Author Spotlight
Riley Atkinson
Binging Netflix while wrapped in a crumb-covered blanket has been a common reality over the past week — corona quarantine is in full force. But if you’re ready to get up and change out of the sweats that (let’s be honest) you’ve been living in for a few too many days, here’s a master list of online workouts to keep you active from the comfort of your germ-free house:
Major props to “Blogilates” YouTuber Cassey Ho — the thumbnails for her videos all have aesthetically pleasing color schemes and attention grabbing bold text. That aesthetic makes her audience actually want to click on a 15 minute video with key words like “Silent Death” in the title.
Most of her videos range from 10-15 minutes long, and each targets a different part of the body. Since she’s been making videos for the last 10 years, it’s unlikely you will run out of workouts to do. Inner thigh, lower abs, lovehandles — the list is endless.
Prompted by the slightly terrifying word choice, I clicked on the video titled “Silent Death Cardio – Apartment friendly workout to lean down.” For those whose brother might throw a basketball at your face if he hears loud burpees or jumping jacks, this one is for you.
13 minutes and three songs later, my heart was definitely beating faster, which was surprising because it was actually fun — it didn’t feel like I was doing cardio at all.
She demonstrated moves like “Squat and Lift,” which was just a wide leg squat, and “Twist and Kick,” which was bringing your knee into your chest and kicking it out to the side. None of the moves were impossibly difficult, but at a fast pace, my heart rate spiked.
Ho is definitely in the right profession — she patiently explains each move and throws in a motivational “Just a little longer” right when you’re about to shut the computer, grab a bag of potato chips and return to the next episode of Gossip Girl.
Since 13 minutes didn’t feel completely fulfilling, I also tried “Best Thigh Exercises for Toned Legs,” which added 13 more minutes to my workout routine.
Now this one burned. There were times when her beaming smile confused me — how is she cheery while doing 30 reps of this leg lift? And now we’re pulsing? Pretty sure she’s trying to kill me.
But after the tough part was done and the end-of-the-video stretch came around, I realized how good it felt to actually get a workout in at home.
And the next day, I felt those target muscles as I got out of bed. Barely being able to walk was a good sign for sure.
The Corinth location of Power Life Yoga usually hosts East students everyday — it’s convenient location and challenging workout classes make it a popular spot. But management sent out an email on March 16 that they’ll be closing until April 6.
They also noted that there will be virtual classes held on their YouTube channel. I can’t be the only one that was thrilled to have a free yoga class be a part of my quarantine routine.
Power Life offers classes like Power 1 and 2, which are more typical yoga classes with deep stretches and poses. But then there’s the other side of the spectrum — heated high intensity interval training classes like Power Barre and Power Sculpt.
Classrooms for these types of classes are usually heated to 92 degrees (which yes, did make me almost pass out a while ago in the in-person class). No need to worry about feeling faint while in quarantine — that is, unless you’re willing to face the wrath of your family and turn the heater to 92. Would not recommend.
I participated in virtual Power Barre, and that alone allowed me to burn off the bowl of ice cream I had eaten the night before.
The class was run by an instructor and a demonstrator, both who seemed very friendly and very in shape — which made me feel like I could trust their workout advice. Throughout the course of the video, the instructions were easy to follow (even when my leg was shaking from the plié squats.)
The usual ballet barre that would be in classrooms was easily replaced with one of my kitchen chairs and I grabbed a five pound weight from the basement. If you don’t have weights lying around though, the instructor suggested a can of soup.
Mountain climbers, leg raises and bicep curls filled the 45 minutes class, and it went by pretty fast. Only exception to that “pretty fast” would be a 30 second plank hold. Not a fan.
And soreness factor? For sure felt the glutes and abs the next day. But overall, I really enjoyed having a sense of normalcy from a local workout spot that my peers and I swear by — even if it was virtual.
The “Mad Fit” YouTube channel features two to three minute workout videos that go along with the beat of popular songs.
And none of them have the voice of the workout instructor, just music and a girl showing the routine. So if your thing isn’t having a lady in Lulu leggings yelling at you to “keep pushing,” this is for you.
The quick pace of the videos held my attention — hour-long videos would make me close my laptop and lose interest.
There’s a wide variety of songs, but I chose five of them and went through them each two times — that way I could get about a 30 minute workout in.
For cardio, I clicked on “Stupid Love” by Lady Gaga, and I was shocked at how fast my heart rate spiked. During the chorus, the girl on the screen demonstrated a jump squat into a side kick, which was my favorite move, but also the most tiring. She rotated through some plank kicks and jumping lunges, but the whole thing was over in three minutes. It didn’t feel too hard, but when the video ended I needed a water break.
Lots of the song workouts that I saw had abs in the title, so I did “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello and “Yummy” by Justin Bieber. A few planks, lots of crunches and some bicycle kicks later, I was pretty sure I developed a six pack. Again, the short length made it easy to continue through the videos, while still challenged my non-existent abs.
For legs and glutes “7 Rings” by Ariana Grande jumped out. While Ari sang about buying her friends matching rings, my legs were shakily squatting and lunging through the video. The choreography of this video was creative — with different versions of squats and even planks that kept it interesting.
Every time I hit the chorus on each of the videos I went through, it motivated me to finish.
Overall, this was my favorite workout I tried — the variety in each video really helped differentiate it from the normal 10-15 minute workout video.
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