Fitness Files: 10 Free At-Home Workouts

I need to work out for my mental and physical health. Now that I am social distancing, I’ve been looking at more at-home workout programs. I have found a lot of great roundups of different streaming and on-demand workout options like this Health article about free at-home workouts and this one from Refinery29. There are so many choices, but here are a few that I’m most excited to try and, since a lot of people are tightening their budgets right now, these all are free or offer free trials.

If you don’t have some of the equipment you could try swapping dumbells for filled up water bottles, towels or carpeting for a mat, and a small pillow for a ball. You can also use your kitchen counter, a TV stand, or a chair as a barre.

SWEAT: I have been using Kayla Itsine’s SWEAT app to do her BBG program for years. It is a 12-week program that you can continue. The weekly schedule consists of three 28-minute workouts — legs, arms, and abs — four cardio sessions, one recovery session with guided stretches, and a rest day. You used to need to use some equipment like a medicine ball, a bench, and weights, but she re-did the first 24 weeks so you don’t need any equipment other than a mat, a jump rope, a chair, and dumbells. Usually, the cardio sessions are either LISS or high-intensity cardio. LISS is a low-intensity cardio that’s done for half an hour to an hour. Some options are going for a run or bike riding, which you can do outside if you are comfortable. The other cardio session is HIIT training, which is when you switch between running and jogging or running and walking every 30 seconds for 15 to 30 minutes. The app has other programs that I want to try like the new FIERCE at Home workout and Body and Mind. If you are new, you can get the first week of the app for free. The app also has a nutrition program and healthy recipes.

Active by POPSUGAR: I love POPSUGAR’s content and they just released their new fitness program early and for free in response to COVID-19. They have hundreds of cardio, strength training, dance, pilates, and yoga workouts from celebrity trainers and fitness experts and exclusive multi-week curated fitness plans.

Obe Fitness: Obe Fitness has unlimited daily live and on-demand classes. They have pilates, yoga, barre, strength training, stretching, HIIT, dance, boxing, and more. You can check out the schedule to see which live classes are happening. They have a free trial.

ASICS Studio: The team behind my favorite running app, Runkeeper, is behind the ASICS Studio app. They are offering it for free so people can workout from home while social distancing. The ASICS Studio app has strength training, treadmill, elliptical, yoga,  meditation, and indoor cycling classes designed by professional coaches. They also have great stretching and foam rolling classes that are essential for runners.

Peloton App: The Peloton App is free for 90 days. I don’t have the Peloton bike or treadmill, but my mom introduced me to the Peloton App. They have thousands of live and on-demand at-home workout classes for cycling, treadmill, strength training, yoga, stretching, meditation, outdoor workouts, outdoor running, and more.

Sky Ting Yoga: I want to be transported into the studios at Sky Ting Yoga. The workout rooms are bright and airy with exposed brick walls and lots of plants. You can’t be there IRL, but the livestream and on-demand classes can make you feel like you are there. The first week of Sky Ting TV is free.

Physique 57: The Physique 57 workout targets the muscles in your arms, thighs, seat, and abs to the point of fatigue then you stretch to relieve them. Their process, called Interval Overload, includes muscle-defining arm exercises, intense thigh and seat sequences, ab moves, and fluid stretches. A typical class consists of arm exercises with light weights, planks and pushups, exercises at the barre, an abs series, and stretching. The barre exercises include squats, pushups using the bar, leg lifts, thigh exercises where you squeeze a ball, and more. The only props are a mat, resistance band, weights, and a ball. They have live and on-demand classes and the trial is free for a week.

Tone It Up: Tone it Up has unlimited access to hundreds of video-guided workouts, including yoga, weight training, HIIT, cardio, barre, meditation, boxing, and kettlebell. They have a weekly workout schedule which is helpful for staying accountable. A lot of the workouts are filmed on the beach, so you can enjoy a virtual vacation. Like the SWEAT app, they have nutrition programs and recipes. They are offering a free month for new users and they are hosting free workouts for everyone on Instagram Live.

305 Fitness: 305 Fitness is a cardio dance workout. They are hosting free dance workouts on YouTube every day at 12 pm and 6 pm. Follow up on the cardio sessions with their free toning classes. I’m definitely not the best dancer, but this seems like such a fun workout to do to add some levity to your day. (If you have kids at home, I’m sure it would be a fun activity to do together!)

Pure Barre: Pure Barre is a 55-minute ballet-inspired workout. It’s a total body workout that consists of a series of small isometric movements that target your abs, seat, thighs, and arms. A typical class has arm exercises with light weights, planks and pushups, exercises at the barre, an abs series, and stretching. The barre exercises include squats, pushups using the barre, leg lifts, thigh exercises where you squeeze the ball, and more. Each strength section is followed by a stretching section in order to create long, lean muscles. The only props are a mat, resistance band, weights, and a ball. Use the code extended trial for a 60-day free trial of Pure Barre On Demand.

P.S. I have friends who are full-time fitness instructors and they said one of the best ways to support them is to take the classes they are hosting on social media and, if you can, to pay what you can for each class you take. Sweats and the City made a daily Live Workout Schedule with the classes that studios and instructors are teaching that day.