Stay Fit with (Fun! Inspiring! Sweaty in a Good Way!) Streaming Workouts

If you can’t get to a gym because you’re on the road or stuck at home, you can still bust a good sweat. I spent six weeks last fall on a change-cities-every-two-days trip through Marrakech, Italy, and London. Super fun! So intense! And very bad for my fitness regime. This sent me online looking for options. I found so many workouts and yoga classes to stream and virtual studios to join. These are my favorites, organized by length of time. (Studios marked "subscription" have free online classes.) No stationery bikes or two-way workout mirror required: just your body and maybe a yoga mat. We've organized these by duration. Just hit play from this web page and go.

5-15 Minutes

Charlee Atkins

Five moves, repeated a few times, for a total body workout. That's about as simple as it gets. Well+Good has workouts from many different trainers. This one is great for its no-fuss ease.

Melissa Wood Health (Subscription)

Health and wellness coach Melissa Wood has gained cult status for her twenty-minute workouts that are equal parts meditation, Pilates, yoga, and low impact movements. They're targeted to feel the burn and perfect for those who like to unwind with a candlelit flow or want a one-two punch of meditation and workout in a short amount of time. Membership costs $9.99/month or $99/year for unlimited access to her library of workouts, treadmill series, mindful eating guides, and pre- and post-natal series.

Obé (Subscription)

Take what you love about Class Pass — the variety, the teachers with ax cult following — and put it into a website. That's the clever idea behind Obé, the streaming fitness company that gives members unlimited access to 2500+ classes for $27/month — less than one boutique fitness class. Most of classes are 28 minutes and organized around three pillars: Sweat (cardio), Define (strength), and Flow (yoga and stretching), ensuring an almost endless array of instructors, workouts, and styles. They also offer 10-minute express classes for people who like to rush (I'm raising my hand, which is why I embedded three above). Their helpful how-to is a sort of virtual personal coach. Do you need the contact high of others working out around you? Join one of the 100 live classes offered weekly. This is all to say that if you get bored with Obé, it's on you, pal. Here's even more incentive to try it out: You can use the code FATHOM to get 30% off your first month in addition to the 7-day free trial.

Crossrope

The tried-and-true playground jump rope gets a makeover with this new weighted rope that combines strength and cardio and can burn up to 1,000 calories per hour. The workouts on their app can work with or without their weighted ropes. And because jumping rope is low impact, it’s a great option for those who like HIIT workouts, but also need to prevent or recovering from injury.

Dancebody Live (Subcription)

The buzzy dance-inspired fitness company, with locations in New York City, Miami, and the Hamptons, just launched a new streaming service for those who can't visit the studios or want to shake it from home. For $34.99/month, you can stream live or on-demand videos of their dance cardio Signature and low-impact Sculpt workouts to your phone, iPad, or TV. The choreography is switched every three months, ensuring the moves always stay fresh. Their gear is for sale on their website, but isn't necessary to get a great sweat.

25-30 Minutes

30-Minute Full-Body HIIT

This one challenges you to see just how fast you can get your feet to move in 30-second bursts. (And how many squats you can do. And star jumps. And skaters.) You've never been so happy for a water break.

CONBODY 23-Minute Prison-Style Bootcamp (Subscription)

Coss Marte developed his CONBODY program while incarcerated – and lost 70 pounds in six months in the process. Hence the "prison-style, hardcore bootcamp" ethos in his no-equipment workouts. That he employs former convicts as trainers adds an admirable prison reform message to his work. He gave us this sample class exclusively (thanks, Coss!), but for more you can live stream classes for $20 per session (ClassPass is accepted) or subscribe to pre-recorded workouts for $9/month. (I first heard Coss's amazing story on the StartUp podcast in 2016: Listen to episode 1, "Happy Ending" and 2, "From the Cell to the Sell." I once did a class with him on the beach in Miami. He's an incredible guy and an amazing, no-mercy trainer.)

30-Minute No-Equipment Barre Sculpting Workout

This half hour no-barre workout led by Hollywood trainer Marnie Alton is a killer in the way that tiny, up-an-inch, down-an-inch movements can often (and deceptively) be.

Sasha Yoga + Wellness

Before she moved to Paris, I used to take Sasha Nelson's yoga classes regularly. She's soothing and challenging, and has the nicest way about her. Her YouTube channel has many meditation videos in addition to yoga classes.

Bulldog Yoga Subscription)

Bulldog serves terrific yoga classes that are great for their pace, their music, and their lively, unstuffy vibe. (These yogis aren't obsessed with burning the palo santo, in other words.) Online classes are divided by style (Activate, Invigorate, Exhilarate, and short Bulldog Bites), ability level (from beginner to advanced), and length of time. The monthly rate is $12.99, and you can try it free for a month. Bulldog has apps for iPhone and Android and also streams on Roku, AppleTV, and FireTV. If you want to check them out IRL, visit their studios in Boulder, Colorado, and Villanova, Pennsylvania.

Yoga with Adrienne

When my back was nearly paralyzed stiff a few months ago, the only thing that unkinked me enough to stand up straight was doing this workout two days in a row. Warning: It's slow! I was bored! But it was clearly exactly what I needed, and I'll be coming back to this for the inevitable next time.

@HilaryRifkin

My friend Hilary Rifkin has written about staying fit on the go for Fathom before, but her Instagram takes fitness inspo to a whole new level. Follow her and check her stories for near-daily workouts, some at the gym, some on the front lawn with her adorable Labrador Bo. She has a special penchant for bikini workouts in the snow (you would too if you had her abs) and hasn't met a push-up she couldn't beat into submission.

Subscription Apps

Aaptiv

Aaptiv is an audio-based fitness app for anyone who is unwilling or unable to plan their day around a scheduled class, but still likes the motivation of an instructor yelling "one more burpee!" A membership costs $15/month (or $100 a year, the equivalent of two months at a low-budget NYC or LA gym) and gives you access to 2,500 audio-guided workouts, with 40 new ones added every week. The classes help you make the most of the facilities you have access to — or lack thereof — and can be filtered by workout type, intensity, duration, music, or even trainer.

Peloton App

The trendy at-home spin bike beloved by the Silicon Valley set released an app with thousands of live and on-demand running, strength training, cycling, yoga, meditation, and outdoor workouts — no bike required. You can sync to an Apple Watch or Fitbit to track your progress and set reminders. Peleton offers a free, 30-day trial and charges $13/month after that. Way more affordable than the at-home bike.