Apple's artist-themed Fitness+ workouts start this Monday

It's been just over six months since Apple launched Fitness+ in December, and the company has been busy growing the service since. It added podcast-like audio stories in the Time To Walk series and workouts tailored to seniors and pregnant people, which helped broaden its reach and include those who prefer lower impact activities. At WWDC this month, Apple introduced new "artist spotlight" playlists and workouts by fitness instructor Jeanette Jenkins, promising they were coming soon. Today, we're getting more details on these features and a launch date: Monday June 28th. They'll arrive alongside a new season of Time To Walk episodes.

One of the ways you could search for workouts in Fitness+ was by music — after all, some of us can only power through a mile or countless reps when our favorite tracks are blasting in the background. On Monday, Fitness+ subscribers will be able to pick workouts across categories like HIIT, Yoga, Dance, Strength, Treadmill and Cycling featuring playlists of songs by a particular artist. In addition to Lady Gaga, who Apple already said would be part of this feature, you'll find spotlights for Keith Urban, Alicia Keys and Jennifer Lopez.

Four workouts will be available at the start, and Apple is adding four new workouts (one from each artist) every Monday over the next four weeks. The sessions are 20- or 30-minutes long and Apple's trainers have curated these playlists to match their workouts. It's possible you'll start with a slower paced song (Fallin', perhaps) at the start or end. Tracks with greater climaxes (like Empire State Of Mind or No One) or higher beats per minute might score the middle.

As with other Fitness+ workouts, you can browse the workout detail page to see the full playlist before starting, and tap through to listen to the songs on Apple Music. The Artist Spotlight will have its own dedicated shelf in the app, too. If you don't use Fitness+ but have Apple Music, you can also find these playlists and use them to soundtrack your time at the gym.

Of course, services like Peloton already offer a similar feature, with many more artists available. Lady Gaga and Alicia Keys are in Peloton's artist series library, which also includes sessions featuring Britney Spears, Verzuz, Calvin Harris, Bon Jovi, BTS, Bob Marley, Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, Madonna, Megan Thee Stallion, Metallica, Outkast and more. Blinks (Blackpink fans) like myself were excited to see the Korean pop group as an option there, too.

But not only does Apple offer the option to get its playlists in the Music app, its Artist Spotlight workouts are all on-demand, while the majority of Peloton's require tuning in at a set time. Given the amount of influence Apple wields plus the fact that it has a music streaming service, it's likely we'll see many other artists show up in the Fitness+ spotlight in time.

Also coming to the service on Monday are new workouts led by guest trainer Jeannette Jenkins. You'll find them in the HIIT and strength categories, and she said she crafted these sessions especially for Fitness+ so you won't find the same sets of movements elsewhere.

Finally, Time To Walk Season 2 will also debut Monday, kicking off with an episode starring Gina Rodriguez. This season will feature more than 20 episodes and wrap up around Thanksgiving in late November. Apple is breaking its tradition of keeping its upcoming guests secret in an effort to surprise listeners, and shared the names of almost half of the new lineup. They include Naomi Campbell, Randall Park, Cynthia Erivo, Stephen Fry, Anthony Joshua, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Joan Benoit Samuelson and Marsai Martin. If you feel like going on a walk while listening to one of these personalities tell you a story about their life, the new Time To Walk season may be of interest.

As a reminder, Fitness+ costs $10 a month and requires an Apple Watch tied to your account. You can play the videos on your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.