Dolly Parton Teamed Up With Apple To Help You Get Your Steps In

Getting in your steps just got more entertaining. The Apple Fitness+ Time to Walk program, an audio-guided walking experience that features notable guests who share personal stories and their favorite songs as you take a stroll, launches today on the app.

The first episodes star Dolly Parton, musician Shawn Mendes, NBA all-star Draymond Green, and actor Uzo Aduba. Each guest shares personal stories — think life lessons and meaningful memories, like Parton on walking on her farm with her dad — followed by music of their choosing.

Apple wants to upgrade the experience of one of the most popular workouts in the world. Walking is low-impact, accessible to people of all fitness levels, and gives you a long list of both physical and mental benefits.

The Time to Walk sessions last from 25 to 40 minutes, and the same metrics appear on your Apple Watch as in other workouts: your heart rate, calories burned, elevation, and speed. A new guest will appear each week to bring you a new storytelling-slash-workout experience.

Research shows that regular walking can improve heart health and your body's immune system, boost cognitive function, help reduce stress, and even promote a longer life. All you need is a pair of shoes.

Apple hopes to make the fitness modality accessible to anyone. For its customers that use a wheelchair, Time to Walk becomes Time to Push, and the workout adapts to a wheelchair walk pace.

Unlike a podcast, Time to Walk combines the one-on-one feeling of connection with a narrator with photos for a visual component, all in the setting of an exercise session. The idea is to motivate users to get their steps in and have fun while doing so.

Besides offering a great workout, Time to Walk gives users a space to clear their mind and potentially gain a new perspective. If you're unable to get outside, you can choose to enjoy it while walking on a treadmill or around your house.

To use Time to Walk, tap the episodes on the Fitness+ home page to begin the session. You can stream the workouts anywhere — all you need is your Apple Watch and Airpods or other Bluetooth headphones.