AUP Community Blog

Free Exercise Resources for Keeping Fit from Home

By Joseph Pearson

Being confined to your home doesn’t mean you can’t stay active. Across the world, people are finding new and innovative ways to keep fit without leaving the house. Not only is exercise important for physical fitness, it can also be great for improving mood and can contribute to building a routine to keep grounded during social distancing. 

Some people have taken their lockdown exercise routines to incredible lengths with impressive challenges highlighting clever ways to keep fit from home. There’s the Parisian man who ran a marathon on his balcony, the virtual mountaineering team that climbed as high as Everest Base Camp using the stairs in their homes, and the inspiring story of 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore, who raised over £15 million for the British National Health Service by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday. 

But it’s important to remember that keeping in shape doesn’t have to be extreme! There are plenty of resources out there, many of which are free for the duration of the pandemic, that you can use to get the heart pumping and the body moving. 

  • Many gyms and fitness clubs are providing free online resources during the confinement period. Two examples of this are Les Mills On Demand (in English) and Planet Fitness (in French), both of which are providing free at-home workouts on their websites.  

  • YouTube is a great resource for free online fitness courses of all stripes. For inner calm, try Yoga with Adriene, who provides yoga practices of varying lengths to adapt to different moments of your day. 

  • If you’ve got children in the house and are looking for a way to keep them entertained while keeping fit at the same time, try the daily online physical education classes run by British fitness coach Joe Wicks, also known as the Body Coach. These 30-minute classes, aimed at kids, run live at 9am every morning, UK time.  

  • The city of Paris has provided free workout sessions with trained coaches on their website. Though the videos are in French, it could be a great opportunity to get in the day’s workout and language practice simultaneously. How’s that for efficiency? 

Though physical fitness is vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it’s also important to keep an eye on your wellbeing. For tips on coping with isolation from a mental health standpoint, check out this blog post from AUP guidance counselor Charlotte Vernier.