Lockdown is generally unfun in all ways, aside from the knowledge that your sacrifice is helping to prevent death. But one way to make it more fun and inject a little more routine into your life is to incorporate some exercise into your day. So, here are some apps and gadgets to keep you moving at home, ranging from free to expensive.

If you’re extremely motivated, first of all, congratulations. Secondly, Runtastic is a great free app for tracking things like running, hiking, yoga and cycling. This is mostly for people who want to compete against their past self, or a friend’s time. If you need a little more motivation you can subscribe to Premium to get personalised training plans.

I started the pandemic trying to keep my home workouts as close to what I had at the gym as possible, and Les Mills on Demand really helped with that. The workouts offered on the service are the same ones you’d do in gym classes, so they’re familiar, and if you’re somewhere other than Victoria, and have managed to stay consistent with gym attendance, that can really help. You will need some equipment for Body Pump, but for the most part you can get away with just a gym mat. There’s a 7-day free trial, and then after that it’s $25 a month.

Apple Fitness+ remains the slickest streaming fitness platform I’ve seen, with 20+ beautifully edited and shot workouts uploading each week. It only works if you’ve got an Apple Watch, and it’s really a no brainer to subscribe for $10 a month if you do. If you’re looking at a long lockdown or want to ditch the gym and work out from home for a while, it’s worth buying an Apple Watch for. There are classes for everyone including beginners, fitness addicts, people aged 60+ and healthy pregnant people.

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Gamifying fitness is the best course of action for those new to working out at home, or who just want something fun. Ring Fit Adventure for Nintendo Switch is perfect for that. The story makes no sense; you have a sentient exercise ring and now need to save the world through light workouts. But it’s so much fun that it can be easy to pick up at the end of a long day at home.

If you’re wanting to invest quite a bit in your setup, and are currently allowed to have people come into your home to install things, then Peloton is the best premium option out there if your main passion is cycling. It’s extremely expensive, with the bike starting at $2900 plus a $708 subscription per year. But wow is it good. The workouts aren’t as sleek as Apple, but they feel more personal and connected, especially when other people working out send you high fives as you hit milestones. I’ve found that it’s pushed me harder and made me a better cyclist, and it’s really defined my lockdown 5 experience.

That said, everyone does lockdown differently and needs different things in iso. There is no shame if you’re in survival mode. I’m writing this on the couch eating chocolate cookies, I get it. But it really does make a difference to get some endorphins, or try something new. We’re likely to be going in and out of lockdown with gyms opening and closing for a long time yet, so there’s plenty of time to find the routine and exercise plan that works for you.

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