40 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • APRIL 15, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
health
The best fi tness apps for New York City moms
BY HESTER ABA
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
In the life of a busy NYC parent, fi tting
in time for working out is a challenge.
While we miss heading to a cool
downtown studio to check out the latest
fi tness trend, or sweating it out at the
gym, COVID has meant that most of
us have transitioned to at-home workouts.
Th ere is an overwhelming number
of options when it comes to fi tness apps
and classes off ering online streaming, so I
checked out some of the best New Yorkbased
fi tness apps to see what I loved (and
what I didn’t!) as I sweated and danced
my way through four weeks of fi tness
fun. While I initially set out to fi nd the
“perfect” app, I’ve realized combining
a few app subscriptions
means I
can pick and choose
the best workout to
suit my mood, and
to deliver endless variety.
And even the price
of all of these app subscriptions
combined is still much
less than a gym membership!
Peloton
Peloton is best known for
its proprietary stationary
bikes and treadmills (and the
long waitlist to receive your
purchase once you’ve
ordered!) but they
also have a standalone
fi tness
app that
allows you to
take Peloton
strength, running,
bootcamp,
yoga, cycling and
meditation classes
with their
coterie of charismatic
instructors.
Classes range in
length from fi ve to
60 minutes, and are
easily searchable by
type, level and even
music genre. I’ve been using
the Peloton app for a couple of
years now, in conjunction with
their bike. I mix up my workout routine
by adding in barre, pilates and fullbody
workouts using free weights or my
own body weight. Pre-COVID, I would
use my Peloton app while traveling, as the
majority of workouts just need a mat and
a small space. New classes are constantly
being added, and I’ve learned which
instructors I love and who will motivate
me to push myself. Peloton is defi nitely
best-in-class in terms of the sophistication
of its off ering, but for me it’s
not a complete solution, so I like to use
this as my base app for four days of the
week, and then add on one or two more
workouts from other sources for novelty!
Peloton has some basic prenatal strength
and cycling content, but there’s defi nitely
room to grow this category further.
What I love about the Peloton app:
Peloton’s instructors are incredibly positive
and encouraging — I feel like I have a
sense of connection to their diff erent personalities.
I love working out with Cody if
I’m having a hard day because he always
makes me laugh, and Robin makes me
feel like I can go out and kick some butt! I
also love how Peloton has the rights to use
famous artists’ music, so you can workout
to really fun pop and hip-hop playlists.
Another great thing that Peloton has
(which none of the other fi tness apps I
tried have) is that they off er rewards and
badges for completing challenges, or for
getting a “PR” (personal record). I fi nd
this incredibly motivating, and it’s also
easy to
see which
w o r k -
outs you’ve
already completed
and track
your progress over
time.
What’s not so great:
One of the reasons why I
started looking outside of the
Peloton app was because I really
missed my in-person Pilates
classes, and Peloton’s Pilates
content isn’t as developed
as some of their other categories.
If they had a dedicated Pilates
instructor and introduced more content
in their category, their app might be my
all-around winner.
Th e investment:
$12.99 per month (check for current
promotions to see if you get your fi rst
month free).
Melissa Wood
NYC-based mama and infl uencer
Melissa Wood’s app contains a blend of
short and longer pilates and yoga-inspired
workouts and meditations. Wood’s vibe
is calm, semi-spiritual and very targeted,
with minimal cardio and a lot of focus on
creating “long, lean lines” via repetitive
stretching and toning movements with
either just bodyweight, or one-pound
ankle/wrist weights, along with the occasional
use of resistance bands and balls.
Melissa Wood is the sole instructor on
her platform, leading all of the workouts,
and she proposes a weekly schedule
made up of previously fi lmed content
and helpfully mixing longer and shorter
classes with slightly diff erent focuses
(e.g. legs one day, abs another).
What I love about the Melissa
Wood app: Melissa Wood’s workouts,
especially her ab workouts
and standing series are just
incredibly eff ective. If you follow
her weekly program, within
a couple of weeks you will
notice a fi rmer core and tighter
legs and booty. Her program
really works, and is really
great for women’s bodies.
She includes plenty of
time for taking a breath
and recovery within
the workout, and gives
guidance on how to
avoid injury. Melissa
Wood has both pre-
and post-natal content,
and has two children of
her own. Th ere’s a lot
of planking and core
work involved, and
even eight years aft er
having my youngest,
my mid-section still
has a lot of room
for improvement!
But since starting
the Melissa Wood
workouts, I can
actually see a hint
of abdominal
muscles peeking
through!
Now if only
I could put
down the
cookies…
What ’s
not so
great:
Melissa
Wo o d ’ s
app functionality is basic, without the
ability to see which workouts you’ve previously
completed, and as she fi lms most
of her workouts in the city, you can oft en
hear sirens, construction and other street
noise in the background, which can be
a little distracting during a meditation!
Melissa Wood’s workouts also do not feature
any background music. I actually
fi nd this quite pleasant and it allows me to
really hear her instructions, but it might
not be for everyone.
Investment: $99 per year or $9.99 per
month. Melissa Wood off ers a seven-day
free trial.
The Sculpt Society
Created by former Brooklyn Nets dancer,
Megan Roup, Th e Sculpt Society, or
TSS, is a dance-based approach to fi tness,
which also incorporates elements
of Pilates. If Melissa Wood is your calm,
spiritual older sister, Megan Roup is your
energetic, bouncy little sister. TSS’s app
is designed as an all-in-one approach to
fi tness, and as Roup is currently pregnant,
she has started to introduce some
new instructors on the platform. TSS
has a great selection of beginner content
that takes newbies through some of the
basics of dance cardio moves, which as
someone with zero coordination, I really
appreciated. Th en to kick off , you can
follow a 10-week introductory program
which mixes dance cardio and “sculpting”
classes (more Pilates-based) with short
stretches to get you going on the platform.
TSS classes quite frequently use props
including light hand weights, ankle/wrist
weights, bands and “sliders,” but I substituted
towels for sliders and found these
worked just as well.
What I love about the Sculpt Society
app: Megan Roup’s vibe is upbeat and
infectious, and her workouts always start
off with some energetic movement, so
TSS classes are always a mood-booster
for me. Like the Melissa Wood program,
the moves are extremely eff ective
for strengthening the lower body and
abdominals, and I like the focus on being
“strong” instead of mentioning physical
aesthetics. I loved the introductory videos,
and the content is beautifully shot
and slickly produced. Th e sequences of
movements that TSS features are very well
thought-out, and there’s plenty of scope
and suggestions for how to both level up
your workout, or to scale it down. TSS
has a special pre- and post-natal program
including pelvic fl oor workouts.
What’s not so great: Th e pace of the
workouts can be quite quick, and so I
sometimes need to pause the video and
rewind it to ensure I’m doing a particular
sequence correctly. I also sometimes fi nd
that TSS’s core sequences strain my neck,
which doesn’t happen with the Melissa
Wood workouts. Th e TSS accompanying
music is fun and lively, but seems to
be generic open-source music, or at least,
this old lady never recognizes any of the
tunes!
Investment: $119 per year or $19.99 per
month. TSS off ers a 14-day free trial.
Photo via Getty
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