If you haven't heard of British fitness influencer Grace Beverley, then we're pretty sure at least one of your friends has. In the same week she announced the launch of her fitness app Shreddy [1], she won the NatWest GBEA London's Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Shreddy is a fitness app filled with recipes, workouts, and a built-in community of like-minded people who're trying to better themselves. Though we're fans of the app and certainly have our own opinions, we wanted to break down some things to consider before downloading the app for yourself.
Grace decided to take Shreddy mobile after selling more than 200,000 PDF workout guides, and with over 1.5 million social media followers, we'd assume she has a pretty good idea of what people want and need in the fitness space. So is Shreddy worth the monthly investment?
How Much Does Shreddy Cost?
Shreddy currently costs £9.99 a month, £24.99 for three months (a 17-percent saving), or £79.99 annually (a 33-percent saving), depending on how you prefer to do things. Grace says that when working on the app and selecting an appropriate price, she was committed to keeping it under £10 per month, and well, she's just achieved that.
If funds are tight at the moment, then we can totally understand your hesitation in committing to yet another expense. The only answer we have for your concern is that it's a really personal decision. The app comes jam-packed with features (which we'll dive into ahead), from plant-based recipes to workouts and fitness trackers — all for £0.33 per day.
The Workouts
Shreddy has three workout programs: Fat Loss, Tone Up, and Lean Muscle. The program you are assigned is determined when you sign up via the Shreddy website [2], depending on what you select as your primary goal during the initial questionnaire. In addition to the three gym-based workouts already mentioned, there are two home workout guides available and they're aimed at fat loss or tone up.
Every plan has its own specific workout split of either three or five workouts a week — from full body to booty, abs, and cardio, too — and from there, you can choose how many workouts you can actually fit into your schedule. Every workout has a built-in timer, so you can keep track of how quickly you're working through the session, plus detailed videos that explain every stage of the workout, from the warmup to the finisher.
In addition to the workout plans, there is also a collection of real-time workouts that are between eight and 10 minutes long. These ones are designed to be quick (so you can fit them in) and easy to complete at home (for those days when you can't get to the gym).
The Meal Planning
One of the big differences between Shreddy and other fitness apps you may have used in the past is the nutrition aspect. The entire catalogue of recipes is plant-based, so you won't see any meat, dairy, or eggs in the nutrition plan. That said, every plan is nutritionist-approved and tailored to your personal goals as determined in the questionnaire you complete upon signing up.
The nutrition plan is also filled with food that shouldn't make you feel like you're giving up all of your favourite things in the name of abs. There are breakfast dishes like peanut-butter-and-jam bagels, lunches that involve jacket potato and "cheezy" beans, plus honey-roasted carrots as a snack. When you first go into your meal planner, each meal and snack will already be allocated for every day of the plan, but you can easily swap any of the meals to one of the other recipes on the app. I find this especially useful, because if I'm buying bagels or a full bag of rolled oats for breakfast, then I want to use them all up, rather than switching up my breakfast every day.
The Community
This is one of the features that I find most exciting. The Community section is like a message board or forum, and it'll be your one-stop shop for motivation and accountability. Instead of having to exit the app and join a group on social media, or log in to a website to post a question, it's all built into the app. Plus, the interface is seriously clever.
First, there are clear conversation categories so you know where to post your question or find people doing the same program you are. Then, all of the conversations look like a text message, so it feels a bit less daunting than posting to a website, or from your personal social media account. Of course, you don't have to join the conversation if you don't want to, but it's there if you decide you need it.
Progress Tracking
The Shreddy app has an in-built weight tracker, but not the kind you're thinking of. Instead of tracking your personal weight, this section of the app is designed to track every rep, set, and the weights you used while doing them. This is one of the features we find most exciting, because the weight tracker is built into the workouts. If the suggested weight is too heavy or too light — or the number of reps is too high or low — then you can easily change it up and record the weight you used, making it easier for you to track actual progress.
The Interface and Experience
Overall, Shreddy combines an easy-to-use design with a cute aesthetic, and insane shareability. The app's features are pretty simplistic, so while it doesn't track your daily water intake or offer more than one meal plan, it is incredibly easy to navigate. The plans are straightforward and easy to follow (but don't confuse that with us saying the workouts themselves are easy), and the recipes are suitable for beginners and easily allow you to track your progress. In our opinion, Shreddy is perfect for beginners, or anyone looking for foolproof guidance in the gym.