Obé Fitness

Obé (Our Body Electric) Fitness is an online community and workout program that promises to get you in shape with unlimited monthly access to live and on-demand exercise classes – all for less than the cost of one studio class.

For $27 per month, Obé subscribers gain access to this retro-inspired program’s cardio, strength, and flexibility training classes.

Most of these classes take 28 minutes or less, and they are designed for a broad range of fitness abilities.

In this review, I take a detailed at this program to help you decide if it is right for you.

Features and Details

Obé is a subscription exercise service that provides access to over 500 on-demand workout videos and daily live-streamed classes, each around 28-minutes long.

Most Obé classes are designed to work in your living room. This means they rarely require specialized equipment, though some offer options to “level up” the moves by using hand weights or resistance bands.

Obé is only available in the United States and Canada. The program offers web-based access for subscribers, an iOS app, and intended to release an Android app soon.

The program currently offers over a dozen live-streaming classes each day, staggered every half hour from 6 am to 1:30 pm or 7 am to 2:30 pm (EST), depending on the day.

Here’s an example of the live class schedule:

To create a sense of accountability, Obé lets you ‘reserve your spot’ in live classes and sync them with your calendar.

Beyond the standalone classes, you can also sign up for Obe Training Programs.

Some are tailored towards beginners to get you familiar with the program, and others offer specific benefits, like “Obe for Runners,” “7-Day Abs”, “30-Day Hard AF Program”, and more.

The brand also offers a range of partner programs from companies like Bumble, Whole-30, the Defined Dish, and a variety of celebrity influencers.

Each program includes a range of workout videos, and most require you to follow one per day.

These same classes can be found by searching through the on-demand list, and there isn’t much supplementary material to guide the program besides the class list.

Working Out with Obé Fitness: My Experience

Once I created an account with Obe Fitness, the first step was sharing my age and current fitness level.

I was then instructed to visit the How It Works page, plan which three class types I wanted to try my first week, and join the greater Obe Fitness Facebook community.

My overall goal, the site told me, should be to strive for five classes each week (three Define and two Sweat).

That comes to 140 active minutes per week, which seemed ambitious though it was just shy of the American Heart Association’s weekly recommendation of 150 minutes.

All right, challenge accepted.

Before I was ready to start sweating, though, I wanted to see what classes Obe Fitness offered.

The program’s offerings are split into three pillars: Define, Sweat, and Flow.

• Define: These classes focus on building strength through Pilates and Barre sessions, as well as classes that require hand weights as well as bodyweight exercises. Class options: Sculpt, Pilates, Strength, Power, Barre

• Sweat: These cardio-based classes can include HIIT training, dance moves, cardio-boxing, and even trampoline-focused moves. Class options: Dance, HIIT, Dance HIIT, Cardio Boxing, Dance Choreo, Bounce

• Flow: Loosen up with yoga classes that build heat and relax your muscles for faster recovery. Class Options: Yoga, Yoga Sculpt, Restorative Stretch.

The program recommends specific class types depending on your fitness level.

Exercise beginners should stick with low impact and express classes for the first few weeks.

Advanced practitioners will benefit from HIIT and Power classes, or by leveling up regular classes with resistance bands, ankle weights, and sliders.

Intermediate exercisers can follow everything in between.

For my first class, I started a Lower Body Flow led by Francesca V. It claimed to include Vinyasa flows that would help me build heat while loosening my lower body muscles.

Francesca started the class immediately in a child’s pose, which proved problematic because I found that the head-down position muffled her mike, so I struggled to hear her instructions.

Unfortunately, the sound quality didn’t improve over the class. The electronic background music often drowned out Francesca’s instructions without doing anything to put me in a yoga mindset.

While I can usually practice yoga at home without looking at a screen, I kept having to crane my neck to see what she was doing.

While the sequence of movements was well thought out and offered a good mix of challenging and relaxing yoga poses, I found the class overall to be a frustrating experience.

Despite the poppy colors and bright filming studio, I was left feeling like the class could benefit from higher production quality.

My first experience could have been a fluke, so I prepped myself for a ten-minute HIIT class led by Kat. The course description shared it would get my heart rate up through a combination of squat jumps, burpees, and mountain climbers.

