How COVID Zoom Workouts Saved Me (and Strengthened My Friendships)
Heather Robinson’s YouTube channel is one of our workout go-to’s.
When COVID started changing our lives in the spring of 2020, my closest girlfriends and I tried to start a walking challenge using an app that I can’t remember. It never took hold.
Using an app that we all needed to check-in with and log steps on was just too cumbersome. But we wanted to make sure we stayed active even as the world went indoors. I had kept in touch with this group of amazing women fairly sparingly—sometimes we’d have to make calendar appointments just for phone calls because we’re always so busy—but the pandemic brought us together in ways lots of people were similarly experiencing.
We now have an amazing text chain that’s been going on for over four years now—I still can't believe that much time has passed. When health guidelines started allowing people to see each other in real life, my friends and I started planning IRL get togethers, the most special of which was meeting up in Las Vegas last summer to celebrate our 50th birthdays. We’ve since had a few more fun weekend excursions and are planning another girls weekend next month in L.A. Most of us live in Southern California, but two live up near San Francisco.
While the walking challenge never picked up steam, three of us have been working out together on Zoom three to four times a week. We’ve been doing this for four years now! We’ve named our text chain that we use to coordinate our workouts “Fit Fam.”
Juice and Toya are fitness but also relationship #goals on their YouTube channel.
The plan goes like this: On Mondays we do a 30-minute barre workout; on Wednesdays and Fridays we do either HIIT or strength training; and on Saturdays we do yoga.
The workouts have not only been essential for helping me stay in shape, starting with a time period when the world froze, but they’ve given me frequent opportunities to see and speak with two of my closest friends on a regular basis.
When we meet up on Zoom one of us will share their screen and launch YouTube to find a workout we can all agree on. If one of us is feeling creaky in a certain area of our bodies we figure that into the workout we select.
Our favorite barre instructors are Coach Kel, Britany Williams, and Move with Nicole. Our favorite HIIT and strength instructors are Caroline Girvan, Heather Robertson, Juice and Toya, Fitbymik, Growingannanas, and Nourish Move Love. And our favorite yoga instructors are Yoga with Adrienne and Yoga with Kassandra.
These are the YouTube fitness instructors that we turn to again and again. We’ve tried others but they didn’t vibe with us. First of all, we’re 50. Two of us are moms and one of us owns multiple businesses. We’re short on time and just want to get down to business, not kill ourselves but definitely get our sweat on, and then go about our day. The three of us have vetted these instructors for anyone looking for good, reliable workouts on YouTube.
My baby girl Artemis is the perfect run/walk buddie!
This year I decided to put in a little more work since the menopause weight gain is real—sucks—so on the other days of the week I do solo workouts and then try to add a one-mile walk or run after. My dog Artemis loves to join me. She’s a great running/walking partner and it makes me so happy to take her with me and see how happy it makes her.
Ever since I was a teenager I had belonged to some gym or another. In high school it was Jack LaLanne (remember him?), which then became the Holiday Health Spa. In college I went to my campus gym and always took a P.E. class to give myself a reason to stay fit. When I graduated and started working in New York City, I joined New York Sports Club. And then when I moved back home to Los Angeles I joined 24 Hour Fitness.
Mind you, I went so infrequently to all these gyms that I promised myself I would never join another gym, ever. Until I did. When my husband and I moved to New Jersey for two years I joined 24 Hour Fitness there. And then when we moved back to L.A., after I asked him to prevent me from ever joining a gym again, I joined Equinox when one was about to open in my office building. I figured that having a gym just steps from where I worked would seamlessly allow me to squeeze in workouts whenever I wanted. The problem was that I got poached from that job and moved to a building down the street before the Equinox was even finished and opened. I threw away so much money on gym memberships. I knew better.
This is why I love my Zoom/YouTube workouts with my besties so much. Knowing that I’m meeting them several times a week keeps me consistent. I don’t laze out. They’re relying on me as much as I’m relying on them to be there on these mornings. The workouts are hard. I really push myself.
Best of all, we get to chat and gossip a little before and after every workout. I know what’s going on in their lives much more than I ever did before the pandemic. We’ve gotten each other through some big life changes in and around these workouts.
Some good things did come out of the pandemic. It was such a dark time for all of us, but through it all I had my best friends with me in more ways than I could ever have anticipated.