Feel the Burn: 8 Virtual Workouts to Get Your Cardio On While Staying at Home

A continuing series about  awesome social distance activities in DC to keep you entertained during the outbreak and inspired to keep daydreaming about your next adventure in the Nation's capital.

If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably spent a fair amount of time over the past several days in your yoga pants but the only stretching you’ve done is reaching for the remote.

But social distancing and stay-at-home orders don’t have to mean you’re doomed to turn into a couch potato.  With so many gyms and fitness centers forced to move their classes online, there are plenty of ways to stay active and off the sofa. Wake up, and roll out of bed and into a 60-second plank, because where else do you have to be? 

Here are six ways to tap into local offerings and maintain — or elevate — your fitness during these unusual circumstances. Bonus: Most of the suggestions are free! That's worth a few extra squats, right?

1. 202 Strong

Check out their digital catalog of workouts live on YouTube, where 202strong is streaming upbeat weekday classes that anyone can join free. Plus, there’s no equipment required for many of the exercises. When they are needed, instructors use household items to show those who tune in how to improvise. Laundry detergent works well! Who knew?

2. 305 Fitness

Get ready to dance like no one is watching! Every day at noon and 6 p.m., Sadie Kurzban, 305 Fitness founder and CEO  leads a live cardio dance party on YouTube that’s a rigorous workout and a lot of fun with jam-worthy tunes! Each 45-minute class has a theme — think Way Back Wednesday, Country Hoedown and Family Day.  Get a group of your friends together on Zoom and have a workout party with this one!

3. Bluebird Sky Yoga

The entire mission behind Bluebird Sky Yoga is to combine music, yoga, and art. Whether your mission is to practice Ashtanga, Vinyasa, or martial-arts inspired Primal Yoga Flow, or just seeking a better space to set your intentions within, Bluebird Sky Yoga caters to each need. Bluebird is streaming both free and for-purchase classes. To take a regularly scheduled class, head to the studio’s website, sign up and pay (you can choose from a membership, class pack, or drop-in price), and you’ll get a link to join the Zoom live broadcast. Additionally, the group will live stream classes on its Facebook page at 12:30pm.

4. Flow Yoga Center

Offering community inspired meditation, yoga, barre, pilates & fitness classes, the studio is live streaming of its flows via Zoom. To sign up, visit its registration page and make a donation. Additionally, the group will stream a series of talks about maintaining well-being during uncertain times.

5. Nuboxx

Rocky! DC’s first boutique boxing gym is streaming its workouts online.  $50 for four weeks of workouts, with a new video every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. All profits go directly to the coaches, and videos will be available for you to replay post-class.

6. Sweat DC

Sweat DC co-founder Gerard Burley launched Sweat Anywhere in response to COVID as a platform for virtual workouts.  A 30-day membership includes two new workouts daily, streamed live and then archived online for re-watching. The schedule is wide-ranging: Classes include upper and lower body high-intensity interval training, meditation, cardio shred boot camp, a “barre party” and sculpt, which is a full-body core and muscle toning regimen.

​Members get access to 60+ workouts including HIIT, barre, sculpt, bootcamp, yoga, dance, meditation (we need it more than ever), mindfulness, nutrition & more. The workouts are streamed live so you can follow along and even live chat with the coaches during the workout (think TRL live song requests). All workouts are recorded and stay on the platform for 30 days after the workout so you can workout anytime.

7. Vida Fitness

The Vida team has recorded 18 “Work In”  workout videos that have a bit of something for every fitness level and workout type, including Pilates kickboxing and high-intensity interval training. Most require minimal to no equipment. The cardio dance fitness video is super fun and makes you feel like you’re dancing at the club, not working out! Content is free, but you’ll have to provide your name and contact information to access the fitness library.

8. YMCA

The no-frills but effective fitness/recreation center an launched on-demand exercise and youth program called YMCA 360. The online video library includes barre, boot camp, yoga and more  for everyone including kids and active older adults “to support the health and well-being of everyone staying home.” All of the exercise courses are free for a limited time, regardless of YMCA membership. 

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