Polar Has Just Announced Its Own Subscription Plan, Following Garmin's Lead

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How does the Fitness Program adapt as per user needs?

Summary

Following Garmin’s subscription-based plan lead, Polar has announced an optional paid “Fitness Program” for its Polar Flow app, offering adaptive, science-backed training plans for roughly $11/month.
The new program personalizes workouts based on heart rate, fitness level, recovery, and lifestyle, adapting daily and long-term; it’s compatible with Polar’s current watch lineup.
Polar emphasizes that the core Polar Flow app remains free, and the subscription is an optional add-on with a 14-day free trial currently available for Android users in select European countries and the UK, with iOS and US availability pending.

Just days after Garmin faced severe backlash from its users over its new Connect+ paid tier, another premium fitness watch brand is hopping on the subscription-based model.

Finland-based rugged watchmaker, Polar, just announced that its free-to-use Polar Flow app will now offer a completely opt-in paid Fitness Program, which it describes as a “new way to stay active with adaptive, science-backed training plans.”

Polar Vantage M3 in black on a light wood colored post

The ‘Fitness Program,’ which offers heart-rate-based cardio workouts, can adapt to each user’s recovery, goals, and lifestyle. Compatible with the entire current line-up of Polar sports watches, the program costs €9.99 (roughly $11 USD), and is ideal for “those who want to eliminate the guesswork from building a balanced [and] effective routine.”

Compatible watches include:

Polar Grit X2 Pro Titan
Polar Grit X2 Pro
Polar Vantage V3
Polar Vantage M3
Polar Ignite 3
Polar Ignite 3 Braided Yarn
Polar Ignite 3 Titanium
Polar Ignite 2
Polar Unite
Polar Pacer Pro
Polar Pacer
Polar Grit X
Polar Grit X Pro
Polar Ignire
Polar Vantage M
Polar Vantage M2
Polar Vantage V
Polar Vantage V2

How does the Fitness Program adapt as per user needs?

An image highlighting the new Polar Fitness Program.

Source: Polar

Polar suggests that it will use your heart rate data, fitness level, training load, and recovery status to curate workouts. The workouts may be adapted daily. For example, if you sleep with your watch on, and it detects that you didn’t sleep too well, the Fitness Program will suggest that you do a light workout instead of the planned strenuous cardio one. “In the long-term, the program adapts according to the user’s realized training history including workouts the user did outside the suggested training plan,” suggests Polar.

Although the wearable-maker did not use the word AI while announcing the new feature, it is likely leveraging some form of artificial intelligence to deliver personalized and adaptive programs, similar to what Samsung is doing with its Galaxy AI-powered health and fitness features.

In its blog post, Polar also made it clear that the Polar Flow app will remain free-to-use, and the same goes for all the included features users have come to familiarize themselves with over time. The new supposedly AI-powered features are just an extra bonus that power users can wish to utilize. The company also made it clear that this does not affect the development of free Polar Flow features and services.

Compatible Polar watch owners can try out the new program for free for the first 14 days. The subscription is currently available in all European Union countries, Norway, and the UK for Android. An iOS version is expected to launch some time in Q2. Availability in the US is currently unclear.