Trainer, formally known as CoPilot (they could have just said Microsoft was planning to sue them; no one likes Microsoft as a company - but I digress), is an investment. It’s also one of the most significant apps I’ve ever purchased.

It’s an exercise app that connects you with a personal coach that builds a workout program for you. You and the coach keep chatting and meeting virtually to discuss progress and adjust exercises, which keep increasing in difficulty by predetermined “cycles.” The coach can also show you how to do certain exercises, watch your recordings to do your own routine and give you tips, etc.

I’ve been exercising with Trainer for almost a year, 4-5 times a week, for about 30-40 minutes each time. My training sessions include weight lifting, flexibility, yoga, running, and even meditation, which I asked my coach to include. The Apple watch has been a great addition as well; the phone shows me a video of the exercise I’m doing and plays instructions using my coach’s voice while the watch “boosts” the app’s intelligence and so it knows to slow me down or speed me up, automatically detect when I’m done a set, and remind me to send feedback to my coach.

At 100$ a month, the app is not cheap, but that’s about the price you’d pay for a personal coach to work with you for an hour at a gym. It’s not the same, true, but for me, it strikes the right balance I need to exercise independently and have the motivation to keep going. It also records what I do. Seeing the progress month to month is critical when you try to get back into a lifestyle like this.

This is easily the best exercise routine I’ve had in a long time. It inspired me to try a meditation app as well (meditation is another area I need to move forward in), but so far, Headspace is not exactly working out. A bit more exploration is needed in this area.