An indoor workout might sound like a poor substitute for the slopes just now – but how much is work, weather, or a gym dilemma messing with your exercise mojo? We suggest having a few indoor exercise options at the ready!
We’ve gathered a few online workout options below, fun, colorful compression gloves, a special wake-up light for anyone missing the sun, and a couple of awesome promos.
“We strengthen the core physically, making people feel leaner, more fit, and healthier – But go beyond that,” says Chelsea Streifeneder. “We work to build core self-confidence.”
Pilates Method Alliance-certified Chelsea Streifeneder of Body Be Well Pilates had this city dweller at “You’ll need a 4’ x 6’ space.” And it didn’t hurt that her personality beamed extra sunshine into the room. While visiting her online Pilates studio with a temporary pass, I explored classes like Abliterating Pilates Core, Stand Tall and Be Toned, and Pilates Arm Plan With Hand Weights, where her colleagues helpfully demonstrate alternate poses to match your physical challenge; and a couple in outdoor settings like Body Be Strong, and Whole Back, Booty, Band Workout. It helped that I’d done some Pilates moves such as The Hundred in the past, but in lieu of one-on-one training, Streifeneder’s online workouts are the next best thing, and both welcoming and suitable for all levels.
You only need a yoga mat, light dumbbells, and resistance band. Find out more about Body Be Well Pilates at http://www.bodybewellpilates.com/ or preview the online classes here https://www.booyafitness.com/bodybewell-pilatesplus. For a one-time payment of $35, you will have unlimited access to 5 half-hour videos. In spite of my shaking arms and core, these cheerful booty-blasting workouts felt like a gift. (Hmmm – Valentine’s Day, anyone?)
“Yoga and barre are the perfect combination of length and strength,” says Crystal Widmann of Philadelphia-based Y2BFit, a yoga, barre, and postnatal fitness instructor. Her holistic discipline is founded on “Yoga 2 Barre” (hence the Y2BFit name) and drawn from multiple credentials: in yoga, barre, NASM personal training, Reiki, nutrition, Ayurvedic – as well as the wisdom of two master’s degrees, in exercise science, and counseling psychology.
During several of the workouts I tried on a day pass Widmann gave me, I found the yoga-barre integration quite seamless and on par with her words, “the physical, mental, and emotional bodies all work together for balanced health. If one is out of balance, they’re all out of balance.”
Widmann hears the question, “What the hell happened to my body!?” from both new moms and people who want to strengthen their core. For all you busy people, her yoga + barre answer is the same: to help both your mind and body rediscover a balanced and toned center. She balances positive affirmations with an insistence you commit. “You’ll never find time if you don’t make time,” she says.
For gear you’ll want a mat and light hand weights. The back of a chair or a countertop works in lieu of a portable barre, she says. (Or find one like Widmann’s here http://abcdance.com/ for about $160.) Some of the workouts also include a playground ball (or a rolled-up towel to substitute), double-resistance tube (or an old tie), stretching strap, and yoga blocks.
Find out more at http://www.y2bfit.com/ and access online training and Y2B tv fitness library at https://app.namastream.com/#/y-2-bfit where classes are marked at beginner (B) and mixed (M) levels. Subscriptions are $11.99 monthly, and $119.99 yearly. Or try a $1.99 day pass! You can also purchase her 45- or 90-day postnatal focused work, starting at $64.99; plus a 4-week core restore series.
And here’s something special: Post a photo on Instagram of your Y2B Fit home workout before February 28, 2018, using @y2bfitstudio and #y2bfam – and Y2B Fit will choose one lucky person for a FREE one-year subscription to the online training!
Namaste.
Some welcome alignment cues you’ll hear Jill Dailey call out, are “Breathe and lengthen!” and “Exhale and strengthen!”
