Apple Fitness+

Juneteenth and Black Music Month on Apple Fitness+

Round-up of Fitness+ workouts: June 14, 2021

This week sees the convergence of Pride Month, Black Music Month, and Juneteenth. It gave me hope for some inspiring workouts that combined strong social messages and rocking music.

Fitness+’s newest coach Jonelle introduces some of this week’s highlights. For Black Music Month, there is cycling with Bakari, which has a playlist featuring “all Black musicians for all generations”. There is also Greg’s strength workout, which showcases an old-school playlist. Jonelle also dedicates her yoga practice to Juneteenth, in a “celebration of the freeing of enslaved people in America… and reflecting on the past, present, and future.”

THE WORKOUTS

I had 8 favorite workouts this week (up from 5 last week), which is a good sign.

1. HIIT with Kim (30 minutes; Upbeat Anthems). Featured in the “Celebrating Pride section”, this workout also included two of Fitness+’s LBTQ+ trainers, Tyrell and Jhon. The theme of the workout was “block party” and the playlist was a combination of well-worn anthems by Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, and Whitney Houston (also tying in with Black Music Month) as well as newer beats by Pabllo Vittar and Todrick Hall. The structure was appropriate for a 30-minute HIIT workout, 3 blocks of 3 different exercises, with a moderate-intensity active recovery (an inchworm plus burpee combination). I’m a little over exercises using “rainbow arms” to acknowledge Pride Month though. (Active Calories: 278)
2. Yoga with Dustin (30 minutes; Chill Vibes). A relatively rare “slow flow” routine from Dustin, this practice is great for stretching those tight muscles in the lower body. I loved the focus on twisting moves to release tension as well as on restoring proper body alignment. The pace is perfect, allowing enough time to pay attention to major muscle groups like the gluteals, hamstrings, and quadriceps. I have already done this practice twice this week and have bookmarked it for future use. (Active Calories: 137)
3. Cycling with Tyrell (30 minutes; Throwback Hits). I wish I had access to a stationary bike to do this feel-good workout that has Pride front and center. As Tyrell said, it’s time to “let your freak flag fly” and celebrate what makes us weird and unique. Tyrell’s higher-than-ever motivation and energy were infectious. The workout is structured based on 5 sing-along anthems from The Weather Girls, Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, Deborah Cox, and the Pussycat Dolls. Each song climaxes in a gut-busting all-out interval.
4. Yoga with Jessica (45 minutes; Chill Vibes). The new yoga workouts hit the spot for me this week. The balance of strength and flexibility elements in this energetic flow helped soothe the aches that came a day after receiving the first dose of my Pfizer vaccination. It was also nice to see Jessica incorporate moves associated with other trainers like Dustin and Molly. (Active Calories: 202)
5. Yoga with Jonelle (20 minutes; Hip-Hop/R&B). There was a strong connection to Juneteenth. The practice was structured around the themes of “strength, freedom, resilience”. This was reflected in choice of poses, especially the various Warrior combinations (I, III, II, Humble, and Exalted). It ended nicely with a call to “reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and hope for the future”. (Active Calories: 102)
6. Dance with Ben (30 minutes; Throwback Hits) Any workout that features “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by the Eurythmics gets an automatic shout-out from me. There wasn’t any explicit connection to Pride, Juneteenth, or Black Music Month but I can’t fault any ’80s playlist that features Bananarama, Paula Abdul, Gloria Estefan, and Cyndi Lauper. I also like that this dance workout builds to a final performance as it gives beginners like me more time to learn the moves. (Active Calories: 138)
7. Cycling with Bakari (45 minutes; Hip-Hop/R&B). This workout embraces Juneteenth and Black Music Month in its playlist. Playlist featured inter-generational artists including Earth, Wind & Fire, The Five Stairsteps, Mary Mary, Nicki Minaj, and Drake. It seemed like a nice, intense workout and I look forward to trying it out sometime soon.
8. HIIT with Jamie-Ray (20 minutes; Everything Rock). Jamie-Ray’s combat-inspired workouts are always a welcome change from the usual HIIT exercises. All are full-body moves; some have plyometric elements for an additional kick (pun intended). The playlist rocked (pun also intended). (Active Calories: 155)

FINAL THOUGHTS

There were many gems in this week’s workouts. Some of the shorter, 10-minute workouts, like yoga with Molly and core with Gregg deserve some love too for making good use of the limited time to showcase playlists celebrating Black Music Month.

It might have been good if there was a little more explanation about Juneteenth beyond a perfunctory note that it celebrated the end of slavery in America. It is something of a missed opportunity to educate the global users of Apple and Fitness+ to the social and moral significance of the holiday, especially since it was finally established as a federal holiday this year.

Fitness+ might also consider retaining past introductory videos for people who missed out for one reason or another. This can easily done by adding a “Show All” button like with the rest of the sections. After all, some of the events (like Pride Month or Black History Month) last the entire month.