16 free fitness apps and online workouts to help you get your workout done at home

Snowstorms, hurricanes, tornado watches. There have always been reasons why people have had to spend days or weeks at home, unable to go about daily activities. So, even if you’re a regular at your gym, it’s helpful to have a backup plan.

Our mental health is very much connected to our physical health and well-being. 

Some of our go-to fitness routines aren’t available to us right now, so we need to be creative. Now is an excellent time to explore new resources for working out, try new exercise routines and shake things up a bit.

Televised workouts and fitness apps have been around since The Jack LaLanne Show first began in 1953 on a local morning program in San Francisco. Jane Fonda, another pioneer in exercise, released her first exercise video, Jane Fonda’s Workout, in 1982. You can probably find it online somewhere if you are nostalgic for spandex.

Nowadays, however, we are more likely to use apps on our phone or watch YouTube videos to get fitness motivation and guidance. Here are a few suggestions. Many of these programs offer free workout videos and also more customizable workouts that have a cost associated with them.

Apps, Videos, and Streams

YMCA 360
YMCA 360 is an on-demand video platform with a wide variety of classes, including bootcamp, barre, yoga, weightlifting, tai chi and more. No membership is required until mid-January. After that time, it will be a membership-based program.

Planet Fitness
Planet Fitness has launched Home Work-Ins. Free online workouts will be offered for a limited time streamed via Facebook Live. Get moving with their trainers and even some surprise celebrity guests for a 20 minute workout to relieve stress and stay healthy. Just visit their Facebook page at 7 p.m. to join in — or watch them later, as replays will be available.

FitOn
FitOn offers a selection of classes like Yoga, Strength Training and Cardio both on demand — and live classes throughout the day. The company also offers a variety of challenges like the 10-day kickstarter challenge that will help you work towards your fitness goals.

Peloton App
Peloton App is offering a FREE 2-month trial subscription. It includes thousands of live and on-demand classes to help you meet your goals, including running, strength, toning, cycling, yoga, meditation and outdoor workouts.

Nike Training Club
Sessions range from 15-60 minutes and include over 200 workouts are great options to get started with. They offer everything from bodyweight-only to full-equipment workouts for everyone at all fitness levels.

MadFit
This very popular YouTube channel offers everything from 3 minutes quick workouts to tone abs to full body, 30 minute routines with weights and bands.

Fitness Blender
This website offers hundreds of free workout videos, as well as paid workout programs.  

Pop Sugar Fitness has, among other videos, a 30 minute at home boxing workout on YouTube, gloves not required. There is a video, app, or podcast for every imaginable sport, exercise routine, or activity you might want to investigate, no financial commitment necessary.

Down Dog Yoga is an app that lets you specify the parameters of your yoga practice, including type of practice, level, length and more. Then it puts together a video for you. This way you’re not just watching the same video every day.

Insight Timer is an app for meditation. It has tons of recordings to help you sleep, and to deal with anxiety and stress. 

MapMyWalk is an app that will help motivate you, as well as help you find your way back home. It shows you a map of the area and marks your route for you. It keeps track of elapsed time, distance, speed, elevation and calories burned. It can integrate with Fitbit and other apps.

AllTrails also maps your walk, with an emphasis on hiking trails. It’s great because it will find trails close to you, or trails in an area you’re traveling to. It’s useful not just for motivation and accountability, but also for discovery.

Heather Robertson’s YouTube channel offers a free 12-week workout plan. There’s a free full length workout video 5 days a week for 12 weeks.

Yoga with Adriene’s YouTube channel has over 8 million subscribers. She offers videos of various lengths and types. You can focus on practices that will help with back pain, yoga for beginners, yoga for inner peace and much more. There are so many videos on her YouTube channel that you will have no problem finding videos that meet your needs.

Cosmic Kids Yoga offers fun yoga videos for the younger members of the family.

Sydney Cummings’ YouTue channel features a new workout video every morning at 5 a.m. The workouts include cardio, abs, legs, full body and more.

Get outdoors

If being indoors is just too confining, there is always the great outdoors.

Parks and greenways are perfect places to take your pent-up energy. Some formal programs have been canceled, but most of the public spaces are still open for walking, running, biking, and hiking. Try one of the workout trackers (above) to help motivate you.

No matter what you choose to do to keep yourself occupied, make sure that it’s something you want to do, not something you feel you have to do. Remember that it’s for your physical AND mental health.

Upcoming Fitness Events in the Triangle

On Triangle on the Cheap, we keep a list of upcoming fitness classes, run clubs, guided hikes and more. Here’s some of what’s coming up!