Whether it’s morning or just time to unwind, The Dailey Method can offer a safe and welcome stretch hello. Their 17-year strong, thoughtfully crafted “ever-evolving mix of movement,” is pulled from disciplines such as barre, yoga, Pilates, and orthopedic exercise, by San Francisco-based Kinesiologist Jill Dailey. Intrigued by her vocabulary of “fitness research” and “micromovements,” I first experienced Dailey’s workouts during one of their pop-up rooftop visits to New York City. Under her sincere direction, I became reacquainted with muscles in my shoulders. And found myself wanting more, so discovered their online classes and signed up for a few months.
Fans of the exercise, I learned, access The Dailey Method classes online from hotel rooms in order to keep up the practice. Their online class library consists of 30 workouts, each lasting 30 minutes or less – they’re a mix of Dailey barre, interval, fusion, baby, and basics. Find your invite from The Dailey Method to “burn bright” with an intro one-week offer for $5, and plans at $18 monthly or $150 yearly here https://www.thedaileymethod.com/.
Photo Credit: @RetroFlame for FIJI Water
The series of BodyWoreWhat workouts from Danielle Bernstein, the FIT-trained influencer behind fashion blog WeWoreWhat.com and Eric Johnson, Sons of Strength fitness mentor, includes arguably some of the hippest, most energetic online. “I remember the days before I had a trainer, I would search for workout videos on YouTube,” she says. “I loved the workouts that were effective, but quick and easy, like “Booty in 10 minutes” or “Abs in 8.” After Bernstein’s WeWoreWhat fans asked for her workout regimen, “creating it was the natural next step,” Johnson said. The two developed their own series and launched it last summer in New York City with FIJI Water, featuring the BFF and Crop Top Abs workouts shared in the videos below.
Grab a friend, and join Bernstein, Johnson and friends in this short (6 min+) BFF Workout. Equipment: One BFF
Show your midriff no mercy under Johnson’s guidance in this short (8 min+) Crop Top Abs Workout. Equipment: Mat, resistance band, sliders, bottle of FIJI Water
There’s no more scrounging around on YouTube for a quick booty burn for Bernstein. She and Johnson have elevated the art. Complementing their videos’ pleasing synchronicity and black-on-white aesthetic, the mesmerizing choice of music lures you into getting in shape. And enjoying it.
Stay tuned for more BodyWoreWhat and peer into the world of this New Yorker and her two French Bulldogs on Instagram at @weworewhat https://www.instagram.com/weworewhat and on her new iTunes podcast, WeHeardWhat?!
Want more of that music? Follow Bernstein’s BWW playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/127335317/playlist/6HTEePv6Z6anER5u430Gom
“Train your mind and your body, be happy in yourself, and train for health rather than an unattainable aesthetic,” says London-based personal trainer and barre instructor Aimee Victoria Long. Find her compacted guides – energetic, I-dare-you-to-stop-procrastinating posts – on Instagram where her inspiring moves and beautiful form invite you to #TrainWithAim. The under-two-minute videos offer a combination of HIIT workouts, Pilates and more, underscored by a cool groove – or stare – of a personal trainer who has heard all the excuses.
If you don’t get it the first time, the shorts are by nature on repeat. The short powerful format suits her dynamic presence, and is plenty to get you started on reps. This efficiency is matched with the logic of her training philosophy: “I approach the work knowing that everyone’s body is different,” Long says. “And that’s a good thing.”
Find Long’s growing #TrainWithAim collection on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aimeevictorialong/ where some of her gear includes hand weights, a jump rope and Pilates ball. And learn more about her ever-efficient balance of fitness, nutrition (she hates cooking), and beauty here https://www.aimeevictorialong.com/
“When people do my workouts, I want them to have fun and develop a healthy relationship with working out and fitness,” says Mike Donavanik, leader of Extreme Burn workouts for FitFusion. “I’m right there with them, side by side, hustling and grunting, to show them that while it may not be easy, it is so worth it.”
