exercise

Apple reportedly wants to use the power of artificial intelligence to create a virtual coach integrated into Apple Watch.

In addition, Apple’s Health app allegedly will get new features for those with vision problems, and to help users track their moods.

Peloton on Tuesday released a version of its exercise app for Apple TV. With a subscription, users of this app can tune in to classes on stretching, cycling, yoga and more.

All of this is available from home. That’s surely a boon for those unwilling to go to a gym.

Stuck at home, unable to go to the gym, or worried about the safety of taking a jog? That shouldn’t prevent you from getting in your daily physical activity. Exercise is key to physical and mental health, after all. And this app offers ways of staying active even while you stay put.

You’re probably a bit more active than your iPhone’s built-in pedometer suggests that you are, a new study carried out by researchers at the University of British Columbia claims.

The study found that the iPhone misses around 1,340 steps during a user’s typical day when compared to a purpose-built accelerometer worn on the waist. That’s an average of 21.5 percent of the steps that you take on a daily basis.

But don’t be so quick to blame the iPhone. It turns out that this is partly the fault of users!

The holidays are finally upon us and Apple has a really good suggestion on what you should buy your loved ones for Christmas present: The Apple Watch.

Apple published four new ads today that highlight how the Apple Watch is a great exercise companion, whether you take it running, swimming, snowboarding or to a soccer game. Each ad is only 15 seconds long and uses some trippy visuals to get you in the shopping mood.

Check it out:

Apple’s software vision for the Apple Watch was unveiled during the company’s WWDC 2017 event today in San Jose, revealing a host of new features coming to wearers’ wrists later this year.

With watchOS 4, Apple’s designers have focused on making the device more personal than ever. Siri is more powerful than ever thanks to some new machine learning tricks that make the personal assistant absolutely indispensable.

People in wheelchairs no longer get treated like second-class citizens when it comes to Apple Watch’s fitness-tracking features. With the recent watchOS 3.0 update, which brings lots of big changes to the fitness-oriented wearable, Apple Watch wheelchair workouts can be tracked after a quick and easy setup.

Aetna, one of the largest U.S. health insurance providers, revealed today that it will subsidize a major portion of Apple Watch costs for customers as part of a new initiative.

The company will combine its own wellness and care-management programs with the power of iPhone and Apple Watch to create new iOS apps that it says should significantly improve customers’ ability to manage their own health.

I finally have a reason to stop cheating on my Apple Watch.

For the past 16 months, Apple’s wearable and I have had an on-again, off-again relationship. The Apple Watch looks great. It helps me stay fit. It tells the time really well. But it hasn’t been the complete wrist solution I need.

With the Apple Watch Series 2, a lot of the compromises of Apple’s first-gen smartwatch have finally been fixed. You can get GPS without carrying your iPhone. The new Apple Watch is water-friendly. And it’s built for speed. But with the new, less-expensive Apple Watch Series 1 getting some of the same features, is the Series 2 seriously worth the upgrade?

While working on this Apple Watch Series 2 review, I’ve been wearing the new device everywhere I go ever since it came out Friday. The short answer is, “hell yes.”

If you’ve just bought a shiny new Apple Watch Series 2, hoping it will help you get in shape, then here’s some advice: Invest a little time setting it up so your wearable is tailored to your personal fitness level and goals.

These quick and easy setup tips will help you get the most out of your Apple Watch fitness routine.

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from the new Cult of Mac Fitness Handbook. It’s coming soon, loaded with iPhone and Apple Watch fitness tips — and it will be exclusively free for Cult of Mac readers.

With the addition of GPS, you might imagine Apple Watch is now a credible runner’s watch. Not so fast.

It may have made a big splash with swimmers, but to appeal to runners, there are more issues that Apple needs to address. Like a screen that stays on while you are running, and controls that still work when you get really sweaty.

All hell broke loose last week when Nike relaunched its much loved Nike+ Running app with a new offering called “Nike+ Run Club.” Plagued with bugs, sluggish performance and missing features, this update has infuriated some of Nike’s most loyal users, including me. Nike+ Running used to have an impressive 4.5 star rating on the App Store. Since the update, this has plummeted to just 1.5 stars. And Nike’s Facebook and Twitter accounts are now flooded with gripes.

So what happened? How could a single update turn one of the best iPhone running apps into one of the worst?

