12 of the best social media accounts offering free at-home fitness services and workouts to keep you sane and active during COVID-19 pandemic.
As the country is being asked to put social lives on pause to stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), we seem to be collectively leaning even harder into social media as a way of staying connected digitally when we can’t be together physically.
Incidentally, new science says all the extra online time could actually be good for your workout routine: Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that Instagram can have a positive impact on a person’s perception of exercise, according to a recently published a paper in the Frontiers in Psychology. The study participants were split into two groups: one followed a fitness Instagram account and the other did not. “Participants who followed the account postings developed more positive feelings related to their training. The other participants didn’t,” said Frode Stenseng, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in a press release.
With the increasing closures of gyms and studios across the country, coaches and trainers are coming together online to make sure that much-needed endorphin release is accessible for everyone.
Some, like Fit Collective Founder Liz Van Voorhis, are offering daily Instagram and Facebook Live workouts that can be done at home with no equipment. Others are providing daily workout suggestions and advice, or providing their library of workout videos for free.
The goal is simply to help. “I am not an expert in pandemics. However, I am an expert in motivating people to move their bodies and in resiliency,” Van Voorhis wrote on Instagram Monday.
So no matter what kind of workout you’re looking for, there are options out there for you so you can stay active in a time of social distancing and isolation.
Free Follow-Along At-Home Workouts
Looking to recreate your favorite studio or small-group fitness class at home? Here are some of the top trainers and brands with live or recorded follow-along workouts.
- Los Angeles-based certified personal trainer and mother of two Amy Kiser Schempera delivers practical at-home workout inspo and specializes modifications for pregnancy, early postpartum, and diastasis recti. You can already find hundreds of follow-along workout videos on her BodyFit By Amy YouTube page, but she’ll be posting even more in the coming weeks. “My goal during this time while I’m not teaching or working with clients, is to film, edit, and share as many new videos as possible,” she recently shared.
- Peloton is offering free access to their app for 90 days, which is loaded with cycling, yoga, treadmill, and strength-training videos. It also has an outdoor running component that does GPS tracking, playlists, and guided motivation.
- Beachbody boasts more than 1,200 workouts in its digital library. Its two week free trial gets you access to all its brands, including the popular Insanity, Morning Meltdown, and Total Body Pregnancy exercises.
- Corepower Yoga is offering its bank of on-demand classes for free. It has videos for all levels and even has meditation classes.
- Web-based yoga platform Glo is offering two weeks free and will even recommend classes for you if you take a short survey.
- Desperately missing your Barre class? You can check out the extensive library curated by the trainers at Barre3 free for 15 days. (It is also offering 10 percent off equipment purchases if there’s anything you need for your home practice.)
Free Training Ideas and At-Home Workouts From Top Experts and Athletes
Like to do your own thing, just looking for ideas on efficient and effective at-home workouts you can mix into your routine? Look no further.
- Popular Instagram trainer Anna Victoria has always offered plenty of at-home workout advice on her channel. But now she is giving away one month free to her FitBodyApp for anyone who is starting to work out at home to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from the coronavirus. Go to www.fitbodyapp.com, choose the one month membership, and enter code DAJEITALIA at checkout.)
- Originally created for people working out on vacation, three-time Olympian Tianna Bartoletta is making her No Days Off and Hit the Deck (all you need is a deck of cards) training plans free to download.
- Like the straight and simple approach? One of the country’s top strength coaches Mike Boyle, owner of MBSC in Boston, is posting a daily workout to his Instagram, written on a whiteboard with no frills and no excuses.
- Beach Body trainer and mother of three Idalis Velazquez delivers tons of quick and efficient strength-training circuits that can be done with minimal equipment (think mini-bands, a pair of dumbbells, or a kettlebell). Bonus: She’s bilingual and translates all of her workout directions into Spanish, as well.