Last year we very much got used to not leaving the house and found a bunch of excellent home workouts, all available online, to keep us healthy and happy (ish). Now, we pass our fave recommendations onto you!
Joe Wicks – The Body Coach (Loved by Kelly)
The curly-haired, wildly-energetic Joe Wicks is wildly popular in the UK, and for good reason. The former personal trainer started his empire ‘Lean in 15’ with 15-second food videos on Instagram, advising his followers on healthy meals to go alongside easy-to-follow HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts. A few years later, the entire nation fell in love with Joe, who now boasts an MBE, a collection of cookbooks and an app to help people achieve their best selves.
While Joe’s app currently isn’t available in New Zealand (boo), his original 90-day plan is. It’s pretty straightforward – you pay a set amount at the beginning (around $120NZD) and you receive a customised food and workout plan, worked out for you by Joe’s team in the UK.
There’s a HEAP of food – we’re talking three meals and two snacks a day – as well as detailed descriptions of five different workouts, as well as private YouTube links just for members, so you can follow along from the comfort of home as Joe gets his very impressive torso out and walks you through the steps.
I’m just starting out on my plan and I already love it – the workouts take less than half an hour and don’t require any special equipment, and the food is yum – think blueberry pancakes, chipotle steak tacos with black beans and chicken Caesar bagels. And extra help and support is always available through the live chat service, as well as specially set-up Facebook groups of others doing the plan too.
Check back in a few months to see how I’m getting on!
Fit Body By Ashley (loved by Emma)
I first discovered Fit Body By Ashley early on in the first lockdown, after looking up “Beyoncé Dance Workout” on YouTube. The Internet DELIVERED. Ashley is pure sunshine to watch and these joyful workouts make you sweat AND smile, which is a beautiful health combo. The music is excellent, the happiness is contagious and on the sad days of 2020 when I had a lot of pent up rage/misery, I would tell my flatmates (nicely but also dramatically), “Excuse me, I have to go and dance this out.”
My favourite picks are (obviously) Beyoncé Dance Workout (Inspired By Coachella), Dancehall Inspired Workout and Megan Thee Stallion – SAVAGE REMIX (ft. Beyoncé) | FULL BODY DANCE WORKOUT.
MadFit Dance Routines (Loved by Emma)
Look I know this image is a bit instagram-y BUT Maddie’s work-outs are no joke excellent. Recommended to me by my BFF, these YouTube work-outs are fun, hard and there are two excellent streams in particular: Apartment-Friendly Workouts (No jumping, don’t need much room) and also her Song Workouts, where you can have a Dance Party to One Direction, 90s Music, 2000s Music, Ariana Grande… the works. There is also a Folklore workout which I think is hilarious because Folklore, while perfect, is the most depressing, low-beat album of all time but you know what? I still did it. That’s the power of MadFit.
Les Mills OnDemand (Loved by Emma)
The single best pre-lockdown purchase I made last year was a pair of dumbbells (5kg, don’t be intimated by me!) (Update: I just checked and actually they are 3kg, lol forever) and some ankle weights, so that I could keep up with my Body Pump classes online. Yes, while spiritually I am not aligned with the muscle-mosh culture of Les Mills (which I almost always accidentally call ‘Les Mis’), these classes are sensational and the reason I get distracted by my arm muscles during Zoom meetings all the time. And now because I can do them at home, I can a) listen to my own music and not the terrible Muzak that comes with these classes and b) not have anyone around to see how much my elbow crease (!) sweats during the squat track.
