We all got into home video workouts during the first lockdown. It was a novel way to train and then there was the phenomenon of Joe Wicks’s PE lessons on YouTube providing daily motivation to get moving. However, unless someone in your household joined you, following online video workouts can feel a little lonely, especially if your fitness routine once revolved around meeting friends at group exercise classes.
Considering all the reasons people have congregated online, like quizzes and cook-alongs, it’s surprising that there haven’t been more ways to combine working out with seeing people. Especially as there are few, if any, better motivations to train than meeting up with a pal – plus the added challenge of a friendly rivalry. Basically, we wanted a House Party or Zoom for workouts. Well, it turns out there at least a couple that offer just that.
The first is the Fitfully app, which lets you exercise in groups of up to six people. There’s even a “You Go I Go” style of workout available where you take turns with a partner to complete the exercises, so you can cheer each other on – unless you’re busy catching your breath.
You can also create your own workouts on Fitfully and challenge your friends to take them with you, and the app is free on the App Store and Google Play.
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- The Best Boutique Gyms Offering Online Workout Classes
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Lucozade Sport has partnered with Fitfully to create a seven-day challenge, where you exercise each day in the app, individually or with friends, completing an increasingly hard series of exercises. Complete the challenges for the chance to earn prizes and exclusive discounts, if you need even more motivation to get moving.
The second service that lets you train with friends is LiveNOW, an online streaming platform that hosts 60 PT-led exercise classes a week. To help people stay fit during the lockdown these classes are free until January 31st 2021, though you will have to sign up to take part. Once logged in, you can set up a private studio in which you and your friends can take the classes as a group using the Watch Together feature. LiveNOW is ideal for more experienced exercisers, with advanced options available in a range of disciplines – HIIT, boxing, barre and Muay Thai to name but a few – and for a range of equipment you may have at home.