Kat introduced each movement while she was doing them, and I was impressed her instructions didn’t disrupt the workout’s flow.

Overall, the class included adequate breaks without enough time for a full recovery—which is ideal for a short, intense class like this.

I didn’t have any problem understanding Kat’s instructions, and this time, I felt the music fit the workout well.

This short class left me breathless and confident I had gotten in a great workout.

Though Obe Fitness’s neon-hued aesthetic and empty filming studio wasn’t my favorite for getting in the mood to sweat, there’s no question the program delivers from a fitness perspective.

Analysis of Customer Reviews

Beyond my own experience, I read through customer reviews of Obé Fitness on blogs, fitness review websites, and the company’s Facebook page. Below are the main takeaways:

Common Compliments:

• Instructors bring great energy to the classes
• Fun, challenging workouts
• Very flexible for all fitness levels
• Great selection of class options
• Strong sense of community and accountability during live classes
• 28-minute classes aren’t an overcommitment
• Workouts require minimal equipment

Common Complaints:

• Some only got error messages when setting up an account
• Some had trouble canceling their accounts and continued to be billed for several months

Pricing

A subscription for Obé costs $27 per month.

You can also save by signing up for a quarterly membership ($65) or an annual membership ($199).

Regardless of your membership tier, you will receive a seven-day free trial before billing starts.

You can cancel your account at any time through your online profile. You’ll still have access to your account until the end of the billing period. You won’t get a refund for the time not used.

Obé also offers merchandise for sale, including fitness equipment like resistance bands, ankle weights, apparel, and water bottles, ranging in price from $10 to over $50.

All merchandise is eligible for return within seven days of receipt, with the exception clearance items, gift certificates, and custom-made or personalized items.

Popular Alternatives to Obé Fitness

Despite their focus on home workouts, all four of these platforms offer something different. Obé Fitness specializes in “dance cardio” style classes that can get you sweating without requiring anything but a screen to watch the class.

Peloton Digital classes are more aligned with traditional workouts.

You’ll need access to other equipment to use this platform to its full potential, and Peloton instructors will often give you specific guidance on how hard you should be working so that you can gauge your progress in real-time.

Both Peloton and Obé Fitness offer dozens of live classes per day, which can be a stellar motivator for anyone who thrives on the kind of accountability that comes with showing up to the gym for specific classes.

Aaptiv differs in that it focuses on audio-only content. The idea is that squinting at a screen might distract you from your workout, so each instructor is coached to guide you with auditory cues alone.

That’s an excellent option for anyone who wants to sweat it out at the gym without distraction, but it can be limiting for beginners, especially with yoga or weightlifting.

Beachbody On Demand, in contrast, is set up as dozens of complete fitness programs you can sign up for. They vary from Pilates and yoga routines to cardio dance classes and intense strength training regimens.

Most include a workout calendar and nutrition guide as well. You can choose to follow a program the whole way or jump between classes in different categories.

As with Aaptiv, all Beachbody On Demand classes are pre-recorded. The brand tends to release new programs a few times a year.

Which program is best for you? I think that fitness beginners who are intimidated by traditional exercise programs will find the best fit with Obé Fitness.

This platform emphasizes fun without getting too heavy with instructions, and the live class schedule may help you commit to workouts when you aren’t used to regular exercise.

However, it costs twice as much as its competitors.

The Bottom Line

Obé Fitness offers a subscription workout program that should appeal to many people. The classes are designed to mimic the experience of a boutique studio, and there are hundreds of workouts to choose from.

One thing I liked was Obé’s commitment to creating a sense of accountability for subscribers.

The ability to “reserve” my spot in live classes ahead of time and the fact that classes maxed out at 28 minutes made it easier to show up and get the work out in.

Online reviews for Obé Fitness are overwhelmingly positive and praise the video quality, instructor exuberance, and convenience and variety within the workouts.

However, I thought the audio quality was lacking in some classes and found others to be hit or miss from an instructor standpoint.

Your opinion may differ. The company’s free seven-day trial should give you a sense of whether the workouts are the right style for you, and you can cancel without cost if you decide to go in a different direction.