Apple Watch is getting a ton of new features this fall for fitness freaks, giving wearers the ability to not only track their own fitness better than ever, but also go head-to-head with other Apple Watch-loving friends.

With iOS 10 and watchOS 3, Apple Watch owners can share their Activity rings to view each other’s progress and compete to be fittest person in the clique. Here’s how to get started:

Millions of people go running with their iPhone or Apple Watch every day. Logging runs is one of the main features of just about every fitness gadget on the market.

So should you join the sweaty masses and start using a running app? Not so fast. Not everyone is suited to running, and it won’t develop all aspects of your fitness. Plus, there are loads of other kinds of exercise you could be doing instead. What makes running so special?

If you’re using an exercise app for your iPhone, you’re probably not getting as good a workout as you’d hope, according to the results of a new study.

Apple’s approach to fitness is all about cardio and burning calories.

That’s great if you’re into running or cycling. But for other kinds of exercise, like bodybuilding or yoga, it’s not relevant at all. And if you want to lose weight, cutting the calories you eat is usually more important than burning calories through exercise.

So why does Apple Watch focus exclusively on cardio, and what does this means for people using one to get in shape?

The promise of rock-hard abs is still not incentive enough to get many men to the gym. But promise a rock-hard — well, you know — and you might launch a boner-fide exercise craze.

The makers of Private Gym guarantee “100 percent satisfaction” for gents and their partners, thanks to a pelvic fitness program that includes a rather chunky-looking piece of wearable tech.

You probably made a lot of New Years resolutions to get off your butt and work out. You probably said you were gonna work out five times a day. Maybe more. Maybe you said you’re going to do one of those cool juice diet cleanses with a side of anorexia.

For those of us who made all these exercise goals, but are still binging on cheeseburgers, there’s an amazing — if not extreme — FitBit hack that can help. With just a FitBit activity tracker and a Belkin WeMo internet-controlled power outlet, you can set your daily activity goal, and if you don’t reach it, the system cuts power to everything plugged into your Belkin Wemo to give you some extra motivation to go jogging.

One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.

This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.

We’re running a little behind, so playing catch up today by posting our first and second day picks along with our choice for December 3rd.

Our Day 1 choice? FitBit, an awesome iOS accessory that can help you get healthier and more fit in no time.

The Wahoo Blue HR ($79) heart rate strap performs a neat trick: by pairing with your iPhone (4S or 5 only) via Bluetooth, it allows you to transform your favorite iOS device into any of the amazing heart rate monitors available on the App Store today. Even better, it works with all the best cycling and running apps too, so now you can monitor your heart and calories on your rides or runs.

It’s Labor Day in the U.S.A. which means you’re probably all hanging out by the pool, barbecuing, drinking, and doing stupid stuff as a way to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers in the past. It doesn’t really make sense, but who cares.

When you get back to work tomorrow though, break time is over. To help you get back into the swing off things, we’ve rounded up the 10 best productivity apps for iOS.

Every morning, I scrape myself off of the bottom of my hangover’s hobnailed boot and try to make it down to the gym. About two-out-of-five times, I’ll oogily succeed and manage to douse myself in the pool until I’ve either done fifty laps or turned the water fifty proof, whichever comes first.

If only there was a way to be better motivated, I’ll often think to myself. Which is why I’m intrigued by a partnership between GymPack and RunKeeper, that will not only award me real money when I successfully drag my carcass to the gym, and actually penalize me money when I don’t.

There’s no point in exercising if you can’t tell your friends all about it afterwards, right? Well, if you’re a Nike+ FuelBand user, you now have yet another outlet through which to broadcast your latest jog. Version 1.2 of Nike+ FuelBand for iPhone introduces Path integration, background syncing, offline browsing, and more.

I want to lose weight. Really. I mean, I just gained 30lbs over the last 18months thanks to the magical folks at Chipotle and it’s time for a change. Problem is, every time I invite my friends to come jogging with me plans fall through and then I have another excuse to inhale half of a blueberry cheesecake.

Admittedly, I’ve sunk pretty low, but I’m not sure if I’ve reached the point where I need a robot to whip me into shape. Maybe I do though, and the guys behind the Joggobot have created one of the oddest contraptions to help nerds lose weight by chasing them around with a deranged robot quadrocopter.

This is it, people — this is the year your New Year’s resolution to get fit really takes hold. This year, you’re going to stick it, and we’re going to show you how.