One of my favourite ways to relieve stress is by working out. My go-to workout for the past year has been BODYPUMP class at Goodlife. It’s quick, intense & I leave feeling happy, strong, with a sense of mental clarity & ready to take on whatever challenge I’m facing.
But since gyms have been closed and we have all needed to stay home as much as possible I felt my stress creeping up over the past few weeks. My typical stress buffer of working out my stress with other inspiring faces in the class was gone. So I knew I had to find some at-home workout so I could release my ever-growing stress.
Here are some of the apps & online workouts I’ve tried & loved and those on my to-try list.
PLEASE REMEMBER: This is what I’m doing – and your physical activity and current state of health may not make it safe for you to try the same. If you have any health conditions or concerns (diagnosed or suspected) you’ll need to consult your health care professional (many are able to do tele-practice consults at this time) to see if you are a good candidate for increasing your physical activity level at this time. Remember I’m a naturopathic doctor – I’m not your naturopathic doctor and you should always check in with your health care team before to see if a change in your nutrition, supplement, herbal or physical activity routine is safe for you.
Yoga with Adriene
If you know me, you know I LOVE yoga. You also know I love at-home yoga and this is my favourite. So generously sharing her time, energy & humour. Lots of options here. This is this most recent video I did – a 20 minute Yoga Flow – quick & filled with just what I needed to feel grounded physically & mentally again. Thanks, Adriene!
Adidas Women
I stumbled on this channel when searching for HIIT workouts & saw this 17-minute Box HIIT class with an instructor named Jaws. And I actually really love cardio-kickboxing since I was an undergrad at U of T and took classes back in the late 90s with an awesome instructor. She made me feel so strong! So I decided to try out this workout & Jaws did not disappoint. Guys, this workout is fun but it’s not a joke. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I’m a bit sore in my deltoids (shoulders) this morning, so definitely a great worth doing, if you like boxing as much as I do. The only thing I’ll do next time to make it even better is to put my own music on in the background.
POPSUGAR Fitness
I haven’t tried this YouTube channel yet but when searching for workouts this week there so many videos I’ve marked “Watch for Later”. There’s a great mix of cardio, strength training, dance and HIIT variations. Tomorrow (Sunday) my plan is to do one of the workouts below. I can’t decide which so if you want to help me, take the poll in my Instagram stories here & I’ll do which one you guys vote for & report back on Monday to let you know how it went!
- Option 1: 30-minute Hip Hop Tabata
- Option 2: 30-minute Cardio Latin Dance
Nike Training Club – NTC
While I haven’t used the free NTC app in a while, the workouts I always find myself returning to include:
- Perfect Alignment – legs & core
- Tighten & Tone – endurance/cardio
- Core Strength – quick core (because let’s face it, I try to avoid doing only core work at all costs!)
Instagram Live classes
I really like the idea that there were lots of other people doing this together at the same time. That’s one of the reasons I love doing classes. Because even though you’re doing your own workout at your own pace – others are doing it right alongside you and it motivates you to keep going. I think that’s a real benefit of the live classes. Here’s one that I tried last week:
- Power Yoga Canada – fast-paced, but unfortunately the connection was choppy which could have been on my end. They also have a live kid’s yoga classes.
Your Local Gym or Yoga/Fitness Studio’s online class membership
If you are part of a gym/studio then they may have sent you an email about online classes, either free or paid. Even if you aren’t part of the gym/studio there are several options to purchase online classes right now. It’s a great way to support your studio/gym during this time of financial uncertainty for small businesses if you’re able to do so.
I go to Goodlife so I was thrilled that they started offering members Goodlife LesMills online access. While I would’ve loved to do BODYPUMP at home, I just don’t have the equipment to do so. So I needed to find minimal equipment workouts and found something called LesMills HIIT GRIT Cardio and thought, “It’s only 30 minutes, BodyPump is 1 hour, this should be totally doable.
Guys. No joke – I had to stop halfway through the workout for about 5 minutes (without stopping the video mind you) and debated not finishing it. It was that intense. But I told myself: “Nope, you got this girl, you can do it. Slow it down if you need to, go at your own pace & finish the workout.” And I’m proud to say I did. And was thoroughly tired & sweaty by the end of it. So YES you can get an awesome home workout without equipment! I promised myself I would return to that workout…but it hasn’t happened yet LOL. I’ll let you know how it goes when I do!
Thank you
I want to thank all of the instructors, studios & gyms for sharing their time, energy & expertise to help us all stay active at this time. We appreciate you.
I want to hear from YOU
Did I miss a workout you think I should try? Let me know by replying to my story on Instagram here. I’ll do my best to try it out and let you know what I think about it!
Until then, take care of your Self, take care of your family and take care of your community. We will get through this together.
