Auro App Review
Reviewed by Helen Wyatt
If you’re anything like me, you may well have succumbed to the dreaded “covid slump” over the last 18 months, having sat around at a computer while working at home and not really venturing very far from the house. You may also, like me, have been somewhat stressed by events and had some trouble sleeping, finding it hard to settle your mind and stop thinking about all the craziness that’s been going on. I’ve found that I’ve settled into a poor eating pattern too; all in all it’s been difficult to find a way out of it, and how to find the positives!
In steps the Auro app. This easy-to-use intuitive app has hundreds of audio workouts, for people at every level of fitness, and at every point on a health journey. An absolute beginner who wonders where they should even begin? A seasoned runner and gym-goer who is worried about mixing with others? The Auro app is for both of you, and everyone in between! (editor’s note – this is the reviewer’s opinion) The clever workouts are structured so that you can see demonstrations of each step before you start, then just settle in to listen to the audio which clearly talks you through whichever workout you’re doing. You can pause at any time to review the steps, which are beautifully and clearly posed, so you can copy and know that you are completing them correctly.
The app will guide the first-time user to set up an account, then asks you questions to help suggest the right workouts for you, depending on the outcomes you want to achieve, your body type and how active you currently are. You can easily follow the suggested workouts or pick one of the hundreds of others at any time, making the experience completely customisable for you. From the home screen of the app you have the option to choose the suggested workouts, or click on “find your workout” which will then allow you to filter to the type of workout you are looking for, along with the difficulty and duration, amongst other options.
Not only can you pick individual workouts, but you can decide on different training plans which will take you through a series of workouts over a number of weeks to help you achieve the stated outcome, such as Ease into Exercise, Back to the Gym, 10k Winter run: beginner, or strong in six. When you open a training plan it will show you who it is aimed at, e.g. Beginner or Intermediate, it will give you a short intro to explain the purpose, tell you how long it will take, and then break it down into what you need to do each week. For example, the Strong in Six plan will show you for week one that you’d be exercising on day 1, 3, 5 and day 7, doing strength workouts, boot camp workouts, and leg workouts to give you the full body experience.
Each workout is accompanied by a music track to go with the mood, such as dance, hip hop, or chill, and you can see which trainer is going to deliver the workout too. On the home screen of the app you can click on the trainers tab and find out more about each of them, including their areas of expertise, a bit about their background, and their workouts.
You’ll find that each workout is a great length, often being around 10-15 minutes so that it is achievable. You can then build on that if you need to, or just select a longer session. Having achievable sessions is really important, particularly for beginners, along with the clear instructions, so this is well designed by the app.
Another useful feature is the notifications which will remind you to exercise if you select a training plan; this helps to motivate you and keep you on track. As a very busy person I found this feature extremely helpful as I will tend to forget to do things like exercise!
It was very nice to see that the app also includes a strong focus on self-care as well, through meditation, yoga and pilates. I especially liked the short meditations as these just encourage you to take a few minutes out of your day to quiet your mind and help reduce the stress.
Overall, the Auro app is a great all-round health and fitness app which is genuinely suitable for all levels and completely customisable so you can get out of it exactly what you need, and work at a pace that’s right for you. You can see your progress, and even connect to your fitness device to track your stats. You can create and join leagues to compete against others for another level of motivation, and workout with the community.
Rating: 5 out of 5
RRP: £11.99 a month/£59.99 a year
You can download the app from here.