By Olivia Le Penske
Recently, with each day feeling just as boring and unproductive as the next, I have felt and acted like the stereotypical college student. I go to bed at 3 am, wake up at 1 pm, get out of bed to eat, go back to bed for a nap, eat dinner, fall down a Tik Tok spiral, and repeat. Week one of doing nothing was nice because I got to finally relax and settle in after a crazy busy life and semester in LA. Now, it’s week 5 in the house, and I realize that I am totally over this and my lack of routine. One thing that I know I need in my life to keep my mental sanity, and frankly from being a pain to the rest of my family, is working out. Not only does it feel amazing to move your body in any way because of the lack of doing so in quarantine, but it also dramatically affects my mood and honestly makes my day. One positive that has come out of quarantine is the influx of different online workout classes for free that are available to anyone at any point of the day. Therefore, I decided to try out a different online workout class each day of the week to spice things up so you guys don’t have to! Below is my review for each workout based on three categories: sweat factor, energy, and enjoyment.
Monday: F45
On Monday, I decided to do an F45 online workout class. For those of you who don’t know, there are F45 classes every day at school for free, but they recently started an at-home online program for people to do while they remain at home. F45 is a 45 minute HIIT workout, which is meant to speed and slow your heart rate creating an optimal fat burning session. This specific workout was 9 different exercises and repeated the exercises 4 times. We worked on one exercise for 45 seconds and had a 15 second rest in between. What I loved about this workout was how fast it felt. It’s only 45 minutes but you are working intensely the whole time making it a hard workout overall. In terms of sweat factor, I was dripping and breathing heavily the whole time through the burpees, tuck jumps, and mountain climbers. The energy of the workout isn’t anything special. The voice in the video gives a little bit of encouragement but overall, it feels very computerized. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it a lot because of how much it got me moving and sweating in such a short period of time.
Tuesday: Alexis Ren Ab Workout
To start my Tuesday off, I tried the famous Alexis Ren ab workout. Alexis Ren is a famous model who most girls have fangirled over at one point in their life. Two years ago, she uploaded on her YouTube channel a 10-minute ab workout that has since gained 25 million views making it seem very legit. This workout was set up with 20 exercises that were each 30 seconds long and no breaks in between. While doing the workout, my abs definitely were feeling it and on fire. She led us through exercises like russian twists, crunches, jackknives, and bicycle kicks. The only negative to me was the fact that the exercises were only 30 seconds and with no break in between. Transitioning into each exercise would sometimes take a lot of time, and with no break, I would miss a significant amount of that exercise. But, overall I was definitely sweating and sore the next day. There wasn’t that much energy in this video because she didn’t speak at all and just had music playing, but honestly, it was such a quick workout that it didn’t bother me. In the end, I really enjoyed this workout because of how efficient it was and because it’s something I think I can incorporate into my everyday routine.
Wednesday: Tik Tok exercises
On Wednesday, I decided to go on Tik Tok, this time to get a good workout in instead of watching Rosa. It was hard to choose one account because there are so many fitness accounts on this app, but I decided to do a couple of “Amanda_afit” workouts. I did her booty band workout, which consisted of 4 exercises for 15 reps each. This took me about 10 minutes total with breaks and my butt was on fire. Next, I tried her 20 minute full-body workout, which was the same type of setup as the booty band workout. I liked them both, but the only difference with Tik Tok videos is the fact that you aren’t following a video in full. The Tik Tok is only one minute long, so I was pausing the Tik Tok and doing them at my own speed. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I can see how it would be less motivating because it is easy to take a lot of breaks. Nevertheless, the workout was effective, and I was tired after making it worth it. Her energy was fun, and overall, I enjoyed it once I paused it and played my own playlist. It is nice that these are quick and there are a variety of different workouts that target different muscles making it a new experience each time.
Thursday: Califullerfit
This Thursday, I did a couple of Cali Fuller workouts that I found on her Instagram: Califullerfit. I have done a couple of her workouts in the past because I often feel lost and intimidated at the gym and need guidance. Now that we are working out at home, I am feeling just as lost not knowing what to do, and she gave me exactly what I needed. I completed her dumbbell only upper-body workout and full-body HIIT workout, which created a 30 minute sweat session overall. Similar to the Tik Tok video, Cali shows herself doing each exercise and gives the number of reps and how many times through for each one. It is on you to push yourself and not take too many breaks because there isn’t a full video that paces yourself. Nevertheless, the community on her page of her followers creates great energy, which was the reason I followed her in the first place. She uploads daily, so there is something new and innovative each day. I got such a good strength workout in with her dumbbell exercises and it felt like my arms were going to fall off by the end. I love her workouts and what she stands for.
Friday: Hot Pilates
Yay Friday! Finally the last day of this workout challenge! To end the week off, I decided to do a workout I have never done before that was completely new to me: Pilates. I am usually the type to do more intense workouts like HIIT because that is what I see the most results from, but I wanted to try something slower paced. Hot Pilates is a studio in West Hollywood that is well-known because many YouTubers and celebrities workout there. Each day they post a schedule on Instagram of their workouts for the next day including their famous abs, arms, and ass class and booty band burn class. The classes are only around 30 minutes, making it the perfect option to do on its own or combine with other workouts. The classes take place on Instagram live sessions, which is nice because it feels like you are having a one on one session with the trainer. What I loved most about the two classes I did was the energy from the instructors. Their passion and energy feed off of them and through the screen leaving me feeling motivated and inspired. The workout consists of lengthening, small movement, bodyweight focused exercises that left me dripping in sweat. I could not walk down the stairs the next day after completing the booty band burn class. Since trying Hot Pilates out on Friday, I have come back and completed their workouts every other day. I definitely recommend trying any of their classes!