The best free at-home workouts of 2021

• Staying or getting fit at-home doesn't have to require paying for effective programming.

• These five free fitness apps offer a sweat for every fitness ability, mobility level, and time constraint.

• Our top pick, the Nike Training App, offers the highest quality routines with the most variety of intensity levels, time requirements, and workout types.

• Also check out the best workout apps that are worth paying for and the best workout apps for beginners in 2021.

It's both the start of a new year and knee-deep into our home-centric lives, which means if you weren't using an at-home workout before 2021, chances are your restlessness is encouraging you to look into it now. There are a ton of ways to go about working out at home, from grabbing dumbbells and churning out your favorite moves from the gym, to moving through a yoga flow or bodyweight routine on your own. However, many people find it easier - and more enjoyable - to follow programming developed by a trainer or company.

There are countless at-home workout apps available to you. The problem: Almost all cost some amount of money. We'd argue that many of these programs are indeed worth the money, since you're supporting the cost of developing a user-friendly app and of a qualified trainer thoughtfully crafting a routine that will help you build strength or burn fat without risking injury. But considering apps can be incredibly helpful to take the legwork out of programming and to keep motivation up, a monthly subscription shouldn't be the make-or-break factor of if someone gets to leverage this advantage in their fitness journey.

Now, you'll see a lot of apps advertised as "free." But when you look closer, the vast majority of these either have a 7- to 14-day free trial and then require a subscription, or they offer an incredibly bare-bones free option and ask you to pay a subscription to unlock usable features. In short, trying to find a free fitness app that's worth your time can be a truly frustrating experience - especially if your motivation to work out is already waning.

To help, we've gone through and researched and tested numerous workout apps that claim to be free. To be honest, there aren't that many options. But what free programs do exist truly are worth your time. Most notably, Nike Training Club (NTC) lifted their membership fee at the start of the pandemic in 2020 to make it easier for people to de-stress and stay fit and chose to never reinstate it. But we also found great options for free yoga classes, free shadowboxing, and more.

These free at-home virtual workouts not only reprieve you from having to figure out how to see results with just your bodyweight or a single set of dumbbells, but they also offer engaging coaches to keep you going until the clock runs out when it'd be just as easy to press pause and sit on the couch.

Below, you'll find our favorite free at-home virtual workouts that let you break a sweat at no charge.

Table of Contents: Masthead Sticky

Here are the best free at-home virtual workouts:

• Best overall: Nike Training Club App

• Best for yoga: 5 Minute Yoga

• Best for older adults: YMCA 360

• Best for beginners: Life Time Athletic

• Best for boxing: FightCamp

Updated on 1/22/2021 by Rachael Schultz: Updated intro, checked and updated the links where necessary. We are continuing to test new free platforms, as we have since this article's inception in March 2020. Currently we are testing FitOn and Moxie; check back for updates.

The best free virtual workout overall

Previously $15 per month, the Nike Training Club app is now free, offering high-quality streaming strength, cardio, core, upper body, lower body, and full-body workouts.

Pros: Offers tons of workout variety, all taught by expert Nike trainers

Cons: Some workouts are full videos versus others which are just videos of specific individual exercises with a set and rep scheme

Nike Training Club has over 185 workouts, including strength training, core workouts, machine-free cardio sessions, upper and lower body-focused routines, and yoga routines. Each workout ranges from 15 to 60 minutes, so the commitment adapts to your day. Plus, the brief tells you what equipment you'll need — many programs are bodyweight, and many with weights offer modifications if you don't have any — so you know exactly what you're getting.

I'm used to varying my workouts daily — I usually do cardio each morning, either running, a group fitness class, or yoga, followed by a strength training class or body part-specific workout in the afternoon. I'm used to being able to do different workouts each day, and with this app, I was able to keep up the variety in my routine without it ever feeling repetitive.

Nike Training Club allows you to take individual classes or pick from a multi-week program, all of which are taught and programmed by elite Nike trainers. These trainers are really what make the difference — they have a unique ability to keep you engaged and motivated even through a screen, which is a hard feat for virtual workouts. The app also offers nutrition, sleep, mindset, and recovery tips from trainers and other experts, as well.

