Fulfill Your New Year's Fitness Resolution with Openfit

The world of fitness is both booming and daunting. Workout classes are all the rage, athleisure is in, and self-care and general well-being are being taken seriously. What a time. If you, like me, want to get involved but don’t necessarily know where to begin, the Openfit app might just be your new best friend. 

Instead of having to trudge through the snow/sleet/cold to get to pilates, you can work out in the comfort of your own home. With a 12-month subscription to Openfit costing less than a month at any gym, why not kick off the new year (and new decade) with some self-love and do something good for your health? 

We tried out the app so we could experience firsthand what Openfit has to offer. Read on to get our thoughts on all the features.

First off, Openfit offers a fairly broad range of classes: strength training, barre, pilates, walking & running, cardio, HIIT, yoga, weights, kickboxing, stretching, and treadmill. The programs require very little (if any) equipment, which is great if you live, say, in a studio apartment with no room for dumbbells. Any classes that do require equipment will say so in the description, so you can either avoid those or mooch off of a friend with a gym membership and use the app there. The description will also let you know the intensity, level, and whether the activity is for indoors or outdoors.

Openfit offers both live and on-demand classes—a big plus for people who don't have a lot of time on their hands or have a wacky schedule. You can sign up to attend live classes in advance or just hop into one that’s already started, up until 10 minutes into the class. The classes have a trainer who leads and motivates participants, and you can chat with your trainer or classmates with in-app messaging. You can set your own personal goals, and your trainer will challenge you to reach those goals during class. This feature is great for someone (me) who needs to be held accountable to get their (my) act together. You can also opt to turn on your camera so that your trainer can help give you feedback and make sure you're using proper form.

The class also plays music, so there's no need to worry about having to be your own DJ (but you can if you want to!). Sessions range from 15-60 minutes, so you can pick whatever length suits your needs and your schedule. The app also has different exercise training plans that you can follow, like a 21-day pilates plan, or a 30-day Rough Around The Edges plan, which contains high-octane workouts led by stuntwomen, martial artists, and athletes. Why not spice up your workout schedule by doing a different theme every month?

Openfit’s nutrition feature genuinely blew me away. It’s straightforward and easy to use; it does all of the thinking for you. You answer a few questions about your nutrition-related goals and input any dietary restrictions you have, and the app provides a full meal plan for you. You can swap out any meals you don’t want for something more appealing to you, and the app gives you step-by-step cooking instructions. There are recipes for everything from a power greens smoothie to a blueberry cobbler to a sesame salmon with fennel and orange salad (yum). 

The app even builds a shopping list for you when you select which meals you are going to cook. Truly, 90% of the work is done for you. Openfit also sells their own pre-workout formula if you find yourself looking for more energy and endurance as you go.