Tried & True At-Home Fitness Apps

What time is it? QUARAN-TIME! With our favorite gyms & studios closed and most of us encouraged to stay at home for the foreseeable future, there’s been an explosion in the fitness community for at-home workouts. There’s new apps and programs popping up left and right, and every instagram account seems to have their own take on the perfect at home workout. To help weed through the sheer volume of choices available to us, I decided to share the fitness apps geared towards home workouts that I’ve tried, and what I honestly thought of them.

Peloton

• COST: $12.99/month (for digital membership only)

• PROS: I LOVE the peloton app. There are so many different classes you can take. If you have cardio machines, they have classes for that! If you don’t, they have classes for at-home yoga, meditation, cardio, strength, stretching, bootcamp - and outdoor guided walking and running! I’ve had this app for a bit now, and it’s my go-to when choosing a workout for the day. There’s so many types and amount of classes that I most likely won’t ever have to repeat.

  It even geared me towards purchasing a stationery bike during the first week of quarantine (spoiler alert- you don’t need a peloton bike to take their spin classes! I bough this bike here, and I love it!)

• CONS: the pricetag

• WORTH IT?: Absolutely!

Pure Barre

• COST: Varies. Some classes are donation based, some pop-up classes are free or have a per-class cost. If you already belong to a studio or have a membership, you can either use Pure Barre Go (a section in your Pure Barre app), or sign up for your studio’s live-stream classes.

• PROS: I’ve already talked about why Pure Barre is my favorite fitness studio here; and Pure Barre at Home is practically the same workout! It’s an excellent lift, tone & burn, and honestly one of my favorite classes to take.

• CONS: Cost, and if you’re used to your studio it can cause some homesickness.

• WORTH IT?: If you already have a membership and already are enamored with pure barre like I am, Absolutely!

Orange Theory At Home

• COST: Free!

• PROS: It’s free! Every day is a completely new workout, available on their YouTube channel , or on their website. If you’re one of those people who knows what to do when doing cardio, but has zero clue when it comes to what strength moves to do when- OTF at home is a godsend.

• CONS: There’s often a bit of jumping, so if you have downstairs neighbors, you’ve got to be wary of the noise you might be making.
  If you absolutely adored Orange Theory Fitness in the studios… the at home version is kind of a let down. There’s no running or rowing sections; and honestly, those were my two favorite parts of class!

• WORTH IT? It’s free, so Absolutely!

Melissa Wood Health

• COST: 7 day Free Trial; then $9.99/month or $99.99/year

• PROS: There’s a huge variety in lengths- classes are anywhere from 5-50 minutes! The app is neatly laid out into sections so you can pick and choose exactly what you want to do. There’s also sections for if you have a treadmill or pool, and extensive pre- and post-natal classes for all the lovely mamas out there. The workout is mostly pilates/barre themed, but often use little to no props, which is very convenient for an at-home workout.

• CONS: Cost & familiarity (it’s another barre/pilates/low impact strength workout)

• WORTH IT? Depends. If you’re already paying for several other apps, this one can slide off you “need” list. That being said, it’s absolutely amazing, and I love her arms & abs workouts.

SWEAT

• COST: $20/month, $55 for 3 months, or $120 a year

• PROS: Workouts are clearly laid out, with a set plan of which workouts to do when per week. The workouts get steadily harder as you continue to do them, and they’re cleanly split between resistance (guided), cardio (unguided), and recovery (guided). Resistance workouts are 28 minutes long, so if you can only commit a half hour a day, this is for you!

• CONS: That price tag tho. Classes and moves also seem to get a bit repetitive and sometimes boring. There’s no variety between resistance training. And honestly, I can do endless amounts of squats, push-ups, and planks for free.

• WORTH IT? In my opinion… no.

Tone It Up

• COST: $12.99/month

• PROS: The community. The #TIU following in instagram is absolutely insane. I did a challenge, and there’s such camaraderie and support with everyone.
  Each workout is never more than 28 minutes long, which is good if you’re strapped for time!

• CONS: It’s really easy. Generally, if I’m in for a workout, I want it to feel like a workout. Even during their HIIT session I barely broke a sweat.
  It’s also very female-centric. This isn’t necesarily a bad thing! It’s nice to hear “you’re doing great, babe!”, but not everyone likes to be referred to as such, so I always flag it out to my pals.

• WORTH IT? In my opinion… no. If I want an easier workout, I can find something on YouTube (like Yoga with Adriene) or Instagram for free.

If you’re looking to not spend any money during your at-home fitness stint, I’d highly suggest Orange Theory at Home. However, if you’re willing to drop a little change; go with Peloton. It’s got the most bang for your buck, and so much variety that you’ll never be bored!

If there’s any others you want to hear about that I missed, feel free to let me know!

xoxo, Sarah