If cabin fever has you down, you may want to brave the winter weather and work out outside. But for those of us who don’t want to leave the warmth of our homes or face planks at a gym, streaming programs can be the perfect way to stay fit during winter.
There are a wide range of options that give you access to powerhouse gyms, studio experiences, and fitness regimens from ballet to bodybuilding—all from the comfort of your own space.
But which Internet-based programs are worth the investment or time and money?
The Live Factor
Don’t want to be the person who ducks into class a few minutes late and gets dirty looks? These platforms offer live classes that stream in real-time. You’ll have to come relatively on time to catch class on time, but you won’t get side-eye if you arrive late.
Daily Burn: Get daily live workouts and other videos to choose from in various lengths. Programs include barre, Pilates, yoga, and cardio. The classes can be streamed on your TV, laptop, phone, or tablet.
Peloton: Now they have a treadmill program, so you don’t just have to love spin class to get in on the live fun. The drawback here is that you must buy the equipment and a monthly membership, which can set you back into the thousands. If you have that kind of dough and a competitive spirit, it may be right for you because you can see where you stand compared to others in the class.
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ClassPass Live: Live streaming workouts from ClassPass are $10 a month for existing members and $15 a month for newbies. It’s not launched yet, but you can get on the waitlist by visiting the site.
FORTË: Live stream boutique fitness classes—everything from running, cycling, barre, and more—for $99 a year or $39 a month. Want to compete with others in real time? It lets you sync your Fitbit, Apple Watch, or other wearable so you can track your performance on the leaderboards.
Live Streaming Fitness: Under $10 for an entire household gets you access to a mix of live classes and pre-recorded classes in a variety of genres from cardio to toning specific body parts.
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On-Demand Still in Demand
Live programs are nice, especially for folks that want the live experience or can tap into a leaderboard and track their results against competitors. But several programs let you stream fitness videos that have already been made. This is a crowded market—there are plenty of studios that record their own classes as they’re taken by others live and make them available on demand. There also are programs that are simply prerecorded and offered online.
Hardcore Fitness: Can’t get enough P90X? Beachbody now has a fitness and nutrition streaming platform—Beachbody On Demand—with plenty of perks for $99 a year. You won’t get live classes here, but you will get access to the wide range of Beachbody recorded programs.
Wind Down: For $18 a month, you can stream as many classes as you want from top instructors via YogaGlo. Yogis Anonymous costs $15 a month and streams from another real-life studio. Both give you that “community” sense.
Dance your way fit: One of the coolest things about online fitness is how you can specialize in an activity you like. Think you need to stick to a traditional workout? Dig out your ballet slippers with Ballet Beautiful and get fit doing something you probably loved as a kid—or never got to try. Lazy Dancer Studio has a similar offering.