In my last post about deferring my entry to the Marine Corps Marathon, I mentioned that after I made that decision, I took a step back from running. That was in large part due to how miserable it was to be outside in DC for most of the summer.

Without running as my regular go-to workout, I was trying to find some other fitness options that wouldn't require me to spend a bunch of time outside.

It was a bit serendipitous that right after I made that decision, I got an email from the team at Openfit asking if I was interested in trying out their platform of online, streaming workouts in exchange for a review on my blog.



The timing really couldn't have been more perfect, and the Openfit platform ended up being just what I needed to mix things up in my workout routine.

If you're not familiar with Openfit, it's an online, streaming platform that offers workout videos, fitness and nutrition advice and recipes.

I poked around some of the recipes for inspiration some nights, but I got the most use out of the workouts.

I loved the variety of options on Openfit. I took barre classes, yoga classes and surprisingly enough, really loved one of the classes geared for people training for a Tough Mudder.



The Tough Mudder classes were 30 minutes long and didn't require a ton of equipment. They used a lot of body weight exercises and a handful of circuits required dumbbells. I could tell that I was definitely getting a solid workout in, but I didn't expect to be quite as sore as I was the day after the first Tough Mudder workout. My only small criticism of these workouts was the occasional comment the instructor made about checking out one of the other on-screen participant's six-pack abs. I suppose for some people that's definitely motivational, but I just found it kind of distracting. It was easy enough to ignore though -- and I obviously liked the workouts enough to keep doing them.

One of the other perks of the Openfit platform is that you can do the workouts whenever you want, and you don't have to worry about your favorite class being full and not being able to get a spot. I've had ClassPass for a while to also help with workout variety, and that's one of my challenges with it. Sometimes I can't make a class at a certain time or the times I want to be able to go are already booked by the time I know I'll be able to make it.

That obviously isn't a problem with Openfit because you can stream a workout where ever and when ever you want. It was really nice for me because I work from home a decent amount, so I'd be able to easily sneak in a 30-minute workout over my lunch break, and not have to worry if I was going to make it home in time for an afternoon meeting.

Overall, I was a big fan of Openfit and the variety of options it provided for quick and convenient workouts. A+ I'd highly recommend.

Disclosure: I received free access to the Openfit platform in exchange for this review. All opinions about the platform are my own.