participate.
- Workouts are super effective. If performed correctly, you will feel the effects at some point in the aftermath, which means you can expect to see meaningful results with this app assuming you perform the workouts consistently [and are maintaining a healthy diet aligned with your fitness goals].
CONS:
- This is strictly an at-home exercise regimen. If you are seeking classes that allow you to use actual gym equipment without acquiring a personal trainer, this is not the app for you.
The workouts are the star of this app, and for a free one, there are literally a ton. If a home workout is what you’re seeking, then you are in the right place. There is a plethora of options that should keep any fitness junkie engaged for quite a while, and better yet, the FitOn group is always expanding the library.
VERDICT:
FEATURES
For a free app, this thing is stuffed with a lot of features. You get a lot of bang for your buck. To make this sweet, here is a short comparison of the free and pro version:
FREE VERSION:
- Integration with Apple Watch, Fit Bit, and Garmin that enables you to track your heart rate/calories burned as you workout.
- Chromecast/Air Play allows you to view the workout on a monitor/tv/etc
- You can invite a friend to your workout so that you’re able to do the exercise together.
- Advice articles place blogs at your finger tips.
PRO VERSION:
- Programs that are curated to meet a specific goal and are featured on the home ‘for you’ tab.
- Meal planning recipes and all content under the ‘Meals’ tab.
The free version accomplishes the overall goal: providing free workouts. Even without all the bells and whistles of pro, there is a comprehensive workout library.
VERDICT:
EASE OF USE
In general, it’s easy to begin working out right away. A quick tap of the workout tab will allow you to easily select an exercise to start moving. Additionally, when first installing the app, users are guided through form which asked what their workout goals are to find some preliminary exercises to get one started.
PAIN POINT:
- Limited ability for users to curate their own workout regime. This feature existed about a year ago. Users had the ability to plan their own program by adding workouts to their course which would feature on the ‘For You’ tab. They removed this, and now it’s difficult to plan ahead.
Removing this capability was a misfire. The For You tab is rendered pretty useless unless you are using the Pro version, and even with the Pro, you’re beholden to the programs that FitOn has curated which doesn’t give enough control.
VERDICT:
OVERALL: