7 free fitness classes you can take with you on holiday

No equipment required

These are the best online fitness classes you can do anywhere. Image: Getty

Hitting the road this Christmas season? Leave the dumbbells at home and keep your body moving with the help of these online fitness classes.

Getting away to catch up with friends and family - or maybe some long-overdue R&R - is what the summer holiday season’s all about. 

It’s also the time of year our health and fitness goals tend to fly out the window. Blame it on the Christmas parties (hello, wine!), travel (goodbye, regular gym sessions) or the torrent of excuses we suddenly find to sidestep New Year’s resolutions. Any way you look at it, falling off the health wagon is somewhat expected. Because, balance.

But when you’ve spent the last few months sweating it out at the gym to look and feel your best during those precious few weeks off, abandoning all that hard work the minute you hit vacay mode is a pity to say the least. 

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Remember when your local gym turned to Zoom classes during the Coronavirus pandemic? Well, a lot of these recorded versions of your favourite fitness sessions are still available online. Better yet, a number of online platforms stuck around, post-pandemic, to satiate the increased hunger for virtual fitness training.

“Even beyond the pandemic, there was a need and excitement for online classes,” explains Gail Asbell, co-founder of Upstate Studios in Victoria who created an online hub back in 2020 for its members to access fitness classes from home. “Members loved being able to participate in classes, motivated by an instructor, anywhere, anytime, [not to mention] the minimal requirement for equipment and space.”

The results from Upstate’s in-demand program showed that shorter classes between 20 and 30 minutes were in hot demand, presumably because they helped people squeeze a sweat sesh into any small window of time they had free. They’re also the ideal length to squeeze into a holiday schedule.

So, whether you’re headed to your hometown, escaping to the coast or even jet-setting overseas, here’s our pick of the best online fitness classes you can do anywhere, anytime, without gym equipment. Make the most of the free trials and you mightn’t have to pay a cent for your holiday workouts – cha-ching!

It is possible to stay fit on holiday. Image: Pexels

Glo’s Vinyasa flow

While this app grants you access to a variety of workout types - including HIIT, meditation and recovery - there’s a reason the yoga classes are the most popular: each is challenging in its own way. There are over 90 yoga sequences to choose from, all instructed by a trained yogi specialised in their respective movement (hatha, kundalini, yin and more), so you’re in good company if you’re seeking a calming stretch or a mindful movement among the chaos of holiday festivities. The Vinyassa classes follow a traditional breath-led practice, ranging from quick 10-minute movements to longer 45-minute flows, each with the aim to balance your posture and declutter your mind – perfect for releasing the inevitable Christmas-time stress. Grab your mat, pull on your tights and find your zen.

Free trial: 7 days 

Price: $30/month

Sweat’s PWR Zero

An equipment-free take on Kelsey Wells’ popular PWR, this class brings a whole new level of difficulty to bodyweight strength training. The sessions are designed to tie into a larger six-week training program – ideal if you’re feeling committed while on holiday – but the free sessions are still outrageously effective. The 25-minute PWR classes vary in format, from basic muscle activation to circuit and supersets, not only will it put your muscles to the test but you’ll likely break a sweat while doing so, and all without the need for a room full of equipment.

Free trial: 7 days 

Price: $20/month

Bodyweight moves can be effective strength training. Image: Getty

Peaches Pilates’ All About The Booty

Want to stay swimsuit-ready and keep up the booty gains while you’re away? All About The Booty is an equipment-free workout targeting your buns to bring the in-studio Pilates burn we know and love to your home (or hotel room). The class makes the most of bodyweight resistance to isolate the glute muscles while you work your way through a series of familiar, yet challenging moves. Expect to see hip thrusts, horse kicks, and everyone’s favourite clams in the mix to work your way towards a perfect peach. Sure, you can add a resistance band or some ankle weights if you have them, but be warned, this one is spicy on its own. All you need is a mat and a spare 20 minutes. Ready to fire up those cheeks?

Free trial: 7 days 

Price: $20/month

KIC’s Equipment-free

Lucky enough to be escaping longer-term? This one’s perfect for extended holidays. The four-week program combines HIIT with strength training to help build or maintain your fitness foundations so you don’t have to start from scratch when you land back home. Or, if you’re just looking for a quick sweat to break up the sunbathing and drinking, it hits all those bases, too. The full body workouts are designed for all levels of fitness, and if you’re finding it too easy, all you need to do is add one of the progressions. So whether you’re headed to the beach, driving to the mountains, or simply without access to a gym this summer, make your way through KIC’s bank of equipment-free sessions for the ultimate endorphin booster.

Free trial: 7 days 

Price: $19.50/month

Get your stretch on, wherever you are. Image: Getty

Barre Body’s Barre Cardio

If you’re after something a little more exciting to motivate your holiday workout, look no further than this 40-minute cardio blaster. The aim? To increase your heart rate and keep it high. A combination of isolated core exercises, upper and lower body efforts will have you burning in minutes. Throw some fun dance-style moves in there to up the intensity and you’ll have ticked off all your daily exercise targets in one session. There’s even new videos posted to the site every month, so, if you’re feeling inspired, you can stream a different class everyday for the ultimate fitness and wellness buffet.

Free trial: 14 days 

Price: $25/month

Hustl’s HIIT & HILIT

Looking to get your heart rate soaring? This is the high-energy, high-cardio class that will have you feeling like you’ve just stepped out of a gym. A mixture of bodyweight and light equipment (or whatever you can find in your AirBnB) makes this one a total body burn. Expect to get your daily cardio hit through exercises focused on endurance, making use of interval and timed-based training such as Tabata and EMOM (every minute on the minute). The mission is to sweat, and a lot of it.

Free trial: 7 days 

Price: $25/month

Fluidform’s Mini Arms

If it’s strength you’re wanting to maintain while sipping cocktails by the pool this summer, Fluidform’s two-week free trial is the place to be. The Mini Arms class is the perfect no-break sequence to fire up your biceps, triceps and delts. Only have a couple minutes among your frantic holiday schedule? No sweat. The classes start at as little as 10 minutes so you can squeeze a burn (or two) into your day, wherever you find the time. And, if you have a little extra room in your carry on, the Equipment Pack (complete with resistance bands, a Pilates ball and disc set) is a compact intensity booster that will ensure you make the most of your short workout.

Free trial: 14 days 

Price: $20/month

Originally published as 7 free fitness classes you can take with you on holiday