It’s 7am on a Tuesday and I’m in the kitchen. Nineties fitness guru Mr Motivator is bellowing ‘WORK IT!’ at me, while I swing tins of baked beans above my head.
Outside, a bin lorry’s deafening beep throws my concentration and I keep thinking the pile of washing beside me needs sorting. Welcome to working out, 2020-style.
Of course, Mr Motivator, dressed in his fluorescent pedal-pushers, is not actually in my kitchen.
He’s broadcasting, via YouTube, from his own utility room. I’m joining the 20,000 fans who tune in daily.
As the latest lockdown lifts, gyms are allowed to reopen, even in the highest tier. But surveys suggest that 70 per cent of gym-goers have handed in their memberships and have no plans to return for the foreseeable future.
Instead many have embraced the digital fitness revolution.

Pictured: Eve Simmons works out in her kitchen at home with a Mr Motivator online class
Since March, there’s been an explosion in the number of workouts on YouTube and Instagram as gym brands, fitness gurus and social media influencers jump to meet a surge in demand for at-home exercise routines.
To find out which ones to choose, I tried out as many classes as I could in 48 hours – 20 of them.
The biggest surprise was Mr Motivator – who takes us through a mixture of leaping and squatting in time to feelgood music.
Aged 29, I’m just about old enough to remember him on breakfast TV, and I’m proud to last the full 15 action-packed minutes – until I discover later the videos are aimed at older adults.
Next, I move on to improving my muscle tone and balance through ballet, courtesy of the National Ballet’s digital beginner lessons. I join the instructor in a series of leg bends and squats. It’s slow and rather boring.
Before setting out on my marathon, Dr Mike Gleeson, Emeritus Professor of