Well Fit | Online Workouts
With the pandemic causing the closure of gyms, studios and health clubs, online workouts have never been so popular. In April 2020 workout app downloads increased by 80%. It can be a minefield choosing the right programme, fortunately most applications offer a free trial so you can delete the app if it isn’t working out. Like all classes the most important barometer is the standard of teaching, which of course is subjective. Do you prefer to be eased in gently or does the military firing squad approach work for you? Most of us aren’t looking for cinema quality, panning and close ups that just confuse us, as long as the sound is clear and the camera is fixed at an angle that displays the featured moves, we’re good to go.
WELL CURATED streamed an assortment of online workouts and got our (sustainable) activewear on. We tried and tested each class, applying a criteria of… production value, music, fitness level, instruction, equipment needed and a general overview of the style. Here are the ones we think are worth a watch.
The Class by Taryn Toomey
The Class is a concept created by New York based Taryn Toomey with studios in NYC, LA and Vancouver. They have developed a slick streaming app, meaning you can live stream 8-10 new classes per day or watch a wide selection of previously uploaded workouts. The signature ‘Class’ is 1hr, featuring collaborations with well known musicians to keep you moving. There are shorter body specific classes, as well as meditations and programmes for the those with kids participating.
It is an all over body conditioning workout with a mixture of cardio, strength and core work. There is nothing particularly original about the exercises, if you have done HIIT or aerobic classes before you will be familiar with most of the moves, however it is the delivery that stands it apart from the rest. The class is part workout, part life coaching, part spirituality. Super cool teachers deliver cues about thoughts, feelings and negative energy all in a nonchalant give a fuck manner. It is very New York, but in a good way. Taryn has a no nonsense approach to instruction yet every exercise is wrapped up in a kind of spiritual pep talk, lots of re centering, lots of breath cues, all mixed up with lions roars, yes, making sounds is encouraged and demonstrated. This is to expel negative energy and release stuff that needs to go.
It is a great all over body work out. Long repetitions of calisthenics and plyometrics style movements allow the teachers to pause and invite students to witness their resistance to discomfort. It is full of empowering statements, positivity, heart clearing and mindfulness. You come out feeling like you have had the mental benefits of a yin yoga class, a therapy session and a HIIT class all rolled in to one. It is probably the perfect class to do at home if you feel shy about releasing your inner lion. No equipment, other than a mat, is needed, and it is easy to watch on an iPhone or laptop. It is worth connecting to a speaker for the music, especially on the signature 1hr classes that are choreographed with a musical collaborator. The production is simple, one fixed camera throughout.
Peloton
“Wasssup peloton family!!”
Given that Peloton epitomises the idea of online fitness one expects them to be top of the leader board. Peloton isn’t just about bikes, they have a huge menu of fitness programmes on their app including cardio, strength, yoga, stretching, running, bootcamp, outdoor, walking and meditation. It’s a kind of a virtual gym membership in the variety that’s on offer. You can sign up for 2-6weeks programmes that will track you progress by linking your health stats from other apps or smart watches, estimated calories burnt are also displayed on the screen. You can compete against the Peloton family in challenges and aim for the leaderboard hierarchy.
You can’t really find fault with it if it is your kind of thing. Production is slick, music is current and mainstream, the app is easy to navigate and simple to use. Classes are 10-60 minutes with specific themes or body areas worked. A fixed camera is primarily used with a couple of alternate angles thrown in when recorded from the Peloton discotheque.
At present the classes are being delivered from the Peleton studios or the homes of the intsructors. The studio is a black space with neon lighting, a familiar environment if you're a spin class junky or you like frequenting night clubs. The classes from home are well, from someone’s home, the instructors dogs make a special appearances. This aside the teachers are focused, motivational and instructions are clear. The workouts are thorough and you can navigate between the categories choosing the level of endurance. The exercises programmes are well choreographed and most of the non bike ones require no equipment other than some hand weights.
If the slightly shouty, upbeat, overzealous approach is for you then this will tick all your boxes. They will certainly get you off the sofa and your glutes burning. We tried an assortment of classes, the common theme is the style of delivery from the teachers. It seems to always be highly over enthusiastic and peppy. That said we enjoyed the classes and it really does offer the whole gym memership package.
Alo Moves
It would be hard to find fault with Alo Moves. It is a slick concise well polished app. At its core it’s yoga, and there is an abundance of styles, levels and durations. However as we were reviewing fitness apps as a whole we decided to stay away from yoga section and clicked into fitness, spending the next month doing an assortment of programmes from pilates to barre and boxing. Most teachers offer 7 day programmes where you build up your strength, work different parts of your body and sometimes even have a rest day with gentle stretching.
Like any workout class you find an affinity with your teachers and the style and level of the class. We particularly love Kristin’s Mat Pilates series, it’s a seven day programme with 30 minute sequences. Having done a lot of reformer pilates in recent years it was really nice to go back to basics and fire up our cores. For us this class didn’t fell like a complete workout so it is a good idea to add on Jade’s Knockout class which is basically boxing circuits with yoga vinyasa thrown in to connect the circuits and have a little stretch. The Barre Sport programme is possibly the hardest workout Alo Moves has to offer, with tonnes of press up variations that just seem to go on and on and on, leaving your glutes, inner thighs and core burning for the next few days. Online classes have the tendency to feel a little lack lustre unless they involve cardio but this one ticks all the boxes, working up a sweat whilst toning the smaller intercostal muscles that often get missed when you’re not with a trainer.
The teachers are all very experienced and deliver the class with clarity and precision. Some are narrated to music, some have other students in the class and some are just the instructor alone. Most use a few different camera angles to really show the posture. The app has some fantastic features allowing you to filter on level of intensity, time duration, instructor and style. The app allows you to save all your favourite classes in the my programmes section which makes navigating easy as there are so many classes. In testing all the best online workouts this is the one we’ve kept and still use daily, even if it’s just for a 10 minute meditation before bed.
