Fitness apps were the unsung — or, truthfully, the very loudly sung — heroes of 2020. When the gyms closed and motivation went swiftly out the window, it was fitness apps [1] and virtual trainers [2] that picked up the slack and kept us moving.
The latest fitness app to catch our attention is by fitness influencer and personal trainer Meggan Grubb. Grubb was very active on Instagram during the lockdown, posting regular live workouts to her 1.4 million followers — and now she's channelled those workouts into Beyond [3].
Beyond is an app that hopes to support both your physical and mental health. As soon as you open the app, you can see it's a little different from some others on the market. The colour scheme is a calming sky blue, the logo is a cute cloud, and you're immediately greeted by name with a jaunty "Good evening!" (depending on the time of day) and a positive phrase that changes daily.
On the day I'm writing this, my phrase is "You have so much to offer as the person you are right now". It's clever, because while other apps might have the subtext of "let us help you change", immediately I am put into a different headspace with Beyond.
The other notable difference is the journal function built into the app. Each day, you're given a prompt and can write as much as you want on that topic. Maybe it's listing five lessons you learned that week, or what you're grateful for. All journal entries are saved in the app's "Gratitude Journal", so if you love to journal but always forget or lose your notebooks, you might like this feature.
The app is also loaded with recipes and workouts, so let's dive in. Keep on reading to find out exactly what we think of Meggan Grubb's new fitness app, Beyond.
The Workouts
The Beyond app has a heap of workout options, so, chances are, you'll find one that suits your exercise style. There are four programs, referred to as guides in the app, and you can select between three or five workouts per week. There are also real-time workouts to follow along with each day. The main difference is that the real-time workouts are essentially filmed workouts by Grubb who instructs you throughout the whole session.
For the guides, there are two that cater to at-home sessions and a further two for anyone who prefers the gym (for when gyms open up again [4], that is). These workouts are different to the real-time workouts. Instead of having Grubb as your instructor, you have a list of exercises (each with an instructional video, should you need it), and you can simply start the timer, then tick off each exercise as you complete it.
One thing I love about the workout plans is that they're all named around how they are designed to make you feel, rather than how you look:
- Embrace: a gym-based program for the "general gym-goer", which is designed with progressive overload in mind and has a pretty intense weekly split.
- Power: the second gym-based program, which combines EMOM and AMRAP — both known as being quite high-intensity workouts.
- Confidence: a home-based plan that's ideal for all levels. It does have a similar split to the "Embrace" guide to ensure you're hitting all of your muscle groups throughout the week, and it's designed to give you the same results as a gym without actually fronting up.
- Movement: the second home-based plan, you can expect a heap of circuit-style and HIIT workouts in this guide. Weights are not necessary here.
The Food
The recipe section of the app has been created in collaboration with The Good Bite [5], which is run by Grubb's partner, Niall Kirkland. In the way of vegetarian meals, there are between three and 20 options in each category (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and dessert).
For the standard meal plan — which I assume to mean there are no dietary requirements — there are about the same number of recipes, and for vegans, there are closer to between three and five options per category.
It's worth noting here that while the meals look appetising, they don't appear to be either designed or approved by a dietitian or nutritionist from what I can see. There is an option in the settings to show calories and the nutritional break down of each meal, if you like to have this kind of information at your fingertips.
The Community
There is an entire section of the app dedicated to the community, so if you're the type of person who loves to share and motivate other people (and need a little nudge in motivation yourself), then you'll probably love this feature.
The chatbox is divided into five sections that you can toggle between, depending on what you want to talk about: fitness, relationships, food, pets, and other. It's also very discreet, so if you prefer to jump into the app for a workout and then leave, you won't be bombarded with messages.
The Interface and Experience
Overall, Beyond is beautifully designed. I haven't had any glitches or major issues with the usability of the app. The workout videos loaded quickly, and navigating through the different plans was seamless and intuitive.
As for the recipes, it's really easy to add a meal to your day and view the selected meals along with your workouts and journal on the home screen. The one issue I had was that there is a button to view your shopping list and, unfortunately, this function did not work for me and my list remained blank, even after adding meals to my plan.
Who Is the Beyond App For?
In my opinion, this app is skewed towards people who already have some degree of fitness, want to be told what to do, and who don't want to have to think when walking into a workout (which I can relate to, for sure). Three of the four plans are focussed on intense full-body movements to either hit muscle groups hard, or get you huffing and puffing in a HIIT circuit, so if that's your thing, then you'll love it.
If you're looking for an app that will help you plan your meals, inspire you to get into the kitchen, and have a wide variety of meal options each and every week, then I'd probably look for an app that has a huge library of meals. Also, selecting an app with recipes that are approved by a dietitian is crucial to ensure you're getting all of the nutrients you need, and if you're already feeling a bit lost in the kitchen, having the stamp of approval from a trained medical professional is incredibly important.
It's important to keep in mind that this app essentially has one style of training, which, as we said, is great if that's also the style you love. Other apps like Chris Hemsworth's Centr [6] (£15 per month if you sign up for 3 months) or Kayla Itsines's Sweat [7] (£15 per month) have higher monthly membership costs, but have options for far more styles of training (particularly Sweat) and have recipes all approved by professionals. It's all about weighing up what's important to you.