Nike Training Club App Review

What is Nike Training Club?

It would be easy for Nike’s workout app to be something of an afterthought. After all, the fitness juggernaut is dominant enough—and its logo ubiquitous on the apparel of every level of athlete—that a branded app with a few well-produced workouts would’ve been plenty to keep its legions of fitness-minded fans satisfied.

But Nike Training Club (NTC) is far from a brand-boosting vanity project, offering comprehensive fitness programs and a wide range of workouts to suit all sorts of fitness goals. The app is available for Android and iOS, and it provides access to more than 100 strength training, cardio, mobility, and yoga workouts instructed via audio and demo videos. Best of all, it's free!

What we like about Nike Training Club

It queues up a program to try from your preferences

When I first downloaded the app, I took a basic quiz that asked things like what kind of workouts I like to do and how many times I usually work out in a week. From this, it directed me to a few programs: one focused on yoga, one focused on weightlifting, and the one I ultimately chose, that focused on bodyweight high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and core workouts.

The program workouts build on each other

All the workouts in the six-week program I tried are 25 to 40 minutes long—including a warmup and cooldown stretch—and they ramp up in intensity as the sessions go by, starting at an easy-intermediate level and ending at an advanced level. I found the pace appropriate. The first few workouts I did were pretty easy, but they helped to lay a foundation for my final sessions, which left me sweaty, panting, and sore—though without a doubt, I would have found them harder had I jumped into those ones first.

The program pace is customizable

Most Training Club programs take between four to six weeks to complete, with different “stages” that build upon one another, though that could vary depending on how frequently you want to exercise. Each stage has up to five workouts in it. The idea is that you do one stage a week, but you may move through them faster or slower based on your fitness level. When you start a program, the app asks if you want to receive push notifications to remind you to work out, which may be helpful for some people, but I like that the push notifications are optional (my phone yells at me enough).

The workouts are great even if you don’t follow a program

If you’re more inclined to use a fitness app to supplement your routine, NTC has a slew of workouts to choose from, ranging in length from 5 minutes to an hour. It’s simple to browse workouts by muscle group, workout type (including endurance, mobility, strength, and yoga), and the equipment you have on hand. It also has sessions inspired by famous athletes, including Simone Biles, Alex Morgan, and Cristiano Ronaldo, if working out like a pro interests you.

The app has good tracking and incentivizes you to keep going

Nike Training Club keeps a record of every workout you’ve done in its “Activity” tab, so it’s easy to check before you start if you’re repeating something. The Activity tab also gives you “trophies” for completing a certain number of workouts, working out several times in a week, working out at different times of the day, and so on. I didn’t find the badges a make-or-break feature, as far as incentives go, but they’re still fun to look through. And anyone who is new to their fitness journey may find it inspiring to see their achievements graphically.

What we don’t like about Nike Training Club

You can only do one program at a time

From what I can tell, you can only follow one program at a time. On one hand, this makes sense—it’s good discipline to stick to one thing if it has multiple components that build upon one another, and you don’t want to overtrain your muscles to the point of exhaustion—but some programs seem like they could easily be done concurrently like, say, a yoga and a strength training program.

Some programs require a lot of equipment

Some of the workout programs require a full gym, so if you don’t have access to one, you won’t be able to do those. That said, it’s clear from the start what will be needed to do a program, and the majority of the programs I saw required only bodyweight or simple equipment like a yoga mat and some free weights.

We experienced a few technical bugs

The workout videos stop completely if you close your phone’s lock screen—unlike some other apps that will continue playing audio, even if there is an accompanying video—so it may drain battery faster than other apps. For most of the workouts, the app touts that you can play your own music simultaneously, though it’s muffled by the instructions and all the yoga videos I tried wouldn’t let my own music play.

Finally, when we first tested it, Nike Training Club wasn’t accessible on a smart TV, so you’d have to use Airplay or Chromecast if you want to exercise in front of your TV or computer (to its credit, Nike gives helpful instructions on its site on how to stream home workouts on a television). However, NTC has since partnered with Netflix to offer 90 workout videos to Netflix subscribers (though these sessions aren’t linked to the app or its programs, so app users won’t get “credit” for having completed Netflix workouts).

Is Nike Training Club worth it?

Yes, and not only because it’s totally free

I like Nike Training Club because it makes exercising a lot less complicated. In many ways, it fulfills the function of a personal trainer—it gives you building blocks to work with, sets a schedule, and sends you reminders to exercise—without the cost (but also without the added level of personal attention that comes with working out with a trainer).

If you’re looking for a way to work out effectively at home, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to do it than with the Nike Training Club app. Did we mention it’s free?

Download Nike Training Club