Whether you’re craving high energy hip-hop cardio dance or the latest barre workout, streaming classes make working out at home super-convenient. Ranging from workouts with celebrity trainers to actual classes with real students like you, having boutique fitness classes in the comfort of your living room — for a fraction of the price you’d pay in a studio — is like a dream come true. Even better, if you’re at all shy or self-conscious, these classes let you work out without anyone watching. If you haven’t explored streaming classes, it’s time to bust out of your fitness rut and try something new. Whatever you’re in the mood for, there’s a class for you just a click away.
IF YOU NEED HIGH ENERGY: CRUNCH LIVE
I’m one of those unlucky people with no sense of left and right and garbage rhythm. I’ve always wanted to take a hip-hop dance class, but am way too worried about my lack of coordination. Thankfully, Amanda Robinson’s “Center Court Choreography” dance class on Crunch Live means I can dance as though nobody’s watching.
Combining cardio moves with choreography from the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets dancers, this class promises to torch tons of calories in just 30 minutes. It’s intense, and I found myself struggling to keep up as Robinson introduced me to moves like “the drop it low,” a series of side-to-side movements with chest bumps and arm swings that took me several repetitions to even kind of get right. Thankfully, it’s not about perfection. “Just have some fun! You’re getting some cardio in,” she tells viewers at home.
Crunch Live has a variety of streaming fitness classes by Crunch Gym instructors around the world. Try this insanely fun and intense workout with Crunch Live’s free 10-day trial.
IF YOU’RE FEELING EXPERIMENTAL: BIZZIE GOLD’S BUTI YOGA
For all the newbies to Buti Yoga, it isn’t like any yoga class you’ve ever tried before. Here’s a tip: Wait until you’re alone in your home to try these classes. Many of the moves resemble twerking and involve pelvic thrusting to playlists with the latest hip-hop and throbbing dance beats. That said, Buti Yoga is a killer workout — and it’s fun, too.
Gold shakes up your yoga practice, adding rhythmic circular movements and infusing her yoga practice with high-energy primal dance moves. Her informal, unconventional teaching style has earned her a major following. Expect to sweat during the workout and to have aching quads as you walk up and down stairs the next day.
IF YOU NEED TO START OUT SLOW BUT STRONG: PILATESOLOGY
Real Pilates instructor Alycea Ungaro’s “Top To Bottom Mat” video (available as part of a free trial of their streaming library) is perfect for anyone who wants to wake up their body after missing a few workouts or to slow things down and take their Pilates practice to a deeper level. Ungaro pays close attention to form, constantly switching up the alignment and rhythm of each movement to challenge the body and keep participants from cheating by relying too much on momentum.
“When you get used to your practice, one rhythm change, one tempo change, one isolation is mind-blowing,” says Ungaro in the video. Expect to build slowly to a burn, as you do a series of moves isolating your deep abdominal muscles. As I watch Ungaro carefully adjust each of her students, I can’t help but wish I was in her class in real life. But I’ll settle for the next best thing at home on my mat.
IF YOU HAVE SERIOUS FITNESS GOALS: PHYSIQUE 57
“You are feeling that burn,” says Katie Mitchell, a master trainer for Physique 57, during her Cardio Sculpt: Lower Body workout. “That means that you are literally feeling your body change.” With studios in the Hamptons, Beverly Hills, New York City and Bangkok, Physique 57 is one of the more challenging barre classes out there, and this particular class is no exception. I couldn’t help but marvel at how Mitchell and the two trainers working out alongside her managed to demonstrate the moves without looking remotely flustered or losing their picture-perfect smiles. My legs shook beneath me as I clung to the kitchen counter (my at-home substitute for a ballet barre), gritting my teeth.
One of the unique elements of Physique 57’s streaming classes — which you can try for free for a week — is that you can pair them with diet and fitness plans to achieve your goals. For instance, this workout is part of their “Lose 10 in 10” program and comes with meal suggestions and a schedule of workouts and rest days to help you lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks.
IF YOU NEED TO GET GROUNDED: YOGAGLO
YogaGlo (which offers a 15-day free trial) offers a huge range of yoga classes for pretty much anyone including people who might not normally do yoga regularly in a group setting: runners, new moms, cyclists and men.
In Chelsey Korus’s “Drop That Beat” vinyasa flow class I connect to my breath, moving fluidly through a series of warrior-centered postures, as Korus urges viewers to tune in to the present moment and empty our minds of nagging thoughts. Korus offers helpful visual cues, coaxing you to imagine things like squishing “a grape between your tailbone and the floor.” As the class winds to an end, we massage our low backs on the floor and shake our legs to stimulate our circulation. I feel so zen when I’m done it’s almost like she was in the room with me.