It’s no secret that I’ve tried a ton of different fitness apps and programs over the years. What started out as my quest to find my personal fitness workout style has morphed into a genuine curiosity and appreciation of all the different options available. 

Even though I now have my own workout app and program, I still love keeping up with what else is out there. My latest quest was to test out Mackenzie Wells' Fitness App after I started seeing a bunch of ads for her app in my feed. 

I started following her on Instagram and eventually tried her app out - she’s doing amazing things and has clearly built an incredible community, so I couldn’t wait to see what all the buzz was about.

If you’ve been considering trying Mackenzie Wells Fitness, here’s my review and feedback as a personal trainer.

What Drew Me to Mackenzie Wells?

I started seeing some ads on Facebook for Mackenzie Wells and decided to click over to her profile. I was immediately impressed with her branding, following, and posts. She posts a lot and has a ton of engagement from women on her posts, which is always a good sign. I followed her on Instagram and soon discovered that she was really down to earth and committed to helping women feel better in their bodies.

From a workout's perspective, I loved that she was offering 30-minute at-home workouts, as this tends to be the sweet spot for most busy moms and women. She posts a ton of workout samples and motivational reels to draw women in. It was clear to me that she’s been doing this for a while and knows what she’s doing.

I also appreciate how real she seems to be. She’s a mom in her upper thirties who has a very realistic-looking body. You can tell she works out and is committed to a healthy lifestyle, but she’s not rail thin and shredded, a look that feels very unattainable for most women.

App & Workout Programs

Mackenzie has a white-labeled app through Playbook, a large fitness app company that allows individuals to create their own app using their software. I had used Playbook before when testing another app a couple of years back, so I was already familiar with the general layout and functionality of the app. Mackenzie’s app features bright, attractive colors and branding, which I think adds to the female friendliness of it.

Mackenzie’s core fitness program features daily follow-along workouts, programmed 5 days per week. She pre-records workouts from her home gym and uploads them weekly to her app for her subscribers to press play on when they’re ready. Users get access to multiple weeks of workouts at once, which allows for a ton of variety. However, from what I can tell, most users follow along with the weekly scheduled workouts.

In addition to the weekly follow-along home workouts, Mackenzie also offers weekly gym workouts that are not follow-along (meaning she doesn’t record the full workout). The gym workouts have 5-6 exercises each and are mostly single sets and supersets using mostly equipment you would need to have access to a full gym for. 

What’s It Like In The Workout?

I tried a few different at-home workout videos from Mackenzie. They were all structured very similarly. She starts the workouts off with a pair or two of dumbbells and a mat on the floor. Dumbbells are the only pieces of equipment that she uses (no benches, bands, or other equipment were required for the workouts I tried). 

The workout begins with a warm-up, and then she gets into the meat of the workout. She has a timer set on her phone as she’s going through the movements. There’s no script given to the user i.e., 10 reps of squats for 3 sets. You’re literally just following along with her movements. She doesn’t take very much time to rest between exercises; she kind of just jumps right back into the next thing, even though she’s winded (which is impressive, by the way). Mackenzie talks throughout the whole workout, giving cues and motivation while a music playlist plays in the background.

The workout itself moves quickly with lots of different exercises, and then there’s a cooldown session at the end. The entirety of the workout is always 30 minutes, which is nice because users know exactly what to expect. Most of the post-workout comments mentioned feeling exhausted but accomplished after the fact. 

Again, I can’t help but compare this style workout to Beachbody or even FASTer Way to Fat Loss where you’re doing your best to maintain the instructor's pace. There really isn’t room to pause for very long, which means you aren’t going to be lifting your heaviest weights, which is fine if your goal is simply to move your body.

My Thoughts On Her Training Style

I’m a former Beachbody (now BODi) girl, so I fully understand the attraction to follow-along workouts. Back when I first started on my fitness journey, I did follow-along workouts exclusively, streaming workouts to my TV screen in my basement. At the time, there was no way I could ever see myself doing anything but this style of workout. 

Being in the fitness industry, I know that the majority of women ages 35+ grew up with Richard Simmons, cardio kickboxing, and Tae Bo - all of which had us jumping and bopping around from one exercise to the next with the goal of getting as sweaty and burning as many calories as possible. This mindset and workout motivation is a very hard thing to break, even though we’ve come a long way with fitness for women, so many of us are still stuck in this mindset.