The best free yoga workout

It's incredibly hard to find a free yoga app, but 5 Minute Yoga offers a quick daily practice to help you find some zen while working out at home.

Pros: Yoga workouts are changed on a daily basis, low time commitment

Cons: Practices are always limited to five minutes

If you're looking to start doing yoga regularly, 5 Minute Yoga asks very little of your time, making it far harder to justify skipping a day. Every day it offers a new sequence, delivered via illustrated asana by asana alongside an on-screen timer counting down how long to hold each pose for (one minute each). After five poses (and five minutes), your daily practice is finished.

For a fee, you can unlock more content and longer routines. But it's near impossible to find any yoga app for free (or rather, one that doesn't require you to start paying after a short trial period), so we'll take what we can get. What's more, if you're totally new to yoga and need help establishing a daily habit, five minutes is long enough to help you de-stress and be introduced to the practice in digestible chunks. --Rachael Schultz

The best free workout for older adults

Stay moving and get familiar with a new routine using the YMCA 360 health and fitness on-demand videos.

Pros: Short and long workout options across several exercise types, keeps time and rep counts for you

Cons: Limited number of total workouts, doesn't offer much variety in fitness level

If you're older and looking to stay healthy, YMCA 360 offers a section of videos specifically for the active, older user. This includes classes like Bootcamp, barre, yoga, weightlifting, Tai Chi, and Y Box.

For the younger crowd, there's even a youth soccer section with drills and a youth sports performance section with exercises to help develop skills — and to keep kids entertained while spending more time inside.

I liked that there was a wide variety of workouts to choose from, especially exercise skills for youth sports, though I mostly stuck with the Bootcamp-specific workouts. These workouts moved at a steady pace and offered exercise modifications to make moves easier to manage. I personally like a bit more speed and energy in my workouts, but these get the job done.

For anyone who likes familiarity with their workouts, and wants to know exactly what they're getting into, YMCA's videos are perfect. Because there's a limited number, you'll be able to try them all and easily identify your favorites to repeat.

The best free workout for beginnners

Members and non-members alike have access to a limited number of cardio, strength, and yoga classes from Life Time Athletic.

Pros: Strength, cardio, and yoga offerings, great for users at a beginner or intermediate level

Cons: Limited variety in fitness level, limited number of workouts, no new workouts added, free subscription only available through Feb 1st.

From the fitness center giant comes Life Time Athletic, an app that allows users to choose workouts based on a few different categories: the muscle groups they want to work, the equipment they have at home, or the type of workout they want to do (cardio, strength, yoga, etc). Each video states the length and optional equipment needed upfront, so you're never caught off-guard.

For light cardio classes, the Life Time Athletic courses are perfect. While I would classify some of the exercises as beginner level, they still kept me moving and elevated my heart rate, which is what I was looking to do.

If you're a Life Time member, you'll be familiar with some of the specific classes like Strike, Warrior Sculpt, and Shred. The workouts are good for any beginner or intermediate users who want to keep moving at home and prefer limited video options to choose from.

The only downside: Life Time plans on instating a subscription model of $15 per month starting February 1, 2021, so don't get your heart set on this program long-term unless you want to pay up. That being said, use it while you can.

The best free workout for boxing

Keep your punches in check while getting in a full-body cardiovascular workout when you download FightCamp.

Pros: Boxing workouts for people of all fitness levels, delivers a full-body workout, more than 350 workout routines

Cons: Programming is mostly boxing-specific, the full FightCamp setup is required for the interactive experience which requires money and space

While FightCamp does offer the option to purchase a bag, gloves, and sensors to track your punches and progress, the brand also offers its actual workout videos via its app for free. This means that anyone who has a bag and gloves of their own, or who wants to shadowbox, can follow the free workouts. You can also let the app know your boxing experience and fitness level and have workouts suggested accordingly.

My New York City apartment is too small for a boxing bag, so I chose to shadowbox during the workouts. Surprisingly to me, I found them to be great cardio. Non-boxers may find it odd to wail away at the air, but the intensity of the workout keeps you moving from start to finish and breaks a good sweat in just 20 minutes.

If you love boxing or boxing-inspired workouts, consider downloading this app. There are more than 350 boxing and bodyweight workouts, so you'll never be lacking in variety.

