Can Online Workouts Actually Help You Stay Consistent?
If you've ever told yourself, “I want to work out, but I just don't have time,” you're definitely not alone.
Between work, school, family, social plans, commuting, and everything else life throws at us, finding a workout routine that actually fits into your life can be challenging.
That's one reason online, on-demand workouts have become so popular.
But are they actually effective? And can having workouts available whenever you need them really help you stay consistent?
Research suggests that digital exercise programs can help support exercise adherence and for many people, the flexibility of working out on demand may be exactly what makes exercise easier to fit into their lives.
The biggest benefit? Flexibility.
One of the biggest barriers to exercising consistently is simply finding the time.
Traditional fitness classes require you to be available at a specific place and time. If your schedule changes, you miss the class.
With an on-demand workout, you can choose when it works for you.
Maybe you have 30 minutes before work.
Maybe you have time after the kids go to bed.
Maybe your schedule changes every day.
Instead of building your life around your workout schedule, your workout can fit around your life.
And that flexibility may matter when it comes to consistency.
A systematic review of randomized controlled trials found that digital interventions added to home exercise programs improved exercise adherence in 7 of 10 studies. The authors concluded that digital interventions can likely improve adherence in the short term, although more research is needed to understand the long-term effects.
You don't need a perfect workout routine.
There's a common idea that you need to spend an hour at the gym five days a week to make exercise worthwhile.
You don't.
The goal isn't to find the "perfect" workout.
It's to find a form of movement that you can actually do consistently.
For some people, that might be a gym.
For someone else, it might be a Pilates class.
For another person, it might be a 25-minute strength workout at home.
An on-demand membership gives you another option: press play when you have the time and space to move.
Shorter workouts can still be useful.
More time doesn't automatically mean a better workout.
Research on home-based video exercise programs has found that attendance can be influenced by session length. In one 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis of home-based video exercise programs in older adults, longer sessions were associated with lower attendance, while programs involving sessions under 60 minutes were identified as a potentially sustainable approach.
That doesn't mean every workout needs to be 20 minutes.
It means that a workout you can realistically fit into your schedule may be more useful than a workout that's so long that you continually skip it.
Online workouts can also build confidence.
Digital exercise isn't only about convenience.
Research looking at personalized exercise videos delivered through digital apps found low-quality evidence of improvements in physical function and confidence in exercise performance. However, the researchers emphasized that more high-quality research is needed.
Being able to follow a guided workout, see how an exercise is performed, and move through a structured session can make exercising feel less overwhelming—especially if you're someone who isn't sure what to do when you walk into a gym.
You don't have to choose between convenience and quality.
Online workouts aren't meant to replace every type of fitness experience.
There are benefits to working with a trainer in person, attending a live class, or exercising with other people.
But on-demand workouts offer something different:
Accessibility.
You can work out:
At home
At the gym
While traveling
In a hotel room
In your living room
Whenever your schedule allows
You don't have to worry about getting to class on time or rearranging your entire day around a specific workout.
You just need enough space to move and a device to follow along.
That's why I created The Banfill Collective.
I wanted to create a workout membership that makes movement feel accessible, realistic, and enjoyable.
The Banfill Collective offers on-demand workouts designed to give you variety without requiring you to build your entire schedule around fitness.
You'll find:
Pilates: Core-focused movement, controlled strength, and mobility.
Barre: Low-impact strength and endurance with barre-inspired movements.
Strength: Workouts designed to build strength and muscular endurance.
Cardio: Workouts that incorporate cardio intervals to get you moving and your heart rate up.
Mobility: Movement focused on mobility, flexibility, and feeling good in your body.
And because the workouts are on demand, you decide when you want to press play.
Your schedule doesn't have to be perfect.
You don't need to work out at the same time every day.
You don't need to spend an hour exercising.
You don't need to have a perfect routine.
You simply need to find ways to make movement work within the life you already have.
Because the best workout program isn't necessarily the hardest one or the longest one—it's the one you can realistically keep coming back to.
Ready to try on-demand workouts?
The Banfill Collective brings Pilates, barre, strength, cardio, and mobility workouts together in one online membership.
Your schedule. Your workout. Your pace.
Join The Banfill Collective
Note: Research on digital exercise programs is still developing, and results vary depending on the type of program, population, and level of support provided. Online workouts aren't a replacement for individualized medical or exercise guidance when that is needed.
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