Fitness on Demand

Stay fit and active from the comfort of your own home. Even though group activities and classes are currently cancelled, the internet offers a wide array of on-demand classes, programs and activities that can keep you actively engaged both mentally and physically.

• SilverSneakers on Demand

SilverSneakers members get access to an exclusive video library of workouts, wellness videos and exercise programs designed by our top instructors. Now you can exercise in the comfort of your own home with the instructors you trust.

• Spiro 100 (Free 30-Day Trial)

Spiro100 provides web and app video streaming fitness and wellness classes for seniors, featuring over 100 full-length exercise and meditation sessions. Each class has been created, produced and is led by nationally recognized senior wellness experts to provide you a purposeful, results driven fitness tool.

Fitness Apps (Active Adult/Independent Living)

Do a quick search in your phone’s app store and you’ll find hundreds and possibly thousands of options. The few mentioned here are to give you a quick sample of the type of resources available. While the number of options can seem overwhelming, the number of choices does allow you to find the one that best fits your needs.

1. Fitness Builder – This is like having a personal trainer in your hand. The app has 200 workouts to choose from, based on your goals and fitness level. The app also includes videos to explain moves, a timer and, of course, tracking and record-keeping capability.
2. My Fitness Pal – Studies have found that people who exercise regularly and track their calorie consumption tend to lose more weight and keep it off longer than those who exercise just as much but don’t record what they eat. This app offers an easy-to-use food diary and activity log and it can sync with tools like the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale or the Fitbit Aris Smart Scale.
3. Gym Goal – Trainers and physiologists know that adding weights and resistance exercises to your workouts not only builds strength and muscle mass but also helps burn calories and helps bone strength. Gym Goal walks you through the keys to proper weight-training form and provides more than 200 workouts you can modify based on goals and capabilities.

Fitness Trackers

Fitness trackers are stand-alone devices that monitor everything from calories burned to heartrate, depending on the sophistication of the device. Common trackers include Fitbit and Garmin, but there are many brands, including ones offered from different cellphone makers like Apple and Samsung.

Top 4 YouTube Fitness Channels for Seniors

With the rise of YouTube, many have found their answer. The video platform has attracted hundreds of fitness vloggers. Each has their own focus and their own skills. Today, we’re picking out the ones that fit the needs of our readers best.

• Fitness Blender

Subscribers: 5.2 million

Example: Low Impact Workout for Beginners

Run by a husband and wife team and boasting a back catalogue of more than 800 videos, FitnessBlender has become one of the top fitness channels on YouTube. They post frequently, usually one or two new videos a week.

One of the strengths of Fitness Blender is how varied their videos are. They range from low-impact workouts to healthy, homemade mushroom mozzarella pizza. For the especially fit, they also have high-intensity workouts!

• BeFit

Subscribers: 2.8 million

Examples: Jane Fonda: Walking Cardio Workout: Level 1

Want to see free workouts with some of top fitness gurus like Jillian Michaels or Billy Blanks? How about something from the godmother of workout fitness videos, Jane Fonda? That’s exactly what you’ll get with BeFit.

Offering more than 1,200 videos, BeFit covers all levels of workouts. The biggest strength of BeFit is its production quality. BeFit has top quality professionals working on it at all levels, in front of the camera and behind it. And it shows.

• HASfit

Subscribers: 867,891

Example: 30 Minute Standing & Seated Exercise for Seniors, Obese, Plus Size, & Limited Mobility Workout – Chair

HASfit is a smaller, but dedicated channel, with just over 800K subscribers, but over 1,500 workout videos. In a decade of making videos, the HASfit team has racked up over 123 million views.

The workout list geared toward helping seniors and those with limited mobility is great. There’s no shame in limited mobility, as age affects us each differently. In these cases, a workout focusing on getting your fitness journey started are great.

• LIVEExercise

Subscribers: 61,811

Examples: Seated Exercise for Obesity and Limited Mobility – Stage 1 Ep. 1

LiveExercise has high production values, talented instructors, and a variety of videos.

The channel’s fantastic Launchpad series is where LiveExercise shines. It’s a series of videos for the elderly, obese, and mobility impaired. Launchpad is lighthearted, and the instructors are a joy to follow. Another benefit of the series is that it requires very little equipment. Most videos only require your chair, light dumbbells and a couch pillow.