Best Workout Apps & Livestreams To Try At Home — Regardless Of Your Fitness Level

Gyms all around Singapore have temporarily shut or reduce class sizes since the Ministry of Health’s stricter safe distancing regulations kicked in last Friday (Mar 27). But just because you stay home to do your part to inhibit the spread of the virus doesn’t mean you have to emerge from this crisis unfit. Kick cabin fever in the butt and start working out at home with the help of these workout apps and livestreams.

Do you burn more calories by laughing while you work out? We’d like to think so. These ‘7 Minutes In Hell’ routines on the Carrot Fit app are not your regular seven-minute workout (you know, the fitness fad that’s taken the interwebs by storm). They inject a huge dose of snark and humour (sorely needed in these times) to your workout. There are hilarious exercises such as Dragon Mating Dances and Tasteful Modelling to Mt Doom Climbs and Can’t Get Ups. “You only need a wall to lean on, a chair to step on, and a small bucket in case you need to vomit,” it warns. The app directly synchronises to Apple’s Health app, which makes it easier to track your workouts on the HealthKit database via your iPhone or Apple Watch. You can also customise the workout according to your preferences and fitness levels.

Download from the App Store, free for a limited time.

When you need to Zen out at home, turn to the highest-rated home yoga app. The folks behind Down Dog have created a suite of workouts — HIIT, Barre, the 7-minute workout — but it’s its OG yoga app that's the most popular. You can also tailor your mat time to your needs — the choices are endless, from fitness level and length of workout (five to 90 minutes), to the instructor’s voice and the type of music. The latter is among our favourite options — the multitude of genres include contemporary hits and indie gems alike. All in all, this is probably the next best thing to getting a one-to-one yoga sesh.

Download from the App Store and Google Play; free until May 1.

Don’t be deceived — you’ll do a lot more than just lose belly fat when you follow these workouts. Sure, the focus is on ab exercises, but it also incorporates cardio work and yoga stretches. A 30-day fat-burning workout plan is charted out for you (with rest days every four days). It’s probably among the most no-frills home exercise app in the list, with a robot voice guiding you through a range of exercises, while the library of workout soundtracks generally consist of stock ambient tracks. But, hey, it does the job. Plus, there’s a whole host of routines to choose from regardless of fitness levels — beginners have 17 choices of 12min workouts.

Free on the App Store and Google Play.

So what if travel is out of the question right now? Here’s a series of free online classes where you can work out like you’re on a fitness retreat in Thailand. Thanyapura Health and Sports Resort, among the world’s top 10 fitness retreats, has launched free daily online fitness classes, including HIIT sessions, muay thai, and yoga. Livestreaming twice a day on the resort’s Facebook page, these routines require no equipment, and range from half an hour to an hour.

Classes and more info at https://www.facebook.com/Thanyapura.

The Activity app on the Apple Watch isn’t a workout app per se, but it’s helpful when you’re staying in all day and the days and the weeks start melding together. How? It helps ensure you’re not spending your WFH days just hunched over the laptop or blending into the couch. The app track your daily activities and reminds you to get off your butt to move. Your goal is to close your Move, Exercise and Stand rings on the app, in other words, hit your targets. Close your Exercise ring by working out for 30 minutes, while you can set your own Move daily goal (that is, the number of calories burned per day). Complete the Stand ring by standing up for at least one minute per hour for 12 hours. Research shows that prolonged periods of sitting down can contribute to health problems, including Type 2 diabetes. You can also share your Activity rings with friends or compete with them if you’d like, no matter which part of the world they’re in. A brilliant way to stay connected and healthy during these times of safe distancing.

Prices for Apple Watch Series 5 starts from $599. Available on the Apple Store.