Top Nine Workout Web Sites

YogaToday.com features a daily yoga workout streamed in high-definition and set in picturesque Jackson Hole, Wyoming. These workouts are suitable for beginner and intermediate yogis and can be performed anywhere your computer can travel.

Gimme20 helps you track weight loss and fitness progress. It also has a database of hundreds of fun, diverse workouts created by users. Many of these include videos and are designated as beginner or advanced. Do as the movie Spartans did with “The ‘300’ Workout,” or keep things gear-free with “Equipment not required.” 

MapMyRun uses Google Maps to help you figure out how far you’ve run or jogged. A free membership allows you to track your training and gear, connect with training partners, get workout tips and more.

Workoutz has high-quality instructional videos on stretching and weight training as well as full workouts. The site also provides PDFs of sample workouts targeting such key areas as abs, legs, arms and back. These include photo illustrations of how to perform the exercises and how many sets and reps to do.

Flotrack provides inspiration to the increasing number of distance runners in this country with video coverage of major and minor races; interviews of top athletes and tools for runners to log information about their runs, shoes, cross-training, race results and more. Users can also upload their own videos of workouts, races or interviews.

Users upload instructional videos on hundreds of topics to 5min.com; the fitness section offers a steady flow of new videos on Pilates, yoga, exercise for kids, weight loss tips, perfecting a six-pack and more.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) publishes many useful articles on exercise, including safety tips and insights, suggestions for beginning a new training regimen—including tips on golf, skiing, running and cycling—and exercise advice for those with various medical conditions, such as hypertension or diabetes.

The Mayo Clinic’s Fitness Center has instructional videos on weight training, tip sheets on more than a dozen of the most common sports injuries, a section on sports nutrition and useful articles about staying in shape and overcoming obstacles to exercise. You can also submit questions to the site’s resident physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist.

ExRx looks more like a manual than a Web site. It was created by a number of exercise specialists and includes invaluable resources on all aspects of exercise, including strength training (print the site’s free strength training programs), sports psychology, injuries, nutrition and more. Head to the “Beginner’s Page” for an index of all of the site’s offerings.