The thing that I personally don’t love about follow-along style workouts is that it doesn’t give you proper time to rest between sets, which means you’re not able to lift your heaviest weights or put forth your best effort, or else you’d be unable to keep up with the instructor. Essentially, you’re expected to be in the same physical shape as the instructor in order to keep up and complete the workout, which isn’t always the case. Plus, if you’re not lifting heavy and resting between your sets, you’re missing out on the body composition-changing benefits of strength training.

While I fully support the “any movement is better than no movement” mentality, when it comes to what’s most optimal for fat loss and muscle growth, there’s no doubt that it lies in heavier lifting, resting between sets, and repetition (this is the basis of progressive overload). In order to properly apply progressive overload, you have to repeat the same exercises for weeks at a time, recording your weight, reps, tempo, etc. with the goal of making increases and improvements over time. Progressive overload cannot be applied properly when workouts are changing every week and there’s no system for tracking reps and weights.

The Mackenzie Wells Fitness App also includes a more traditional lifting program for the gym, however, those workouts are new each week, too. This program is definitely more aligned for optimal muscle growth and body composition changes; however, it’s still tailored to the masses who prefer novelty over optimal results. Honestly, I don’t fault Mackenzie one bit for catering to the wants and needs of women in our age group; at least she’s getting them moving and consistent with exercise.

App Community and Support

From what I’ve seen, Mackenzie has built a phenomenal community of women who are eager and excited to hit their workouts every day. They love the follow-along style and find it to be more motivating than just showing up with an app and the moves to be performed. 

Inside the Playbook app, there are loads of great features for creators like Mackenzie to be able to customize their app and subscriptions. One of the best features, in my opinion, is the community aspect. There’s a community section in Mackenzie’s app that allows users to share their thoughts on specific workouts as well as an area for general connection. There are hundreds of users posting inside Mackenzie’s community daily, it’s awesome to see.

I don’t see a lot of Mackenzie herself posting and engaging with her community, but at this point, she doesn’t really need to, as there are so many other women there to encourage and support. I also see that Mackenzie sometimes uploads videos chatting about various topics and upcoming challenges, and announcements, so she’s not totally out of the loop.

It seems that the vast majority of the women in Mackenzie Wells’ App follow the daily home workouts, which are full-length videos. It’s difficult to follow the videos on the small screen of your phone, so most people try to cast their video to a larger screen for better viewing. I noticed a lot of members were complaining about the app not allowing them to cast their workouts properly. I’m not sure if this is an ongoing issue or something that I happened to encounter during my time of testing the app out. 

My Approach to Fitness

I have no doubt that about 10 years ago, I would have absolutely loved Mackenzie Wells’ App and workouts, however, my approach to fitness has drastically changed over the years. It took me a long time to shift my mindset and trust the process, but I transitioned from follow-along workouts that changed things up all the time to workouts that remained the same for weeks (usually 4-5) at a time with a focus on basic, effective strength training exercises.

The truth is, a simple, structured workout program that includes the basic, most effective exercises will help you build more muscle, improve your strength, and reshape your physique better than random workouts that constantly change. 

If you want results, you don’t need variety, you don’t need to “keep your muscles guessing,” and you don’t need to do every little variation of every exercise ever created. For optimal results, you need a clear plan that’s structured in a way that encourages you to apply progressive overload. This means that if you’re not repeating the same workouts and tracking your workouts, you can’t build the body you’re after (assuming you want the “lean and toned” look). 

That doesn’t mean a program like Mackenzie Wells Fit isn’t a solid program, it is! But it’s not designed for progressive overload. Progressive overload is where results are found in the form of decreased body fat, increased lean muscle tissue, and a high-functioning metabolism. 

If your goal is simply to get up and get moving your body, then you’re going to love Mackenzie’s app, especially if you thrive on having an active community and seeing their check-ins. 

These days, you can find me following the same workout plan for a minimum of 4 weeks at a time before moving onto a new set of workouts. I work out for 30 minutes per day, 4-5 times per week, and am in the best shape of my life in my mid-thirties. 

It was a long road with many mindset shifts and trust in the process that led me to where I am now, working out on my own terms, following a structured program that allows me to lift heavy, rest, and utilize proven exercises with proper volume. I have also found that the older I get, the less intense I need my workouts to be. I strive for efficiency over sweatiness, and my body has never been stronger or healthier. 

If you want to learn more about my approach to fitness and how I program my workouts in my fitness app, FHM+, you can learn more at the link below.