What else we considered

While testing free workout apps, we came across several other services offering workouts at no cost through Instagram or Facebook Live streams or extended free trials. Here are a few of our favorites that stood out, but ultimately didn't make the cut:

CorePower Yoga: The yoga franchise maintains their class approach through their app, offering everything from foundation-building, beginner-friendly courses to more challenging asanas to routines that focus more on a fitness flow, making this a great option if you want to grow or diversify your yoga practice. This was our top choice for a yoga app when they lifted their paywall at the beginning of the pandemic, but classes are back to being free for just the first seven days for new subscribers, and then require a monthly fee.

Box + Flow: Led by fitness expert, Olivia Young, Box + Flow takes the popular boxing class formula and adds the mindfulness of yoga for a well-rounded, yet intense, workout. The NYC-based brand hosts daily streams of its workouts via Instagram Live, with Young herself leading a few of the workouts. Classes are free for the first seven days for new subscribers and then require a monthly fee.

Camp Gladiator: Participate in live streaming workouts through Camp Gladiators Facebook Live channel, or try its at-home printable routines. These are free always but the site doesn't offer a library of on-demand workouts.

Peloton: Peloton now offers a free trial of its Peloton Digital Membership for 30 days. The app features thousands of on-demand workouts including running, strength, yoga, and cycling — and you don't even need a bike to access them.

Tone It Up: Strengthen, tone, or get in some cardio with founders Karena and Katrina, as well as the app's community of trainers. Choose individual workouts or do a program to follow. It was free in the spring of 2020, but has since reverted back to a free seven-day trial for new subscribers and then a monthly fee.

The Class by Taryn Toomey: Exercise your body and engage your mind with this untraditional form of training. The workouts on The Class help you to release stress and anything weighing you down through repetitive movements accompanied by loud exhales. It's a transformative experience that everyone should try. The app currently offers a free two-week trial.

FitBody: We love the shred, tone, and sculpting programs created by trainer and social media personality Anna Victoria, but it only offers a seven-day free trial for new subscribers, and then a monthly fee.

Snap Fitness: Snap Fitness currently offers free 90-day access to FitnessOnDemand.com, where you can stream workouts from Sweat Factor by Mike Donvanik, Nora Tobin, SH1FT, and DailyBurn.

obé Fitness: Join a live workout from a daily schedule of 14 classes, or choose from its library of over 4,000 on-demand workouts including strength, Pilates, dance, HIIT, cardio boxing, and more. It only offers a seven-day free trial for new subscribers, and then a monthly fee.

Jazzercise on Demand: Jazz up your usual routine with a little dance party. These workouts combine jazz dance, yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, and HIIT. New users can sign up for a free two-week trial.

Hydrow: Join this brand's free at-home 14-day challenge, which has a mix of 20- to 30-minute rowing (if you have a machine) and mat routines that include yoga, Pilates, and more.

How we tested the apps

Each of these apps was tested not just for their respective use case but also across a variety of categories, including ease of use, variety, effectiveness, and entertainment value. Since each app is entirely free, it was important to create a benchmark for how well they perform and to associate a different kind of value to them without factoring in price. Here's what we looked for in each category:

• Ease of use: An intuitive app experience is vital to not only enjoy using it but also to get the most out of it. If an app is cumbersome in its navigation, or makes finding and choosing workouts difficult, then it won't promote much in the way of motivation or desire to work out.

• Variety: Though we broke down the guide into specific sections on activities like yoga or boxing, we wanted to see that the apps that fell into the other categories were diverse enough in what they offered to keep the experience fresh and engaging. This means offering more than just one or two workout styles, as well as making available a library of classes.

• Effectiveness: This category doesn't necessarily mean results from a fitness standpoint. Though that is important, there's not a way to judge that reliably or to stand behind one person's interpretation of it, so this instead means how well it's able to motivate you to workout, if it's able to push you through to the end of a session, and if it offers enough variety to allow you the chance to learn new exercises.

• Entertainment value: If you enjoy working out, you'll do it more often — plain and simple. Even free apps can offer some form of entertainment which can serve as a huge reason to revisit it (and workout) often.

Read the original article on Insider