Get lean in lockdown – 13 online fitness classes
Gyms may be closed but you can still get your fitness fix from your front room with these brilliant local online classes, from dance and yoga, to circuits and HIIT.
Whatever your ability, age or taste in fitness, here’s our pick of the best fitness stars to give us a physical and mental boost!
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FITNESS HEROES!
Flow Tunbridge Wells
Flow Tunbridge Wells, winner of Best Yoga Studio in Kent in the 2018 and 2019 Muddy Awards, will be by your side this lockdown with their much-loved online yoga classes. Running 7-days a week, catch a restorative Meditation or Relaxing Yoga class – morning, noon and night! For the full class schedule and booking link – click here.
FindUrFit
Findurfit is run by Sarah Best the super approachable and friendly online fitness class instructor and personal trainer. Sarah promises to inspire you to make fitness part of your life and find a love of exercise whatever level you are.
Check out Findurfit’s schedule here – all online and running throughout lockdown – from 1-2-1 sessions to HIIT body blasts, strength and cardio to barre. There’s even a class your teens could try!
Barre by Tara
Qualified Barre teacher and level 3 personal trainer, Tara aka Barre by Tara runs Barre classes a combination of yoga, Pilates and ballet with a focus on strengthening and lengthen your body. Fab for toning and building lean muscle – better yet, first sessions are always free!
To join her virtual classes email Tara Nicholas here. You’ll need a yoga mat, a chair and two x 2 kilo weights or two x tins of beans. You can go barefoot or in grippy socks.
Samsara Retreat & Yoga
Samsara, the beautiful Retreat and Yoga Studio in the heart of Kent, run by husband and wife team Lori and Dipu, is offering plenty of online courses to keep you stretched and sane.
Still experience the Samsara magic (just through your screen!) for £10 a class. They have a range of classes, in the evening throughout the week with Hatha, Vinyasa and Ashtanga! Click here for full class details.
Core Belief Pilates
We are big fans of these local Pilates classes run by the incredible Yusra at Core Belief. Choose from three Live Pilates classes each week (£10 a class) or sign up to their monthly membership plan (£29 a month) to access all classes and watch any back!
During these sessions, Yusra guides you seamlessly through her intricate myofascial release techniques using foam rollers, balls and general household objects to help you realign your skeleton and reduce pain and disfunction. She then builds strength in your weaker connections to stabilise and secure your spine and other joints.
Perfect if you previously relied on massage, osteopathy or chiropractic services. If you’d like a taster, book your first free class here!
SPN+
SPN, our favourite fitness boutique – that brings big city fitness and wellbeing to the suburbs – has a brilliant and expansive online offering, SPN+.
There’s more than 100 classes, in 10 fitness disciplines and more than 7 classes live every week (including Yoga, Boxing, Strength Training & Indoor Cycling). You’ll even find online nutrition courses to try too. Get your FREE 7 day trial now.
Body & Health By Design
Get expert support for both your mental and physical health through this change. So in the form of life coaching, virtual fitness classes and wellness programmes – the amazing Karen Porter can help us all!
Join her virtual Fitness Classes from HITT and core, Box Fit, Family Fitness, Pilates and even private 1-1 Personal Training sessions for £25 here.
Through a secret Facebook Group, Karen runs a monthly subscription programme of live fitness classes, daily coaching and nutrition advice, LifeWorks Lifestyle. Join in live with; HIIT, Pilates, Strength, Toning and Stretch classes also Mindset, Breathing, Boundaries, Happiness coaching sessions – ALL this for £59 a month. Want in? Message Karen on FB to join or try out a class.
Or if you’d like more targeted support get 1-1 Online Life Coaching.
Ismini Philips Studio
The brilliant Pilates and Movement Studio in Tonbridge is perfect for perfecting both your fitness and body alignment. They are also specialists in back pain, neurological conditions and breast cancer rehabilitation. With a range of classes on offer, including new courses like Introduction to the The Feldenkrais Method or Intuitive Movement classes to focus on exploring different movements of the skeleton. Plus there’s Unwind Thursday – designed to improve energy and help you relax and re-balance. For full information and to book click here.
NATIONAL ON DEMAND CLASSES
Barrecore
Less pirouettes and more Pilates, Barrecore combines work with a ballet barre with dance-inspired movements, lightweight props and high reps – ideal if you’ve always dreamed of having a dancer’s body. Jourdan Dunn, Poppy Delevingne and ballet queen Darcey Bussell herself are all said to be big fans, so who are we to argue? Instead of travelling to their studios in London, Bristol and Manchester, you can get the Barrecore workout at home with their online videos, which cover their signature class as well as shorter workouts for those pressed for time. Get the first month for free and then the online service costs £25 a month.
Scott Laidler Online Personal Training
Online fitness courses can sometimes be a bit cookie cutter – plug your weight and height in, and it’ll spit out a set of exercises that may have nothing to do with your lifestyle or goals. Personal trainer Scott Laidler’s online course is designed to be different (and this chap certainly knows his onions, as he’s trained everyone from Oscar-winning actors to Paralympic athletes). Fill in a questionnaire and you’ll receive a custom fitness plan designed by Scott and his team, a nutrition plan and access to a video exercise library – all with the aim of whipping you into shape in six to twelve weeks. Prices start at £195 for six weeks. Sign up here.
InstructorLive
InstructorLive calls itself ‘the Netflix of fitness’ – but rather than falling asleep in front of it with a glass of wine, you’ll be choosing from 160 programmes with more than 1500 different workout videos, which you can stream on-demand on your TV, tablet or phone. There’s a huge amount to choose from here, from fitness classics like high intensity interval training, Pilates and aerobics to more specific workouts, such as Wedding Ready in 60 Days, Little Black Dress Workout, pre- and post-natal yoga and the intriguingly-named Romancercise (which is apparently a pre-date HIIT workout – who knew?). Prices start at £4 a month for a single programme – ideal if you’re just dipping in a toe or get unlimited access to all programmes for £9.99 a month. Find out more here.
Movement For Modern Life
Yoga bunnies looking for a little motivation will love this on-demand library of routines, which range from under 10 minutes to over an hour. You can filter by type of yoga (which covers styles we didn’t even know existed – Jivamukti, anyone?), difficulty level and even what kind of mood you’re in. We recommend you attend at least a couple of live classes to nail the form and alignment (sadly, the videos can’t do it all for you), but once you have the basics this service is mega convenient. There are at least three new videos a week, and you can sign up for daily challenges that’ll be emailed to you at 6am sharp to kick you into action – even if you’re working out in your jim-jams. There’s a two-week free trial when you sign up, and then prices start at £10.99 a month.
Stemz Fitness
If you’re worried that a streaming on-demand service isn’t enough of a kick up the bum to actually get you working out, then these online classes from Stemz Fitness are live and interactive (which means, *gulp*, accountability). Bookable online and conducted by Zoom, there are five different options here, including P90X and Insanity for serious fitness buffs (or, you know, masochists). The two-way system means that instructor Ems can give you feedback on your form, and classes are capped at 10 people for that one-on-one feel. At just £3.50 a class, this service costs less than your morning coffee. No excuses here!
So you’ve picked your class – now for the gear! Find Muddy’s edit of fitness fashion and shiny new tech here.