FitFusion by Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser fame gave me a short-term pass to discover their variety of workouts with trainers to lead you in yoga, Pilates, dance, kickboxing, HIIT, and more – Something for everyone. Opt for a gentle yoga flow in the English countryside with shiatsu practitioner Tara Lee, increase your breathe-and-squeeze in Fade2Fit with Teyana Taylor in her Afro-Caribbean-inspired Mango Twist, or advance through 3 levels of Michaels’ classic 30-day Beginner Shred. Or perhaps up your cardio and full-body ante with a 15- or 30-minute BOXXHITT with bootcamp-meister Louis Rennocks and spiritual sports coach Sonja Moses, circuit through Total Body Blitz with sports scientist Caroline Pearce, or find focus in breath work, wall headstands, and Bali Booty Shakes with happiness expert Dashama.
Heck, with 350+ workouts 300+ hours of content, why not challenge yourself with a new video every day of the year? Transformation, as Michaels says, can happen now.
Gear-wise you’ll mostly want a mat and hand weights. If you amp it up with a rider class you’ll need a stationery bike, and for barre and other classes you may want a band. With access starting at $9.99 monthly, experience the FitFusion exercise mecca at http://www.fitfusion.com/ and unlock your first 7 FitFusion days for free.
Indoor workouts in Florida may sound like a contradiction, but Johnny Rock’s Sobekick boxing haven delivers. Beginners will find several how-to videos on boxing stance and movement, how to wrap your hands, basic throws, and more. Designed for all levels, live and on-demand classes range from bootcamp boxing, kickboxing, abs & butt, core, Muay Thai, and yoga.
Taking advantage of their current limited-time offer of 30 days free, I tuned in to a class led by Tony. South Beachers slowly filled room and gloved up. Then Tony gave us an energetic cardio warmup, and brought the goods. And with only a floor mat, this beginner shadowboxed through her first boxing class.
Not just boxing: “The Calm Warrior is a balanced vinyasa class incorporating challenging active postures followed by passive restorative postures.” – Sobekick
Sobekick sells boxing gear online from hand wraps to floor bags (water filled). Use code GETFITNOW for a short-term offer of 10% off equipment. (Or if you’re sans equipment like me, check out How to Shadow Box for Beginners by Everlast Nutrition on YouTube.
A Sobekick subscription is either $29 monthly for live and on-demand, or $199 yearly. You might yet catch their end-of-year annual deal for $99. And if you act NOW, you can get their limited-time offer of 30 days free – which requires no credit card to activate – at http://sobekick.com/30-days-free. And while you’re at it: Post a picture of yourself on Instagram working out with one of Sobekick’s online classes, tagging @sobekickgym and hashtag #sobekickonline and they will pick 1 person who will get a 1-year subscription of Sobekick online for FREE!
If you aren’t already on a plane heading to Miami, the next-best way to learn more about Sobekick is here http://sobekick.com/
CAPTION: According to mini trampoline maker bellicon, the gravitational force of bouncing pushes each muscle to work even harder.
They encourage rebounding out of doors, weather permitting – But to be sure, experts at bellicon know indoor training. They offer a 100+ selection of rebounding workouts online – for which you will need, of course, a mini trampoline.
Should you be in the market for a mini, I am only familiar with the bellicon. My Plus (44”) loaner was easy to assemble, had a black-finished frame and fold-up legs (that felt very secure when locked in place), and a T-bar (a tall hand grip) with an add-on tablet holder. Frames are made of high-grade, high-gauge steel with “precision welding that only engineers, professional mechanics and techno-geeks can truly appreciate.”
And the colors! Am seriously in love with these colors. Neon green, orange, red, silver – you name it – Mine came with hot pink border, and blue bungees. Product videos compare the sound of rebounding on a low-impact bungeed bellicon vs the metal-springed competition (Needak and Cellerciser). The ordering process has several guides to help determine trampoline size and bungee strength.
