Launched just over a year ago, the Fitbit Premium service has grown into its own with actionable coaching that could replace a gym and personal trainer. Looking at the proactive insights it can provide, it becomes clear why over half a million users are opting to pay R150 per month for the service.
Fitbit says the typical digital fitness app user that pays for a service tends to subscribe to several paid services simultaneously, and users in the US pay on average $174 (R2 800) per year for these services. The Premium programme aims to combine the functionality of all these apps into a holistic view of one’s health that current offerings lack.
After using the service for three months, it became clear Premium is the offering one needs to fully realise the capabilities of their Fitbit. A Fitbit, by itself, can tell users about their metrics at different points in time, like how fast their heart was beating at different points in the day. While this is useful to some, the average user doesn’t really know what to do with this information. This is where Premium comes in with its actionable insights, which can explain what your heart rate means now, as well as how heart rate has changed in the long term.
The service also offers cross-metric insights. For example, one could be told: “When you walk more than your average 8,502 steps, you get 7 more minutes of deep sleep, helping you feel more rested. Keep stepping to improve your chances of better sleep tonight.” These personalised insights allow users to take actions to improve their health.
It also generates a “Wellness report”, which is an overview of your health data, including stats and charts about heart health, weight, sleep and activity that can be used to facilitate conversations with healthcare professionals.
On top of insights, Premium provides users with access to thousands of dynamic video and audio workouts from certified personal trainers in the Fitbit Coach. These workouts are personalized to you based on your goals and feedback to help you become stronger and improve your overall fitness.
Along with videos, users will have access to new adaptive challenges and games that introduce new metrics, including active minutes and distance, and the ability to customise the length of each challenge. These new collaborative and adaptive challenges allow users with different activity levels to participate and stay engaged by working toward a common shared goal or tailoring your daily targets to your level. Fitbit says of those participating in challenges, 72% of users take an average of 1,100 more steps per day.
The last big feature is mindfulness. The service has over 100 mindfulness practice sessions help users manage stress, improve focus, relax, improve body positivity, or unwind before bed, including sessions from Aura, Breethe, and Ten Percent Happier.
Fitbit Premium is available within the Fitbit app, under the Premium tab. The first three months are free, thereafter, the service costs R150 per month.