Got cabin fever? As we all adjust to life indoors and the #newnormal during the global pandemic that is COVID-19, that doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your usual sweat sesh. Staying fit, self-care and managing stress levels during this time of high anxiety should be a priority to optimise your health and immunity. Think of it less like self-isolation/quarantine and more as living the work-from-home-with-your-dog dream where you can exercise whenever you like. We support this dream. Wholeheartedly. So we’ve rounded up our pick of 5 fab workout apps to try at home today.
1) AND/Life
Best for: Both fitness junkies & newbies
App founder Andrea Marcellus is a US-based health and fitness expert with over 20 years of experience training clients. AND/Life’s one-of-a-kind AI tech helps tailor a personal fitness formula just for you – based on your likes, what achievable with your schedule, and most importantly, what works for your body. Customise workouts based on how much you want to sweat, what equipment you have, time, discipline and more. Personalise in-app meal plans with a focus on portion control, and not labelling foods as “good” or “bad” to ensure it’s sustainable long-term. Find out more here.
What’s special about it: Use the unique live-stream Invite-A-Friend function to invite up to three friends to join you in a workout. This not only helps you stay accountable, but is time-efficient so you can turn it into a fun social catch-up while working out. Think sweaty Facetime, without the wine.
2) SWEAT by Kayla Itsines
Best for: Motivational community support
Australian founder and personal trainer Kayla Itsines has built one of the world’s largest online fitness communities around her signature Bikini Body Guides (BBG) workouts, encouraging women around the world to become fitter, stronger and more confident at home. SWEAT offers workouts by professional trainers across the BBG program, post-pregnancy, weights, heavy power-lifting, high-intensity and yoga, along with nutrition guides, educational content and support. Flexible programs allow you to choose whether you want to work out at home or in the gym. Importantly, the app also features increasing levels of challenge to ensure that you’re progressing with your fitness goals, much like an in-person trainer would. Find out more here.
What’s special about it: The #BBGcommunity on social media gives personal support and encouragement, mainly through the sharing of impressive user before-and-after fitspo images. They also have some killer workout playlists to get you in the zone.
3) Zova
Best for: Holistic health-seekers
Voted the #1 Apple Watch workout, Zova offers over 500+ workouts to choose from, plus healthy living courses and motivational talks. This award-winning expert fitness and health coaching app doesn’t just motivate you to exercise, it aims to get you fitter, healthier and happier with it’s 360° holistic wellness approach. Learn life-changing skills & habits, never get bored with your workouts, and take advantage of simple calorie and workout tracking. Find out more here.
What’s special about it: The motivational talks and courses are the perfect mental complement to consistent training, inspiring you to live healthier day-to-day and make lasting changes that will help you hit your fitness goals even faster.
4) 5-Minute Yoga Workouts
Best for: Beginner yogis and busy people
With exercise, doing it regularly and consistently is sometimes more important than how long you do it for. This app is great for when you only have a short block of time to limber up and get the blood pumping, ideal for a quick lunch break Downward Dog. Each timed session focuses on bitesize combos of simple, but effective, classic poses with clear images and detailed instructions on form making it ideal for beginners. A quick morning stretch before work, stress-relieving time-out at lunch, or to help unwind before bed: a few mini yoga sessions throughout the day will boost your energy, improve flexibility, build strength and reduce stress.
What’s special about it: It can be hard to carve out time in our busy schedules to commit to even a half-hour workout sometimes. This app nixes those exercise excuses by portioning effective yoga moves into convenient 5-minute sequences, allowing you to squeeze a few in during the day or do them back-to-back when you have time for a longer session. Genius.
5) Soul Alive Meditation
Best for: Meditation cynics and newbies
Founder Luke McLeod’s mission is to break down preconceptions around the ancient art of meditation, and make it modern, easy and accessible for all. Not technically an app, Soul Alive classes are live-streamed through a private Instagram account (you’re sent a link once you sign up on the website). Many people find it hard to stay motivated & committed listening to prerecorded meditation apps, but this unique social delivery method is easy and interactive. Each class has a live guided meditation teacher to help lead you through each step of your personal inner journey in real time. Made for busy people (who probably need to meditate the most!), each class is available online for 24hrs after the scheduled time to watch when it’s most convenient for you.
What’s special about it: Luke’s refreshing approach to making meditation easy and not forcing it makes it much less intimidating to start (which is often half the battle), and the super-convenient delivery via Insta makes it a no-brainer.
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