Fitbit Premium vs. Nike Training Club

Getting in better shape is a common goal, whether it's to lose weight, tone, build muscle, or simply live a healthier life. Many of us have been working out at home, especially over the last few years with lockdowns leaving us little choice. Sure, places are reopening, but we realized that it's so simple to work out at home with the right equipment, guidance, and, of course, motivation. One of those essential tools is a fitness app with workout programs you can follow. There are plenty of them, some that do more than others, but we wanted to take a look at Fitbit Premium vs. Nike Training Club.

These two apps are quite different, with Fitbit Premium offering access to exercises and additional health metrics while Nike Training Club is mainly a workout app. Which one is right for you will depend on what you need, what you're willing to spend, and what other equipment you might already own.

Fitbit Premium vs. Nike Training Club: What they offer for training

Both Fitbit Premium and Nike Training Club offer hundreds of workouts you can follow along with to exercise at home. Both feature a variety of workouts to target every fitness level, from beginners to experts, with various styles, lengths, and intensity levels, from HIIT to yoga. In both cases, these programs include expert trainers and advice on health, wellness, and fitness. Nike has its own slate of trainers and Fitbit focuses on experts from its own selection of trainers and other brands. It even offers a paid upgraded option for one-on-one training if you want to get serious about your fitness.

However, Nike Training Club focuses more on progressive workouts and multi-work programs, whereas Fitbit has a series of one-off workouts you can combine how you like. Do the same one every day, or switch things up depending on your mood and level. There are also guided programs available with Fitbit Premium that range from one to three weeks, but nothing longer than that. 

I prefer the progressive programs because you can pick one, like Cross Training with Nike Training Club, which will lay out exactly what workouts you should do each day and week to complete a full program. With Cross Training, for example, there's one week with four cardio exercises ranging from 16 to 30 minutes, each followed by a week of lower body strength workouts. Then, you get two full-body burn exercises to close out three weeks. With Fitbit Premium, the guided programs are similar in that you can choose something like Full-Body Strong, for example, that blends short strength and mobility sessions in the first week followed by cardio and HIIT in week two, then concentrated leg, upper-body, and full-body days in week three. 

In both cases, you can easily cast the workout to a big screen TV and/or speakers and follow along. Both work with Android and iOS devices, but Fitbit Premium requires a Fitbit device for access. With some compatible smartwatches, you can even follow along with the workout right from the watch's screen. 

Fitbit Premium vs. Nike Training Club: Beyond exercise

Both Fitbit Premium and Nike Training Club offer features to track stats and provide guidance beyond just exercise, but Fitbit really ups the ante.

Because Fitbit Premium works as an enhanced version of the standard Fitbit app and in tandem with a Fitbit tracker or smartwatch, you can access features like advanced sleep and stress insights, meditation and de-stressing tips, mindful eating and other nutrition advice, and even calming stories. There are more than 200 mindfulness sessions that include guided audio tracks to help you relax your mind and/or sleep better. 

Sleep detection even includes snore and noise detection, while you get deeper details about your stress management score to help you identify stress triggers to make positive lifestyle changes. There's also a feature to help you better understand blood glucose trends through a personalized wellness report that's devised after looking at trends over a 30-day period (this should not be used in place of medical advice). With some trackers, like the Fitbit Sense, you also get advanced skin temperature details. 

Because the workouts come from the same app as your health monitoring, you can use data logged from your activity tracker or smartwatch integrated with your workout, like heart rate measurement, activity zones, calorie burn, steps, oxygen saturation, and more. 

On the other hand, Nike Training Club is just a standalone app you can use to keep track of workouts, but you won't get data like heart rate zones or workout summaries. You can still track a Nike Training Club workout from any smartwatch or fitness tracker, but the data won't be integrated into the app.

With compatible Fitbit devices, including the Sense, Versa 3, Versa 2, Charge 5, Luxe, and Inspire 2, you can also get something called a Daily Readiness Score. It takes into account your daily stats, including heart rate variability, activity, and sleep, logging the details over time to tell you when your body is at its best to exercise, and conversely, when you should take time to relax. 

