Fitness

It’s called ‘cozy cardio.’ In a world seeking comfort, some seek a happier mode of exercise

Published

2 years ago

February 1, 2024

It’s called ‘cozy cardio.’ In a world seeking comfort, some seek a happier mode of exercise

Political polarization. Economic struggles. Inequity. Climate change. War. In an often-bruising world, you can hardly blame people for seeking out ways to cushion themselves. From weighted blankets to “cozy” murder mystery novels to entire restaurants and cookbooks based on childhood comfort foods, the appetite for comfortable things just keeps growing.

Now some are seeking comfort even in their physical exertion. They are, it seems, entering the era of “cozy cardio,” an activity that lies right at the crossroads of gym workout, self-pampering evening and nap time.

This method of (minimal) calorie burning has gained popularity on TikTok and Instagram ever since a woman named Hope Zuckerbrow began posting videos in late 2022. Let’s describe it by what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t require you to:

squeeze into spandex workout clothes;
head out into the cold to drive to a fluorescently lit gym;
lift heavy things;
get winded to the beat of pulsating music.

Cozy cardio simply involves walking in place — in the comfort of your home — using a mini treadmill or “walking pad.” No stress, no membership fees, no preening for other, buffer-than-thou gym rats. And you can even have a cup of hot tea by your side.

“I get so many messages from men and women — so many people — saying something along the lines of ‘thank you so much for kind of flipping my mindset on what I thought exercise is supposed to be,”‘ Zuckerbrow says. “This feels so doable.”

The self-pampering workout

The key is the setup.

Wearing soft sweatpants and your favourite comfy shirt, you light a few scented candles, make a healthy smoothie or pot of tea, dim the lights and put on a favourite TV show or movie. With your drink handy, you walk for an hour while getting lost in whatever you’re watching, maybe walking just a bit more vigorously once you’re warmed up.

Forget “no pain, no gain.” Cozy cardio acknowledges that maybe you can’t take much more pain at this particular moment, so just enjoy getting some steps in while binge-watching “The Bear” in your pajamas and call that your workout.

This undated image shows Hope Zuckerbrow, founder of the “cozy cardio” wellness routine. Cozy cardio simply involves walking in place – in the comfort of your home – using a mini treadmill or ‘walking pad.’ (Devon Wilson via AP)When Zuckerbrow posts on social media, “80 per cent to 90 per cent of the video itself is me romanticizing the exercise that I’m about to do,” she says. “I am setting up my favourite beverage and I’m lighting those candles and my Scentsy and I’m getting my TV show.”

No, walking won’t give you six-pack abs. But could cozy cardio, which embraces the most appealing aspects of being a couch potato while keeping you off the couch, help even hardcore gym-avoiders stick with exercise long after New Year’s resolution season ends?

For people battling the common barriers to exercise, the answer could be yes, says Alex Montoye, assistant professor of clinical exercise physiology at Alma College in Michigan.

Montoye cautions that if you’re downshifting from vigorous daily workouts to something this mellow, the health benefits may plummet. But for someone who would otherwise watch TV from the couch, he says, it’s progress to watch while walking — especially if it becomes a daily habit.

People struggle to make healthy habits stick, which makes cozy exercise “kind of a genius idea,” says Catherine Sanderson, a professor of psychology at Amherst College in Massachusetts and author of “The Positive Shift: Mastering Mindset to Improve Happiness, Health, and Longevity.”

“It fits in with a lot of what we know about how to get people to actually maintain behaviour change,” Sanderson says.

Along with removing the barriers to exercise, she says, “it very much relies on what psychologists would call positive reinforcement — the idea of, ‘It’s not just that I’m exercising. I’m getting to watch my favourite show. I’m tapping into something I want to be doing already.”

Eliminate the competition — by staying home

The cozy approach also works for gymgoers who feel burned out at the idea of constant striving.

Ko Im, a mental health advocate who has taught yoga and meditation in New York and other U.S. cities, remembers a phase several years ago when “yoga challenges” were a trend.

