Exercise
It’s no overstatement — we are an active group. Heck, we relish a Mega Massanutten and look forward to the Four State Challenge. With limited opportunities for physical activity, we’ve listed some apps and channels that either offer free trials or are totally free.
Tell yourself you’re cross training.
Core Power Yoga on Demand
- Some free online classes
- https://www.corepoweryogaondemand.com/keep-up-your-practice
Down Dog App
- Free until April 1st for the general public, free til July 1st for students and educators
- https://www.downdogapp.com/
Fitbod
- Free bodyweight-only version of the app, otherwise $59.99 a year
- https://www.fitbod.me/
Gold’s Gym App
- Free until the end of May
- https://www.goldsgym.com/anywhere/
Peloton App
- Free 90-day trial, $12.99 a month
- https://www.onepeloton.com/app
PopSugar Fitness Videos
- Unlimited workouts from hundreds of trainers
- https://www.popsugar.com/Fitness-Video
Yoga Download
- Free app, pay by class or by month, some promos
- Lots of always-free classes about 30-minutes or under
- https://www.yogadownload.com/
Yoga With Adriene on YouTube
Open Education
If it’s mental stimulation you’re looking for, there are lots of free learning opportunities online. See this FreeCodeCamp blog post of Open Classes from universities around the US.
The sites below offer free versions of classes, but you may have to pay for a certificate. Courses offered range from college-level university classes to software platforms, coding, project management, design, photography, digital art, marketing, and more.
Coursera
- Free to audit; pay for certificate
- https://www.coursera.org/
edX
- Free to audit; pay for certificate
- https://www.edx.org/
FreeCodeCamp
Khan Academy
- Always free
- https://www.khanacademy.org/
LinkedInLearning / Lynda.com
- Not free, but often available as a digital database through your public library
- Offering a free month trial
- https://www.lynda.com/
OER Commons
- A collection of open educational resources; always free
- https://www.oercommons.org/
Digital Collections at Various Libraries
Who knew that most public libraries these days have not only print books but e-books, e-magazines, audiobooks, streaming movies, and music. Check out your public library’s digital collections with the links below, and some larger collections through the Library of Congress and the Digital Public Library of America.
Note that some libraries have digital databases that you can access at home, like LinkedInLearning (listed above) and genealogy databases like Ancestry, if you have a hankering to look up your family records. Look for access under database listings.
You’ll need your public library card barcode number to access the public library resources.
DC Public Library
Digital Public Library of America
- Online exhibitions, e-learning resources, family research guide
- https://dp.la/
Fairfax County, VA Public Library
- eResources listed on left-hand side menu
Library of Congress
- Online exhibitions
- Digital Collections
Loudoun County, VA Public Library
Montgomery County, MD Public Library
Popular Library Apps
Your library will probably use one or several of these apps to distribute their digital content. Check with your library to see which ones will work best for you.
Libby, Hoopla, Biblioboard, BorrowBox, and Overdrive all have some e-book, e-magazine, and audiobook capabilities. Flipster and RBdigital focus on e-magazines. Kanopy, if your library has it, offers over 30,000 award-winning independent and documentary films and some educational series.
- BiblioBoard: iOS | Android
- BorrowBox: iOS | Android
- Flipster: iOS | Android
- Hoopla: iOS | Android
- Kanopy: iOS | Android
- Libby: iOS | Android
- Overdrive: iOS | Android
- RBdigital: iOS | Android
Tell us what apps you like, what exercises you do, and what you’re reading or learning in the comments!
DC UL Backpacking 
This is a great list! For the technically inclined, there’s also MIT’s OpenCourseWare. https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
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Thank you! That’s a great one.
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