Fitbit has many high-profile premium content partners as well, including Calm, Les Mills, EatingWell, Daily Burn, Popsugar, Deepak Chopra, Aaptiv, Aura, Ten Percent Happier, and Breathe. It even has programs featuring celebrities like Will Smith.

Nike Training Club doesn't focus on a lot beyond fitness, but you can get expert tips from Nike Trainers and the Nike Performance Council that are designed to help you build healthier habits. The guidance focuses on the five facets of fitness: training, nutrition, recovery, mindset, and sleep. New content is added daily — ranging from podcasts from Nike Mindsets, useful articles about sports bra fit, and new products — so there's always something fresh to check out.

Despite the differences, you can set goals with both, and Nike even has a cool workout scheduling feature so you can set dates and times that you want to exercise, then get reminders when it's time to do a workout program. 

Both offer motivation through things like badges and trophies, streaks, and milestones, and you can connect with friends on both for added motivation and encouragement. With Fitbit, you can also challenge friends to competitions and games, like step goals for the weekend or to keep on top of performance. 

You can play music from a compatible Fitbit device or wirelessly connected headphones. You can do the same with Nike Training Club using your smartphone or tablet, and it also connects to Apple Music so you can sync the tunes in your own favorite workout playlist to your workout. Nike Training Club also lets you download workouts to your device so you can follow them offline, which is convenient if you want to do some yoga in a local park or at your gym where there isn't an active (or reliable enough) Wi-Fi connection. 

Fitbit Premium vs. Nike Training Club: Price and usage

For easily tracking workouts, how these jive with the rest of your health and wellness goals, and how things like lack of sleep or hydration might impact performance, Fitbit Premium is the best option. But it's only for Fitbit device owners. If you simply want an app for workout guidance, especially with progressive programs, that you can use with any watch or tracker, Nike Training Club is a great option. You will have to use it separately from your fitness tracker, but the fact that it's free is a huge plus. 

Additionally, joining Nike Training Club, which simply involves downloading the app (there's an easy QR code method right from the website) and entering some basic information, also gives you access to special promotions from the brand, including workout gear and apparel.

Fitbit Premium, by contrast, comes in at, well, a premium price: $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. But most new Fitbit trackers and smartwatches come with a lengthy free trial that can range anywhere from three months up to a year, so you have the opportunity to try for an extended period of time before you buy.

Fitbit Premium vs. Nike Training Club: Which should you get?

It might seem like Fitbit Premium is the logical choice if you own a Fitbit smartwatch or activity tracker, but this isn't necessarily the case when it comes to Fitbit Premium vs. Nike Training Club. 

If you want a fully holistic picture of how all your health and wellness metrics work together, Fitbit Premium is the better option. You get access to workouts and additional deeper dive data into sleep, stress, and more that can give you a better idea of how to make positive changes. The Daily Readiness Score can help you determine if you should be working out in the morning, lunchtime, or night to maximize results. Fitbit Premium offers a wealth of workouts in a variety of styles, and the mindfulness content is second-to-none. But all these features do come at a cost. 

Nike Training Club, on the other hand, is completely free. I love that there are progressive workouts because one of the toughest parts about getting motivated to exercise is knowing what to do each day. With this app, you can select a program, then follow it with different workouts each day that complement one another and help you slowly progress through your fitness journey. 

If you have purchased a new Fitbit device, it's not a bad idea to sign up for Fitbit Premium and use your trial period to check out the upgrade. This will give you a good indication of whether it's worth keeping or whether you can make do with Nike Training Club. 

Regardless, both Fitbit Premium and Nike Training Club are among the best fitness apps for Android. For overall wellness and being able to track and see everything in one easy-to-use dashboard, Fitbit Premium is ideal…but only for Fitbit users. For simple workouts you can access along with useful tips, Nike Training Club is a nice supplemental offering you can use with any smartwatch or tracker, including Fitbit. And if you're just starting out, you'll appreciate the progressive nature of the workouts and features like drill videos to help make sure you're doing moves correctly. 

You can't go wrong with either of these apps, and with one being free and the other coming with a free trial, it's worth trying them both out to see which is the better fit to bring along for your health and wellness journey.