App of the Week: Nike, the All-in-one Health App

The Nike Training Club from premium to free

At its release the Nike Training Club app used to be offered in a free version with limited access and a premium $14.95/month subscription to get access to all the workout routines.

Once the pandemic hit, gyms locked up and offices closed across the world, Nike changed their strategy and offered the premium features free for 90 days to help people stay in shape while being cooped up indoors. Nike sportswear sales quickly soared after abandoning the paid subscription model and Nike as a result decided to offer the app for free moving forward.

That’s your luck, because the app is packed with information about strength training, high intensity interval training, yoga workouts, nutrition and wellness tips and more.

Their new strategy combined with a fluent UI and logical UX made their app a market winner and the reason we have chosen it as App of the Week.

App install, smart watch and TV

When you first start the app, you’ll sign up for an account. It’ll then ask you about your sex and how many times you want to work out a week. It uses this information to customize workout plans for you to try.

If you are an Apple Watch owner you can sync the app to your watch and start monitoring heart rate, calorie burn and more exercise statistics.

You can also display all workout videos on your TV either by Airplay on iOS or Chromecast on Android.

Plenty of workouts in the app

In the main menu you can choose to dive right into the workout programs. The programs range from beginner, intermediate to advanced and can be selected based on muscle group, workout focus (endurance, mobility, strength or yoga) or equipment usage (basic, full equipment or no equipment)

Each workout is a well-choreographed video session guided by a trainer and his or her workout buddies. The instructions explained throughout the workout are easy to understand and you can get away with the occasional glance at the video because they are well explained. Every workout is so engaging that you almost are surprised once the timer reaches 0 and the class is over.

Fortunately, there are plenty of workout videos to choose from (currently 435), so chances are you will not run out of fresh content.

Healthy recipes for the fitness minded

The app is accompanied by healthy recipes low in calories and high in proteins. Each recipe includes the time to make it, what ingredients are needed and how much, instructions on how to make it and nutritional information. There’s a strong focus on vegetarian and gluten free recipes.

There is also a library of nutrition tips articles, such as “A Simple Way to Eat Healthier” and “5 Ways to Eat a Little Healthier Today”. They will have helpful advise on how to not feel deprived of food, shifting focus to other food groups and re-framing that treating yourself doesn’t mean giving up desserts.

How the Nike Training Club app motivates you

The great thing about Nike Training club is that the app is not trying to shame you into working out. It does send push notification reminders, but you can turn those off if they bother you. Instead Nike is motivating you by awarding achievements and trophies as you progress. It’s very video-game like but it’s a strategy that has been proven to work.

Get your own personal trainer to fit your schedule

The app also has personal trainers you can make use of. Each trainer has a specialty and is introduced with a bio, expertise, personality, and a link to workouts. Some have a short 1-minute video introducing them and showcasing their personalities.

You can dive right into working out with any of the instructions via their workout routine videos, but some of them expand the workout with a carefully assembled workout program.

The programs are split into stages, for example 6 stages, working out 4 times a week with each workout taking 45-75 minutes. With every program the equipment needed, the level of difficulty and a description of each stage is explained.

What is Nike’s incentive to offer a free app?

Nike is of course not posting hundreds of thousands of dollars into a free app for the incentive of just helping people out.

As mentioned in the beginning of this article, Nike quickly noticed growth in their sportswear sales after the app became free for everyone.

To make it easier for people to buy their products, Nike included a shopping section in their app where it’s easy to make a purchase.

You can’t really blame them for wanting to recoup the costs to build an app, fill it with professional content and continuously maintain it. They are a business after all and you are not obligated to purchase anything to reap all the benefits.