My dad’s always referred to his gym time as his “happy hour,” and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to feel the same. In 2018, I started exercising almost every day to cope with all of the anxiety that had surfaced during (and before) I was going through divorce. When I’m stressed, I don’t usually feel like eating or I just…forget. To induce myself to eat at least twice a day, I went to the gym. That way, I’d eat breakfast to fuel my workout and I would be hungry afterwards.
After a few months, I’d started eating normally (well, for what passes for normal in the service industry), and built enough strength and endurance that I was there for an hour of weights and 30-45 minutes of cardio. During the past week-and-a-half of quarantine, the time I spend working out is my temporary break from the anxiety and dread that comes with living during a pandemic. Admittedly, it’s been much harder to find the motivation to paused the streaming binge and unroll my yoga mat recently, but when I do, my mind is so much clearer.
“Daily workouts help keep us safe from injury, which in turn keeps us out of ERs and hospitals [that] are already overwhelmed,” says personal trainer and coach Jen Jackson. But it’s not just the physical benefits that render it so important right now. “Exercise is necessary for both physical and mental health. Your body and mind need it.”
Matt Crane, CPT and owner of Meta Fitness Studio, agrees. “When you typically think of exercise, people are often doing it to look good, but I think that people gain the most benefits from how it makes you feel. For now, keep it simple. We can’t have our normal gym routines, so do what you can with your bodyweight that’s safe.”
The good news is that there are quite a few free or discounted online workout videos, livestreamed classes, and tutorials. Here are some of the ones I
Jen Jackson and Jason Long are streaming bodyweight workouts on their Facebook channels (or linking to Zoom).
Tori Prendergast and some other teachers are streaming classes on Instagram.
Planet Fitness has moved (heh) their group classes to their YouTube channel.
Gold’s Gym has done the same with its library and Les Mills workout collection.
UVA’s School of Contemplative Science has moved all of its yoga and meditation classes to Zoom. That schedule lives here.
The YMCA has opened up its library as well.
Dance it out with 305 Fitness.
Fitness Blender has a bunch of free workouts available online.
DownDog’s series of apps is free until April 1, as is Core Power Yoga.
You can also workout with Chris Hemsworth for free on his fitness app for 60 days as long as you sign up by March 31.
Peloton is offering a free 90-day app trial.
ObeFitness has a free 30 day trial with code ATHOME.
CrossFit has its circuit workouts and movements online.
P.volve has a 14 day free trial, but the Internet says you can get a 30 day trial with code ONEPVOLVE.
Fhitting Room’s free 30 day trial is currently open.
Disclaimer: I previously trained at Meta Fitness Studio and Jen Jackson is my Beach Body coach, but I am not affiliated with or receive money or product from these companies.