Online Fitness

When you spend your days and nights camming, you want to look your best. That means taking care of your hair, skin, nails and, of course, your health. We all know the importance of exercise when it comes to staying healthy. Regardless of shape, size, or body type, we all need to incorporate activity into our daily routines.

Of course, when you work all hours, working out every day may fall under “easier said than done.” Going to the gym isn’t always an option, as it requires time away, a commute to and from, and a monthly fee whether you use the facility or not. Working out at home is convenient, but maybe you don’t know how to put together a plan, or you’re loyal to it for a while and then become bored with the routine and your own company.

That’s where technology comes in. According to research firm Cardlytics, subscription services, on-demand workouts and streaming fitness classes are all the rage. Gym enthusiasts are turning from club and in-person class memberships to clicking onto their phones and computers for their daily workouts.

Thanks to the internet, working out at home is not only easy, but also affordable or even free. You can purchase subscriptions to services like Daily Burn and Beachbody, click onto YouTube for free videos and join online groups where you can “meet” like-minded individuals and share meal and workout tips.

Best of all, you can do every bit of this around your cam schedule. Let’s look at a few of the many options.

Fitness Rx For Women

If you like putting together your own routines, Fitness Rx has everything you need. The print magazine’s website is overflowing with “Print & Go” workouts from which you can assemble your daily exercise programs. The workouts include descriptions, with photos, as well as tips from fitness pros. Click over to the videos section and you’ll find more routines with accompanying demos. There is also an endless supply of articles, nutrition plans, recipes and features. Perfect if you’re a DIY kinda gal. Find them on Facebook, too.

Bodybuilding.com

Don’t let the name fool you: you don’t have to be an aspiring Ms. Olympia to join this co-ed community. BB is a multi-platform website: online store, forum, community, nutrition and training. The Training section is filled with articles, workout plans, transformations and exercise videos to help you lose weight, build muscle, condition, or do all of the above. If the endless choices are too much, opt for the Find A Plan page and scroll the menu bar to find what’s right for you. In the Nutrition section, you’ll find recipes, meal planning, articles and calculators to help you with calories and macronutrients. The BodySpace section claims “over 1,000,000 people transforming their lives.” This is where BB differs from most online exercise websites: You can create a personal profile, upload your stats and photos, and post about your workouts. Offer as much or as little information as you choose, connect with other members (both male and female), add them as “friends,” follow them, exchange tips and chat via comments. Here’s their Facebook page.

Fitness Blender

Over the course of one weekend in 2008, Daniel and Kelli Segars got married, closed on their first house, lost their personal trainer jobs … and launched Fitness Blender, a free online training website and YouTube channel that now boasts almost four million subscribers and billions — yes, billions — of views. The husband-and-wife team have recorded more than 500 free videos to date in their growing catalog, ranging from Pilates to kickboxing, weightlifting, cardio and equipment-free workouts, all delivered in their affable, easy-going training style. They offer individual workouts, five-day routines, workouts for “people who get bored easily,” modifications for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, and durations that can last as long as an hour or as little as five short-but-intense minutes — perfect for squeezing in quick, effective workouts between your cam sessions. The website also features recipes, meal plans and — if you need extra help and a nudge designing your workouts — e-books of multi-week fat-loss programs that you can purchase and use as many times as you like. Visit their Facebook page.

Pauline Nordin/Fighter Diet

Having trouble motivating yourself to work out? Can’t stick to a diet and exercise plan? Find yourself binging on chips between cam sessions? Need a drill sergeant to shove a boot up your ass and whip you into shape? You need Pauline! Her no-nonsense approach can be found in her videos and Facebook posts, where she addresses questions from viewers, fitness and nutrition topics, and speaks her mind without censoring herself. Highlights include regular interruptions from her senior rescue cat, Goosegump. Nordin is the mastermind behind Fighter Diet, a healthy lifestyle she created around “overeating so as not to overeat,” meaning you fill up primarily on protein and vegetables (pink salmon and cabbage are staples) prepared in healthy, tasty ways that leave you full and satisfied enough to not binge on unhealthy snacks. She even manages to work chocolate into the daily food intake. What could be better than that? Her YouTube channel archives all of her videos, which include exercise demos and some brief workouts. She has written a library’s worth of instructional books with detailed exercises and meal plans, all of which can be purchased on her website, where you also can enroll in one of her 12-week challenges. Nordin’s private, coed Facebook group hosts almost 40,000 members and is open territory for posts and comments about food, supplements, workouts and the Fighter Diet lifestyle.

It’s important to consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise plan. The internet has an endless supply of options, but there are as many “armchair experts” as qualified and certified professionals. Choose carefully and wisely, and you’ll find support for whatever your intended goals, whether that’s strength, weight loss, conditioning, or being the healthiest possible you just the way you are.

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Jenna Andre is a total gearhead who also appreciates the simpler things in life. Email her at Jenna.Andre@ynotcam.com.