Covid-19 is still gripping the world as lockdowns continue and worldwide closures affecting daily life. With this pandemic and restriction on normality, how can you prioritise your health and wellness during this time? We decided to test and try a few fitness apps for at-home workouts in 2020.
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The apps we tried were:
- Down Dog
- FitOn
- Freeletics
- Homeworkout
Usually, at-home workouts will be bodyweight exercise focused. Typically, not everyone has access to fitness equipment at home but this does not mean you are missing out.
If you have dumbbells, resistance bands or a kettlebell, we recommend trying to integrate them into the exercises provided by apps. Or you can replace some exercises with weighted exercises if you desire.
We do know that many shops are out of stock or not delivering fitness equipment during the pandemic. This is why the use of fitness apps can be important to motivate you, instruct you and make you sweat for your health in lockdown.
Exercise is massively important for your health and immune system during a lockdown. However, if you already have you at home workout down, take a look at these 15 activities in lockdown for your health and wellness.
1. Down Dog
The main down dog app covers yoga however they actually have over 5 apps for various workout types. We tried the original yoga and HIIT apps but they also have yoga for beginners, barre and prenatal yoga. The layout is the same between the apps so whichever ones you choose, it will look and operate the same.
It is free for the first 2 weeks and then £34.99 for a year subscription to all apps.
The usability of the app is very good as you can set up the kind of practice you want to have. Including the length of the session, the body area or type of yoga you want to target, the music you want, and the level that you are at.
This means, no matter what you need, there is going to be something for you. Just want a quick core HIIT session? It is so easily set up for you on the HIIT app. I person personally, loved the core workouts and they were always different.
The videos are extremely clear and instructional for you to follow. There are also 10 second rest times in the HIIT workouts which allow you to see the demonstration so that you are not missing out on any workout time.
Yoga wasn’t part of my usual fitness program but it is now! I went through the 3 day Intro to Vinyasa to get me started. There are also introductions to Hatha and Restorative Practice too which definitley helped in learning terms, form and breathing for yoga.
Honestly, there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about this app and definitely recommend it for at-home workouts in lockdown.
2. FitOn
FitOn is another excellent fitness app for at-home workouts. This app generates a video program for your fitness goal which you can set up at the start and at any point whilst using the app. This then suggests relevant exercise videos for your goal and changes the videos for each week of the program.
In addition, the app also allows you to access their blog, offers advice and a meal plan for the program. As well as more videos for you to browse and complete. Some of these features are part of their Pro plan which is £68.24 for the year.
Again, the video demonstrations they have are very clear and are run just like a class at a gym. The instructors are highly motivating, explanatory and offer posture corrections. This is so important to ensure you’re doing the workout properly, not causing injury and you can’t always get this instruction just from videos.
There is a massive variety of videos available so you are sure to find something like, including yoga, pilates, cardio and HIIT training. Some also have the instructor using equipment like dumbells and resistance bands which can enhance your at-home workout.
We would definitely recommend this app for you because of the variety, the energy they create in the videos and the program that it generates for you. I personally loved the Thigh Trim down workout which really created that burn and had difficulty.
3. Freeletics
Freeletics is another workout app we tested out. This app pushes for personalised coaching with their Training Journeys so we did feel that the free workouts were limited. When setting up the app you also get the option to choose how you workout: using bodyweight, running or with weights.
Pricing follows £82.99 for 6 months of training and nutrition plans or £54.99 for 6 months of just training. This includes personalised training, full access to training journeys, an ai coach, and tailored meal plans.
You can also choose to lengthen or shorten the plan and the price then adjusts according to your choice.
The free training that we tested included a great variety of target areas. The workouts work are named using Greek mythological names and describe the duration and difficulty of the training.
Each workout sets out a long routine of exercises and the reps which you can also adjust to how many you want to do. Going through the workouts, there is a clear demonstration video and once you finish the exercise you need to click the next one to move on.
This is good as it means you do the workout at your own pace. However, without audio, it can mean you can slack and need to motivate yourself to do it properly.
What we did love is the bonus audio mindset training. Mind Medicine knows that your mindset plays a massive part in your health. Therefore, including these guided meditations is a great bonus that you should try! Improving your mindset means you can have much more successful at home-workouts in lockdown.
4. Homeworkout
Similar to Freeletics, Homeworkout offers a paid subscription or a limited free one.
The free subscription offers a variety of workouts and 28 day challenges. However, rather than using videos, the workouts are demonstrated using an animation. If you don’t know the exercise, before starting you can click and see instructions for proper execution.
Again, you also click the tick to move onto the next exercise as some are measured by reps rather than time. These training videos do have some motivational audio and times rest times.
I started with the 28-day challenge for upper body and lower body. These workouts get progressively more difficult as you learn and gain strength. Although some are as short as 7 minutes, I liked that it included a huge amount of exercises per workout.
The Homeworkout app has a 7 day free trail. After the free period, it costs £39.99 for a year. You do not have to sign up for the free trial and can continue to use the app for free, however, the workouts are limited.
The paid version includes a wider variety of workouts and videos with trainers rather than the animation. The variety of workouts they have for different goals is pretty amazing so you’re likely to never run out of workouts!
Download and Get started with At-home Workouts in Lockdown
After trying these apps after try over the last few weeks, we have decided that FitOn and Down Dog are our top choices.
Depending on your needs, fitness apps are a great solution for getting exercise at home. They provide such a variety of exercises and the paid versions are likely to be a great investment in your fitness.
Even after gyms begin to reopen, you can still use these apps for HIIT or yoga training whilst at the gym. But for right now, getting the exercise your body needs is hugely important for your health and wellness.
So get downloading and test your fitness with these at-home workout apps.