“It was the yoga pose of the day — really, really hard yoga poses,” Im says. More recently, she sees people pushing themselves to make the leaderboard in all their Peloton classes or to lose five more pounds.

“What I like,” she says, “is the idea of enjoying the journey, not the goal. Does it feel good in my body today?”

As cozy cardio gains traction, Zuckerbrow hears from people who didn’t realize they could enjoy the journey.

Alyssa Royse, owner of Rocket Community Fitness in Seattle, has been alternating between full-on workouts at her gym and cozy exercise at home. Some days she switches off the sound on her Peloton (“I don’t even want those cheery people talking to me”) and just pedals while watching “the trashiest TV I can find, because it just takes my brain somewhere else.”

The hashtag-friendly name “cozy cardio” could sound like an oxymoron. But perhaps, as 2024 takes root, it’s the compromise our culture needs.

Driving across town in icy weather and pushing through an hour of Zumba or lifting 20-pound kettlebells just isn’t possible some days. But lighting a candle in your living room and walking three miles in your pajamas while re-watching the final season of “Succession”? That’s within reach.

And it might just serve up enough endorphins and bring enough oxygen into your lungs to cope with whatever global crisis tomorrow could bring.

“Too many people look at exercise as an all-or-nothing thing,” Royse says. “It doesn’t give people room to just be where they are today. And I think that’s incredibly important.”

Fitness

22 Trainer-Approved Bodyweight Exercises That Actually Build Muscle

Published

8 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

22 Trainer-Approved Bodyweight Exercises That Actually Build Muscle

Sorry to break it to you: Lack of equipment isn’t a surefire excuse to skip your workout. When you’re on the road or too busy to make it to the gym, bodyweight exercises are the always-ready tool you can turn to—and they might even challenge you more than your typical weighted workouts.

“Don’t underestimate the impact of bodyweight workouts because you will be quickly humbled,” says Kim Perry, CPT, a certified personal trainer and pregnancy coach. Bodyweight exercises are typically compound movements, meaning they activate more than one muscle group at a time. As a result, a bodyweight workout can help improve your balance, core strength, cardio, mobility, and flexibility, Perry says.

Plus, bodyweight exercises are especially great for those who are just starting off their fitness journey, says Claudette Sariya, CPT, founding instructor of SOLE Fitness. Nailing an exercise with only your bodyweight first allows you to really understand the fundamentals of a movement before loading up the weight.

Meet the experts: Kim Perry, CPT, is a certified personal trainer and pregnancy coach. Claudette Sariya, CPT, is the founding instructor at SOLE Fitness and a coach at LifeTime.

Ready to break a sweat using only your bod? Here are the 50 best bodyweight exercises to build strength, muscle, and boost your heart health, according to Perry and Sariya.

Instructions: Choose five to six moves that target the area of the body you want to hit. For a full body experience, select two upper body exercises, two lower body exercises, and two core exercises. Perform each move for 40 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds. After one round, rest for 60 seconds, then repeat two or three more rounds.

1. Hollow Body Hold

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: The hollow body hold is even more challenging than a plank (trust us), and requires full-body activation. Pro tip: Press your back into the floor and squeeze your core while doing this move. If you feel your lower back is rising off the floor, bend your knees to 90 degrees, says Sariya.

How to:

Start lying on back with with arms extended overhead on floor and legs straight resting on mat.
At the same time, and with control, lift arms, head, shoulder blades, and legs a few inches off the floor.
Hold the elevated position, ensuring your low back is still glued to the ground.

2. Plank

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: Planks are a great way to build total body strength. They’re a type of isometric hold, which takes a lot of effort and builds both stamina and endurance. Plus, they can easily be modified by planking on your knees or elevating your hands until you can do them all-out.

How to:

Start on all fours with shins and palms flat on mat.
Step back onto the on balls of your feet, creating a straight line from heels through the top of your head. Keep your gaze to the floor.
Squeeze your glutes and abs to keep hips inline with your shoulders. Hold here as long as you can.

3. Bird Dog

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: This is a great move to practice coordination, and builds core stability and balance.

