The Best Home Workouts Of 2021

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced most of us to radically change our way of life. Many people began working from home, schools shut all over the country, and restaurants, cinemas, and theaters shut their doors. For fitness enthusiasts, COVID lockdowns meant bidding farewell to weights, treadmills, and yoga studios.

Fortunately, working out at home has become easier and easier in the past year thanks to some incredible apps and home workout subscriptions. In fact, as Fortune noted in 2020, 9 out of 10 Americans planned to continue at-home exercising even after gyms reopened. We've done a round-up of the best home workout apps, YouTube channels, and gurus to help you get active and feel great even when you're cooped up at home.

Whether your goals are to build muscle, lose some excess lockdown weight, get in tune with your body, or simply re-energize, there's bound to be a home workout option that suits you. Here are our favorite home workouts for 2021.

Alo Moves may initially seem a little intimidating, but judging by the reviews, once you're hooked, it's hard to stop. The fitness app is an offshoot of the L.A. activewear brand Alo Yoga and streams on-demand yoga classes taught by beautiful yoga instructors from naturally-lit, plant-filled studio rooms. It also offers barre, HIIT, strength, and restorative stretching.

In one review for Glamour, a user explained that the app's extensive workout library means that there really is a home workout for everyone. Plus, the app has classes for beginners along with advanced classes for more experienced yogis. There are also video series that focus on specific skills and specific body areas, so you really can target your workout routine to what your body needs.

We spoke to Emilie Nasseh, a NASM-certified personal trainer, who is a huge fan of Alo Moves and who used the app for herself when gyms closed. "I always love their yoga flows and even their HIIT workouts," she gushed. "I would recommend the platform for any of those interested in learning more about Yoga or pilates based workouts," she said.

You can access Alo Moves for $20 a month.

We all know Nike as the athletic wear company with the famous tick logo, but you may not have realized the company also has an extensive workout app, too. Nike Training Club is a little different to many other class-based workout apps. As The Guardian noted in a review, it "feels less human than its competitors" as instructors tend to remain silent while showing how to do specific moves. This app is especially good for fitness enthusiasts who have their own equipment — think dumbbells, a jump rope, and so on.

As one reviewer noted on Reviewed, the app offers a wide range of workouts that can be done while you listen to a playlist. The app helps you to set goals and create a workout schedule so that you can take control of your fitness plans. Plus, the app is now available for free, so it's hard to find many flaws!

Adriene Mishler of Yoga With Adriene is undoubtedly one of the most beloved YouTube fitness instructors out there. With over 9 million subscribers, it's clear that Mishler has a seriously dedicated fan base — her yoga videos must be doing something right. Unlike some of the more hardcore fitness apps, Yoga With Adriene's mantra — "find what feels good" — sums up the chilled-out, body-positive vibe on the YouTube channel. Mishler takes it back to basics, focusing on form, breathing, meditation, and healthy movement. As Vox noted, Mishler's famously silly and breezy attitude helps to set the tone for these encouraging and rejuvenating home workout videos.

We spoke to Louise Hoare, a London-based Ashtanga-trained yoga instructor, about the benefits of Mishler's yoga videos. "She is accessible for every fitness level, and delves sensitively into more of the spiritual and philosophical side of yoga with little sayings, mantras, and breath work," she said. While other instructors may focus on the physical side only, Mishler is different. "She reminds us that maybe it's not about that," Hoare said. "Maybe it's about connecting to the breath, stilling the mind a little, becoming more aware of our bodies and truly arriving in the present moment."

P.volve is famous for its celebrity-endorsed, low-impact workouts. As one reviewer noted in Women's Health, the exercises are about realigning the way we think about fitness — gains do not have to be painful. As the founder Stephen Pasterino said, "You don't need to hurt yourself to transform your body." The workouts at P.Volve promise that coveted sleek physique with round glutes, toned slender arms, lean things, and so on.

In 2020, British Vogue reviewed the studio's home workouts. As the reviewer explained, the app is filled with hundreds of workouts that range from 10 minutes to an hour in length. Unlike other at-home workouts, P.volve's at-home app requires you to invest in some equipment. While this may seem a little excessive, for fitness enthusiasts, the extra equipment means that you can really target certain muscle groups and get the same quality of workout that you would in the gym. The good news is, this equipment seems to work just as well as the heavy dumbbells you find in the gym. This reviewer found the at-home workouts improved her joint pain, increased her flexibility, and even gave her an "ab crack." Sounds pretty good to us!

P.volve's digital membership costs $19.99 a month.

Many of the fitness apps you'll come across will focus on providing a well-rounded selection of home workout options. StrongLifts does the opposite. This app is entirely focused on strength building. If building strength is your goal, this is the app for you. Of course, you'll need a fair amount of equipment, which, for some, may be a downside.

As The Guardian wrote in a review of the app, "StrongLifts is the best introduction to this type of workout there is, providing basic coaching and tracking, as well as just enough motivation to get you to lift the next set." Remarkably, the app helped the reviewer go from "struggling with a 20kg [44 lbs.] bar to reliably squatting my own weight."

While this app provides you with motivation and will also help you to track your gains and your workout routines, making it easy to build towards specific lifting goals as quickly as possible. As the StrongLifts website explained, the app "replaces pen and paper by keeping track of your workouts" and then saves them in the cloud where they're synced up to all of your devices.

You can use the StrongLists app for free, though there is a Pro version that will charge you every three months or yearly.

Centr is the fitness app by Chris Hemsworth. So if you've ever wanted Thor as your personal trainer, now's your chance! As Coach explained, the app does more than just offer at-home workouts. It also helps you plan your meals and practice mindfulness. The app has roughly 1,000 workouts along with 493 recipes and 137 mindfulness exercises. You could call it the whole package. After all, what good is training the muscles if the rest of the body and the mind don't also get a workout. This app is ideal for people who are willing to put themselves in Hemsworth's very capable hands and spend some time and money in the process.

As a reviewer for T3 explained, the workout section is probably the best aspect of the app. With both self-guided and coached exercises available, the app caters to all levels. Notably, every workout includes cardio. In the meal planning section, you can select from a range of simple recipes and add the ingredients needed directly to your shopping list.

This app promises to get you looking, eating, and even thinking like Thor — sounds pretty good to us!

A monthly subscription to Centr costs $29.99.