I am constantly seeking new and easy ways to be active. This is especially challenging for me, because although my body does love to move, I am sometimes shy about exercising in front of other people. When I had the opportunity to review the Essentrics program, I was all at once excited to make myself exercise, and terrified at the thought of working out in front of a room full of fit people. That was when I discovered that Essentrics does not only have live classes in the city, they have an online membership too. Hi, yes.

I jumped at the chance to try out Essentrics TV for a month, and discovered that through a series of exercises aimed at strengthening your muscles while simultaneously stretching them, the goal of Essentrics is to build a lean and stable physique. Working out from home turned out to be exactly my thing, plus:

Their online TV streaming is WAY cheaper than a gym membership
If heading out to a live class is not for you, you can sign up for an online membership! For 14.95/month, you have access to Essentrics’ online videos. Choose between the Body Sculpting Series, Essentrics for Runners, The Barre Workout, Strength & Stretch in Motion, or even the Pregnancy Workout – each one of these sections has several different videos you can stream to target specific parts of your body. This option to stream a workout video is especially handy for people like me, because my motivation usually dissipates within the time it takes me to travel from my house to a class, and I end up sitting in a coffee shop reading the newspaper and trying to forget that I ever meant to work out that day. I’ve been taking advantage of these workouts right after work or on my lunch break.

The whole thing is optimized to save you time.
Choose between 7, 15, 25 or 30 minute workouts, depending on what you’ve got time for! With options like this, there really is no excuse to infuse some exercise into your daily routine. There’s no way that a seven minute calf workout is going to get in the way of binge watching Gossip Girl on Netflix. Just hit pause and stretch those hammies!

My posture is better!
I spend a lot of my time sitting down at a desk, and as a result have developed some terrible habits that severely affect my posture. After spending thousands of dollars on physiotherapy and osteopathy to begin to correct years of muscular overcompensation for misalignment, I am now actively seeking a workout routine to strengthen the muscles that will maintain my overall posture and reduce pain. Essentrics’ videos are an an affordable and helpful guide to strengthening your stabilizing muscles in order to begin to correct and minimize the pain of misalignment. Long story short: I’m starting to feel great!

All fitness levels are welcome, and that’s nice.
I am not the most in-shape person. I practice yoga quite regularly, but cardio is my nemesis. Essentrics is an easy and accessible way to get back into the habit of moving my body again. If you’re feeling intimidated about starting a new routine, Essentrics is designed to help you ease in at your own pace. Start with one shorter video a day, and increase to two as you gain strength. With the online streaming, you have the option to tailor your workouts to whatever suits you at the time – AND if you’re feeling shy, nobody can see you working out!

Exercising is good for you (duh).
The accessibility of this workout is bound to make you feel great about yourself. Not only is it user friendly, but after a couple of weeks your self-esteem will inevitably be boosted by your newfound strength and flexibility. Not only that, you’ll probably sleep better too. We should all be looking for ways to inject physical activity into our daily lives, and the Essentrics program fits into that need perfectly!

If you’re interested in trying out this program, head to a local class OR give Essentrics TV a try!