How to:

Start on all fours with wrists directly under shoulders and knees under hips. Keep back flat, core engaged, and a slight bend in elbows.
Extend left arm out in front at shoulder height and right leg straight behind at hip height.
Bend leg and arm and bring to midline under torso until elbow and knee touch. That’s 1 rep. Alternate sides.

4. Reverse Crunch

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: This move builds strength and control through your core abs. Make sure you’re using your lower abs—and not momentum—to perform this movement. If you’re struggling, imagine you’re pushing your heels to the ceiling, Sariya says.

How to:

Start lying on back with arms by sides and feet lifted off the ground, legs extended, and toes pointed.
Squeeze your core to pull your hips off the ground. Do your best to push your toes up towards the ceiling instead of back towards your head.
Slowly return to start. That’s 1 rep.

5. Russian Twist

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: This move builds rotational strength. Make sure you have the proper form when doing this oblique-working move: Puff out your chest and keep a long line from your tailbone to your shoulder.

How to:

Start seated with upper body leaned back until abs are engaged, legs lifted and bent, arms bent, hands clasped, and elbows wide. For an extra challenge, lift heels up off the floor.
Rotate torso to right side so that right elbow is hovering off mat.
Keeping lower body still throughout, rotate the upper body to the left side. That’s 1 rep.

6. Inchworm

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: This move fires up both your core and upper body, making it a great warmup move for your upper body days.

How to:

Start standing with feet hips-width apart.
Hinge at hips and lower down until hands reach the ground, focusing on core activation and spine alignment, keeping legs as straight as possible.
Crawl forward lifting one hand at a time with legs straight and hips lifted until in a high plank. Try to keep hips as square to the ground as you can throughout the move.
Walk hands one by one back to feet.
Reverse motion to return to standing tall. That’s 1 rep.

7. Superman Arm Extension

Movement pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This is a great move for people who want to strengthen their posterior chain (or all the muscles on the back side of your body!). It can even help improve posture, says Sariya.

How to:

Start lying facedown on a mat, legs extended, elbows tucked at sides.
Squeeze glutes to lift legs and extend arms overhead simultaneously, pulling thighs and chest off the floor.
Pause, then lower legs and bend arms to sides to return to starting position. That’s 1 rep.

8. Triceps Dip

Movement Pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This move isolates the triceps. Pro tip: Make sure your hands are right outside your hips and your elbows are pointing behind you in order to really target the back of your arms. To make it more challenging, straighten out your legs.

How to:

Sit in a chair (or on a box/step) and grip the front edges with hands.
Scoot butt forward until it’s hovering just off the seat and legs form a 90-degree angle and straighten arms.
Lower body down until biceps are parallel to floor.
Engage triceps to press back to start. That’s 1 rep.

9. Superwoman Isometric Hold

Movement Pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This move works the back muscles that stabilize and support your spine, making everyday movement easier, says Sariya.

How to:

Lie facedown on the mat, with arms and legs stretched out.
Squeeze glutes and lift torso and legs up as far as you can. Imagine reaching out with arms and legs.
Pause at the top and hold.

10. Incline Pushup

Movement Pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This is a great move for people working their way up to a flat pushup.

How to:

Start in an incline plank position with hands on a chair, bench, or step and feet on floor with head to heels aligned.
Lower down, with elbows pointing 45-degrees away from body, until arms bend to 90-degrees.
Press back up keeping body in a straight line. That’s 1 rep.

11. Pushup To Plank Row

Movement Pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This exercise targets your chest and back at the same time. Once you get comfortable with the move, add a resistance band around your hands for a little more back challenge. Or, you can also pop into a high plank position for a full pushup.

How to:

Start in a modified plank position, knees on ground, wrists under shoulders. Maintain a long spine with knees to head aligned.
Lower into a pushup so chest hovers just above the floor, and elbows are close to sides.
Push up from ground to return to modified plank position, then drive right elbow toward sky, performing a row.
Return right hand to ground.
Repeat row with left arm.
Return left hand to ground. That’s 1 rep.