iFit just left Apple Fitness+ and Peloton for dead when it comes to peak fitness

(Image credit: iFit)

published 20 March 2021

Meet the iFit Guides

Kenton Cool: Cool has summited Mt. Everest a total of 14 times in his mountaineering career, once in the same week. Also, he's got the perfect name for the job.

Lydia Bradey: Bradey is the first woman to successfully summit Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen. She is also the only woman to have successfully guided a group of climbers to Everest’s summit five times. She'll build you up and never let you down.

Ang Tshering Lama: In 2017, Lama was part of the world’s highest-altitude rescue, during which he and his team saved two climbers at 28,215 feet elevation on Everest. He's always got your back.

How are you spending your next Motivational Monday? Here’s how I’ll be spending mine: casually meandering around the peaks of Mount-friggin’-Everest at 8pm (EST). In flip-flops and sports shorts. Because I can.

Yeah, that’s a pretty specific (read: pretty badass) activity, I know. And it’s being facilitated by my iFit-connected ProForm Pro 2000 treadmill, which I reviewed just a few days ago. It’s an elegant, unobtrusive piece of gym equipment, by treadmill standards anyways, but when it arrived at my doorstep last week, I sure didn’t know it could take me to Everest and back. Giddyup.

This Monday March 22 at 8pm EST, which is midnight GMT, iFit will be live-streaming a superb sunrise hike up Kala Patthar, the iconic 18,300-foot trail that culminates with an incredible view of Everest’s summit. This hike represents the ground floor of iFit’s upcoming “Everest: A Trek to Base Camp” series, an 18-part iFit workout scheduled to release in late Spring 2021; it focuses on steady-state cardio treks and active recovery sessions amidst the history-laden backdrop of Nepal.

In addition to the workout, members can learn about Nepal’s culture as they take in the stunning scenery. Now, Peloton Tread and Apple Fitness+ may have some cool guided workouts, but do they offer ways to exercise your body and mind in one go as impressively as this? I’d say not.

If you’ve been thinking about getting an iFit-connected cardio machine of late, this little excursion is a damn good advert for them. Although it may not be possible to get kitted out for it by Monday.

So far iFit comes as a 1-year free trial on some of the best best treadmill you can buy, including the aforementioned ProForm Pro range. It‘a also ready for you to try on some of the best rowing machines, including the Nordic Track RW900, as well as exercise bikes, and various elliptical trainers.

iFit’s LiveAdjust tech, automatically increases and decreases the incline, decline, speed, and resistance of compatible machines, through the trek, to match the terrain. I’ll be (hopefully) keeping pace with my nearby iFit Guides as they lead the way. This is as close as you can get to mountain trekking in your own home, and like a kind of Zwift with bells on.

For anyone who already owns iFit-equipped cardio gear, joining this exclusive hike (in your favorite Crocs and absolutely nothing else, if you so choose) is as simple as flipping on your machine, selecting “A Sunrise Trek on Everest'' from the Live tab on your touchscreen, and letting iFit’s expert guides take it from there. (Make sure to add the workout to your library soon, though, since bandwidth capacity may be limited for iFit's team in those higher altitudes.)

Don’t have an iFit-ready treadmill to hike on? No worries: Anyone with an iFit subscription can still tune in from their tablet or stream the hike to a smart TV. And hey, if you’re pumped about the prospect of puffing your way up Everest, you can sign up for a free 30-day iFit trial from your smartphone. You know, just to see what the hullabaloo is all about.

See you on the mountain, folks!

Find out more about the Everest hike on iFit’s Insta
Find out more about iFit equipment and app

As a freelance journalist, TJ has over a decade of multi-medium storytelling under his belt. Leveraging a quarter century of collective coddiwompling amid the ever-evolving landscape of wireless gadgetry, his unique editorial background allows him to explore a variety of tech-centric subsectors on this fascinating planet. When he's not field testing new gear in the Catskills, Adirondacks, or an actual field, he can be found sipping Negronis in his living room and crafting Dr. Seussian poetry inside a tattered moleskin.