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Grokker: A SERVICE WORTH USING
Despite the fact that I’m (clearly) involved in the online fitness world, I’ve been a bit slow to adopt online fitness services as go-to resources for classes.
Early iterations seemed clunky and inaccessible, and I’ve always questioned the draw of following along to a video on a tiny phone or tablet screen.
Now, maybe it’s the fact that I have a computer hooked up to my TV, so I can actively use the Internet on a 39-inch screen, but I’m starting to come around to the idea of using online class services for my own workouts. And my attitude started to shift with the introduction of Grokker.
Grokker is currently a free video service that offers on-demand HD videos of yoga, fitness and cooking classes. Eventually Grokker will charge for access to their premium videos, but for now you can get them all!
The service’s founder, Lorna Borenstein, has done an excellent job of sourcing high-quality instructors to cover a broad subject matter. I’ve personally taken a 30 minute cardio-kickboxing class and a 45 minute strength-building workout, and I found both courses fun, challenging and well-conducted.
I haven’t tried any of the yoga or cooking classes yet, but the options are excellent. For instance, I’m looking forward to giving the Yoga for Athletes: Post Workout Practice a try, as well as the Spicy Thai Basil Chicken recipe (I’ve been wanting to learn Thai cooking for years).
Grokker Pros:
- Wide variety of videos, including gourmet cooking, meditation, high intensity interval training, and more
- Currently free
- Easy to navigate, follow instructors and interact with other users
- Ability to ask questions and receive support
- In addition to Grokker’s premium, in-house videos, the service helps aggregate other great videos from around the web
- You can save videos for future use
- You can print out workouts to take with you when you don’t have access to the Internet
Other Considerations:
- There will eventually be a fee for the premium Grokker videos – when this will be implemented and what it will cost isn’t clear.
- There are already so many videos to choose from that it can feel a bit overwhelming. They have lots of categories to choose from, and there’s also a search function that appears to work well, so don’t hesitate to put those to use!
- When creating your profile, you can indicate interests so that Grokker can provide suggested videos to you. This is a nice feature, but I’ve found that the videos they suggest aren’t necessarily the videos I want to try. This may become better over time, with use, but for now it’s a bit spotty.
Final Verdict: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
I really like the Grokker service. It’s functional, varied, and because of the wide selection of videos, I can try some things I’ve never tried before, such as Qigong. Also, the fact that it’s functioning so well while still in beta makes me think that there are only better things to come. While of course I wish the service would remain free forever, they simply can’t offer such high-quality without a price attached. As long as the prices they roll out are reasonable, I see no reason why Grokker won’t continue to grow and thrive.
Do you use online fitness video services? Which ones have you tried, and do you use them often?
Header image credit: Video still from Grokker.com
