In Praise of POPSUGAR Fitness
Tags: Work From Home, Popsugar, Mental Health, Fitness, Popsugar Fitness

Makes being stuck at home work out

Photo by J AHMED SAIT on Unsplash

This is the journey of a group exercise class fan finding home workouts during lockdown. This is not sponsored or in any way affiliated with POPSUGAR, I’m simply fan.

Finding the motivation to do anything this year has been difficult. Human beings thrive on structure and routine and the lack of these combined with the growing uncertainty (fuelled by an inept government, but that’s another post) have caused havoc on many people’s mental and physical wellbeing. Thankfully, I have found POPSUGAR an invaluable resource in maintaining my health this year.

I work in an office, and like many, find exercise a welcome balance to sitting at a desk all day. Quite aside from any aesthetic benefits it may provide, the mental advantages it yields are not insignificant. Be it running, hitting the weight rack, Tuesday night netball or a group exercise class, my friends and colleagues alike are keen to fit some sort of run around into our schedules. Checking the class timetable at my gym was a big part of planning my week, alarm clocks would be set based on making that 7am spin class before work, finishing work at 6pm on a Thursday so I could go for a swim; these were all, unknown to me at the time, critical things I would do for my wellbeing.

Group exercise classes in particular have always played a pivotal role in my exercise regime. A structured work out, an instructor providing clear direction, a bit of healthy competition with the person next to you, movements timed to the beat, and-let’s face it-some pretty awesome tunes, what’s not to want? It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but give me a group class over a solo session on the gym floor any day. All I have to focus on for the 45 minutes of a class is doing the movements to the limit of my physical abilities. I don’t have to plan what comes next, I don’t have to organise anything, I don’t have to think. I find group exercise classes to be exactly what my highly structured mind needs to keep level.

Much research has gone into of benefits of group exercise and its tribe mentality. Studies show that people are often able to push past the proverbial “wall” in an exercise class far more than a solo workout (for me personally, if the person next to me in a class is holding their plank until the end of the track, you had better believe I am, too). The competitive nature in all of us is brought to the fore in this friendly setting, and unlike most competitive settings, there can be only victory from this- we better ourselves.

The positive reinforcement thrown around in a group exercise setting is not to be underestimated. Firstly, you have the instructor who, while pushing you to pulse those squats through to the end, is acting like your own personal cheer leader. Imagine going about your ordinary life with a hype man along side you: you’re late to catch the train, you need to alight pretty speedily from the bus and on to the train platform if you’re going to make it and you’ve got someone there with a microphone cheering you on, telling you you’re almost there and then congratulating you for swinging into the carriage before the doors shut. That’s basically a class instructor: helping you believe you can achieve feats you didn’t think were possible before. Second, you have your comrades in the class. Knowing people in the group is not essential, I rarely know anyone in the classes that I go to. But there is a shared emotion, a strength, in knowing that you are all in it together. You are all red in the face, sweating profusely. Sometimes you might catch someone’s eye and whether you say it or not, in that moment you’re both aware that this is what achievement looks like.

Given my views on group exercise classes, I found it hard to motivate myself to exercise during the first lockdown. I have always used YouTube for short yoga videos, but never really had a need for doing longer or more intense workout videos. But these times demanded, and POPSUGAR supplied.

I haven’t done my research into the origins of POPSUGAR and what their beliefs are. What I can tell you about them though is that they have filled the abyss group exercise classes had left in my life better than any other online programme I have found to date. They have so many classes to choose from, with different activities, different lengths, different instructors. The videos accommodate all different levels of fitness, from walking workouts to burnouts, cardio to strength to fusion to yoga to kickboxing to Pilates to aerobics. I have barely scratched the surface of the videos they have to offer, but I don’t doubt that they will all hold up to the high standard observed already.

These videos are freely available on YouTube. The sense of comradery is a recurring theme in all the videos I’ve watched so far (many of which have been from the comfort of my bed. I find it important to spend five hours choosing the appropriate forty-five-minute workout….). The instructors and the participants in the videos are doing the workout in reality, sweating and decrying their burning quads right alongside you. The videos are filmed straight on in, often, a group exercise studio, without too much zooming in and out. Not only does this add to the effect of feeling of being in a class, but for me personally, it means I can see the moves clearly without wearing my glasses. It’s the little things. It is as close to feeling like you’re in a real class as it’s possible to get while working out alone in your living room.

POPSUGAR often partners with instructors who run their own fitness regimes, providing a highly varied supply of workouts and personalities to engage with. The POPSUGAR presenters themselves are delightful and extremely knowledgeable on their craft. I like that there are little jokes with the instructors. I like that the instructors find the workouts difficult, too. I like the conversational style of the videos and the realism brought to what could potentially be a pretty mechanical process.

I think it’s great that there are men and women in the POPSUGAR workout videos, of all different backgrounds, sizes and skills, and that in some videos the men do the modifications, not the women. Puts paid to that male YouTuber who pipes up in the comments with “bro, can’t believe I was so puffed doing a girl’s workout”. If people are wary of YouTube commenters, go to a POPSUGAR workout and read the comment sections, the wit and encouragement of the POPSUGAR community is inspiring.

In a time where many people are feeling alone, it is important to hold on to activities that release endorphins and help you feel good. For me, exercise is one of these things, and discovering this YouTube channel has been a saving grace this year. I have jumped, kicked, punched, shuffled, planked and stretched my way into a semblance of balance this year. Working from home the last ten months was made a little easier by breaking up the day with a POPSUGAR workout video. I do look forward to going back to group exercise classes, but I will definitely be keeping up with POPSUGAR.

I’m not sponsored by POPSUGAR. I follow their Instagram account, that is the limit of my interaction with them. But in a time where the world is seemingly failing, I think it’s important to call out the things done right. And POPSUGAR did it right.