Kind of like acquiring sea legs, bouncing gave me bellicon legs – I mean that in a good way. I began with the 3-day Focus and Coordination workout led by bellicon Netherlands CEO Remy Draaijer. I found I almost had no choice but to keep an aligned posture while bouncing. I followed his mind-body observations, found the poses and reach with my limbs. I was pretty sure this was what the guy from Leonardo daVinci’s Vitruvian Man drawing would feel.
Balance and coordination are only two of the benefits of rebounding. Bellicon shared a sports studies finding that mini-trampoline exercise not only “burned fat 50% faster than running,” but it “increased cardiovascular fitness more than twice as fast.”
Beauty and strength – the “Porsche of mini trampolines,” as Draaijer calls it – come at a cost: The bellicon Classic ranges in prices from $429-749 depending on size and leg-type; Plus comes with a T-bar, priced from $699-$769 (44”); and Premium, with scratch proof stainless steel frame (also antiseptic), can run between $829 (44”) and $1,049 (49”).
For $50 off, bellicon invites Beauty News NYC readers to go to http://bit.ly/bnnyc.
Annual membership includes customized workout plans, and helping you keep personal achievement goals. The first month is free. If you already have a trampoline, you will have access to 100+ videos at a monthly rate beginning at $9.99. For bellicon owners, the monthly rate is $7.99. Link directly to their video platform here https://video.bellicon.com/en and find out more here https://www.bellicon.com/shop/us_en/cloverpr.
Speaking of quality-made + bold colors! Compression gloves and foot bands from PROPS ATHLETICS promise a harder, healthier, sexier, and stronger workout.
A pair of PROPS STAPLE gloves, given to me by PROPS ATHLETICS first transformed my vinyasa flow experience, so that in all my palms-on-floor poses I felt more secure. I found these gloves protect your palms when working on mats, using weights or machines, improve your grip, and allow you focus on your sport. It’s been so convenient to simply dab the back of a gloved hand on my forehead to wick away sweat. They hand wash and dry in no time, ready for your next workout.
Now I’m tempted to get a pair of non-slip PROPS footbands to protect all four of my paws during barefoot activities like rebounding, yoga, Pilates, and barre. The PROPS signature silicone pattern anchors you wherever you place palm or sole, giving extra confidence to joints and limbs – and the bold colors are sure to brighten a room with smiles.
PROPS gloves come in three styles ranging from $36 to $48; PROPS foot bands are $44; and a combo set is $75. Learn more, and see which PROPS suit you and your sport best here http://www.propsathletics.com/.
“It feels like the sun comes into your room” – said a recipient of the Wake Up Light by Philips in Longyearbyen, Norway, where, for four months out of the year, the sun does not rise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMm4TXXTpIg (5 mins)
No one likes to work out when they’re low on sleep. Natural light during the day and a darkened room at night are key to a quality night’s rest. With short, dark winter days, natural light can seem scarce. Some of us have to block out streetlights at night. And for millions of Americans, the workday starts at night, before the sun rises – or after it sets.
I found the Wake Up Light I received from Philips simulates both sunrise and sunset. Its setting-sun function was both relaxing and easy to initiate. It began with a powerful warm glow, then gradually dissolved into darkness – Fantastic. Waking up was more challenging. It had two sunrise-simulation alarms, with an array of glow settings and sounds available. I found the sunrise too bright for me, so I learned to memorize where all the buttons were. And it was helpful to watch reviews and unboxings like this one.
With height 7.5 in., diameter 7.8 in., depth 4.7 in., and weight 2.4 lb., you’ll want room on your bedside table. The range of wake-up lights by Philips are listed from $49.99 to $199.99. You can compare them here http://www.usa.philips.com/c-m-pe/light-therapy/sleep-wake-up-light/ and also find them online at Amazon and Costco.
Can we agree that self care is a kindness? If you need an excuse to jumpstart healthy habits, February 11-17, 2018, is Random Acts of Kindness Week. We have more options to include exercise in our days than we’ve ever had. So lug that gym bag around and make excuses if you must this winter. Or light up the indoors with an online workout at home.
