Anyone else feeling a bit of stress around how they’re staying active while socially distancing? I’m sharing what’s working for me and free classes you can find around the internet.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that I am someone who works out at least 5 times a week. I’ve been a boutique fitness fan for years, alternating between barre, yoga, dance, and pilates. Currently, I’m going to Pure Barre 5-6 times a week (it’s the closest studio to my home) and I’ve been avidly pursuing the March Stronger Challenge, 20 classes in a month.
Well, no surprise that the past week or so has thrown a wrench in that and, it seems silly, but not getting to my workout classes was one of the things that brought me the most anxiety about social distancing. I can keep myself busy at home all day — there’s freelance work to do, home projects to tackle, photo books to build, and so on. But, going to my workout classes, that’s something I need in my routine.
HOW I’M STAYING ACTIVE WHILE SOCIALLY DISTANCING
The Pure Barre studio I go to gave all members access to Pure Barre on Demand for free (it’s $29.99 for non-members). The online portal offers a wide variety of class lengths and focuses, so I can do a 30-minute full body workout, followed by 5-minutes of abs if I want.
However, I definitely was a little frustrated because I paid for my membership at the beginning of the year, so it’s not like I can put it on hold and I know that I don’t enjoy working out at home (I’m an upholder in every sense of the word, except that I need the class to go to — if I’m home, I’ll find other work to do).
But, this is a situation where we all need to make the best of it, and so I committed to trying to get into the workout from home groove.
Luckily, my studio came to the rescue and started live streaming classes on Facebook. Members just have to request to join. THIS was the game-changer for me. It gives me a set time I know I need to tune in and I can’t pause it because an urgent email popped up. I’m in it for 50-minutes. Of course, this may not always be an option, but perhaps that’s the secret — putting a set time on your calendar, eliminating distractions, and sticking to it as you would an in-person class. No excuses, treat it as if you’re getting charged $15 for not showing up (as we do for the studio classes).
FITNESS STUDIOS OFFERING FREE ONLINE CLASSES
Okay, so if you’re in the market for workout options you can do from home and are wondering which fitness studios are offering free online classes, here’s a list of the ones I’ve found. Some of these are DC-specific, while others are nationwide.
And, two points to hit before we get into it. If you’re utilizing a local studio’s online options, considering buying a class pass that you can leverage after all this mess is back to normal. These studios need to business to stay in business.
And, if you’re choosing a nationwide chains free classes, same thing goes if there is one convenient to you (I go to Pure Barre and I want my studio to stay open — they have rent to pay, too!), but, you might also want to pay attention to how many free trial memberships you sign up for. There’s a good chance they’ll automatically switch you to a paid membership when the trial is over. Not a bad thing if you enjoy it, but you may not want multiple memberships going on at once.
- Epic Yoga DC: Instagram streamed workouts. This was my favorite studio when I lived in Dupont/Adams Morgan neighborhood and I still get their emails, so I was delighted to see they’re offering classes online.
- The Bar Method: Free 14-day trial. Not my favorite barre workout, but worth a 14-day free trial.
- Cut Seven: Google drive and Instagram workouts. A friend of mine SWEARS by Cut Seven. I’ve turned down the offer to live stream a class with her once this week, but we’ll see…
- Solidcore: Uploading workouts online daily. Never tried it and I’m not quite sure how it works without the equipment, but check it out.
- Core Power: Free access to on-demand. I did a black membership at Core Power for about a year when I lived in Glover Park and was hooked. I’ve since given up hot yoga, but I might give their online classes a go.
- 305 Fitness: Streaming via YouTube. I still haven’t tried a class, but so many of my friends are hooked on this high energy dance workout.
- Orange Theory: 30-minute classes uploaded daily. Another one where I’m interested to see what they do sans-equipment, but I like the 30-minute class format.
- Peloton: 90-day free trial. Adam loves doing Peloton workouts when we travel and I’ve joined him on occasion. There’s a wide variety of offerings that don’t require a bike.
- Barry’s Bootcamp: Streaming 20-minute daily workouts on Instagram. Get an extra sweat in with these high-intensity workouts.
- Barre3: Not free, but $29 for 30 days. Y’all know I was a barre3 devotee until I moved closer to a Pure Barre studio. I would absolutely pay $29 for 30 days if I didn’t already have my Pure Barre membership.
- SweatNet: Free month of streaming classes. Thanks to Alexandra Whitesell for sending this my way!
If you know of other fitness studios offering free classes, definitely let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list of ways to stay active while socially distancing! Or, even if they’re just significantly discounted, that’s still worth a mention!
