Background

I have been using Fitbod for the last 4 months or so and wanted to share my experience using the app to get fit. I am not a trainer and have no professional experience in exercise, but I have been lifting weights in some capacity for over 20 years and I have learned a lot over this time period.

I have built my own gym at home over the last 5 years or so, starting with a power tower, a barbell and a bench. Luckily I had this equipment before COVID-19 hit and suddenly everyone couldn’t use their favorite gym anymore and everyone was also trying to get equipment to workout at home. I currently have a squat rack with pullup bar, a barbell and 100 lbs of bumper plates with 17.5 lbs of incrementing plates, dumbbells from 5-25 lbs, a set of 4 bands, a set of rings, a 10 lb wall ball, 2 kettlebells, a jump rope, a belt to do weighted pullups, and padding for the floor space in my garage. I also live in a large neighborhood with lots of sidewalks and trials that connect to other neighborhoods to go for a run/walk/bike ride.

So, I like to workout and try do so about 3 times a week. When I heard the ad for Fitbod on the Kottke Ride Home Podcast, I was intrigued. I decided to give it a try since I trusted the recommendation from the podcast (it is great if you haven’t listened to it). I had a month to try it out without any risks, so I gave it a shot.

Using Fitbod

I found Fitbod easy to setup, for the most part. I like that I can set different profiles for different gyms, like home and (if COVID goes away) the YMCA for instance. Under each profile I can set what equipment each gym has so that Fitbod will generate workouts with all of the available equipment. I can also select the workout duration, my experience level working out, bodyweight only, fitness goals (I chose general fitness rather than increasing muscle mass or fat loss or any of the other profiles), circuits and supersets, cardio, and training splits. Using these settings, you could generate an almost limitless variety of workout schemes and individual workouts.

The great thing about the app is you don’t have to think about making the workout or getting bored doing the same workout many different times. Almost every time I workout with Fitbod I get a great workout that leaves me comfortable empty (of energy), appropriately sore, and feeling like I got a great workout that makes me look forward to what the next workout will be.

There are timers built into the app to show how long to rest or how long to do an exercise, making it really easy to use with audible cues in my headphones when I am working out as well. Supersets go to the next exercise automatically and when you complete an exercise with a new record (because it records all of the data you enter to continually build you the best workout) a little splash celebration shows on the screen, just enough to not be annoying but to let you know it is tracking your data. Oftentimes I will get a set of exercises that ask me to give 100% on the exercise for the last 2 sets, afterward adjusting the weight for the next time the exercise appears in a workout. Also, you can leave feedback after the last set of an exercise to say how difficult it was to perform (from no effort to max-effort).

I love not having to think much about the workout, other than the length of time I want to workout and if I have a part of my body that might be injured. Exercise substitutions are very easy to do with a swipe if you so choose. I have programmed my workouts in the past, but with all of the responsibilities of being a parent of 3 kids of two full-time working parents (and home school during COVID), it leaves little time to program my workouts (as much as I enjoy it) and I have had lapses in the past because of growing bored with a workout I have planned to do over time. With Fitbod, I never get bored, and I always get a great workout that makes me wonder what will happen next time. The flexibility that it gives is amazing as well, because it works on percentages of muscle recovery. So, if you want to workout two days in a row, you don’t have to worry about overdoing it in a particular muscle group, because Fitbod already has that covered. It also suggests exercises that I wouldn’t have thought to incorporate, but end up being fantastic and leaving my body feel balanced.

In Conclusion

If you regularly go to a gym and wonder aimlessly from machine to machine, or have a routine that you stick to and have for years, or are still tracking your exercises in a notebook, Fitbod is a great solution to break up the monotony, get a great workout, and leave you with time to spare to plan something more exciting than your next workout. It is fairly inexpensive ($10 USD/month or less each month with a longer initial purchase). The flexibility to set up different gym profiles and edit the duration and concentration of each workout with a couple of touches leaves me with no excuse not to workout. Because of this, I have been very consistent in my workouts over the last 4 months and I can’t see that changing anytime soon.

Let me know in the comments if you have an questions that I did not cover in this review. It really is the app I have been wanting for a long time to get a great workout using all of the available equipment I have over time and not something I have to make modifications for because the workout suggests something I do not have. Give it a try or let me know what you think if are already a user in the comments.