25+ FREE Online Courses & Fitness Classes to Keep Hustling at Home
Thanks to huge C-word we all have so much more time on our hands. For some of you, that’s probably a welcome break and others are going a little bit cray-cray. One thing we can take from this crazy time is that so many companies and business are opening their doors to free online learning and courses.
Not only can you now pick up new skills and develop others but you can also access a bunch of fitness websites and apps for FREE! I’ve been scouring the internet in the search for the best things to learn during your isolation. In between breaks from binging the best travel shows on Netflix, sign up to one of the below courses to keep hustling away and stay motivated.
I have included courses for bloggers, general learning, creatives and even one to learn more about the epidemic. Most have instant access, some have a code which I have included and many of the workout apps have extended free trials. So no more excuses for being a lazy bum. The hardest part will be deciding which ones to do.
Disclaimer: Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through them, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information on my disclaimer click here.
Free Online Courses – General learning
Photography courses with Nikon
From fundamentals of photography to photographing children and pets, Nikon has a range of short courses available for free until the end of April
Conversational Spanish Course
This 7-week Spanish language course is aimed at students who would like to learn conversational Spanish starting with Spanish basics. The course introduces everyday language and includes activities to practice all four language skills: reading comprehension, writing, listening comprehension and speaking. Taught by the University of Valencia to reach A1 proficiency.
Duration: 4-5 hours/week over 7 weeks. This definitely seems to be one of the best free Spanish lessons online.
Fee-Free Courses with TAFE NSW
TAFE NSW is offering a range of short courses that can be completed in days or weeks. While many of these courses are geared towards Aussies furthering their careers, there are still courses that will benefit you if you are located elsewhere in the world.
Some of the courses offered include:
- Introduction to Word Processing and Spreadsheets
- Executive Assistant Organisational Skills
- eMarketing for Small Business
- Engaging Customers Using Social Media.
Before signing up you can see the weekly commitment and duration of the course. The usual price is also listed so you can see what a great deal you’re getting.
Epidemics
Explore the science, prevention and control of epidemics in this free online course. In addition to lectures by leading scientists in this field from HKU, this course will feature panel discussions with world-leading experts in epidemics.
Topics include:
- Past, present and future epidemics
- Discussion on Ebola and Zika Outbreak, and Supplementary Module on Next Generation Informatics for Global Health
- Ecology, Evolution and Emergence of Infectious Diseases
- Medical Detective: Bug Hunting in Epidemics
Once you have completeted epidemics I, expand your knowledge with epidemic II which covers more in depth knowledge on the host, pathogens and the epidemic curve.
Duration: 2-3 hours/week over 5-weeks.
Ivy League Courses
With over 500 Ivy League courses covering almost every topic you could want to study.
Various Microsoft Courses
Our edX courses, taught by Microsoft experts, let you learn through hands-on experience with broad reach, cutting-edge technologies in areas including cloud services, mobile development, and data sciences.
Whether you’re a student or a seasoned technologist, we can empower you to build innovative applications, services, and experiences on the Microsoft platform that will help you make a meaningful impact in today’s interconnected world.
Introduction to Project Management
Project management is an essential skill-set for many careers and in many contexts in our lives. Introduction to Project Management is an ideal starting point if you need to manage projects at work or at home, while not necessarily being a formally trained project manager.
It is also suitable if you are considering undertaking a project in the near future and are seeking to learn and apply essential project management knowledge and skills.
Duration: 2-3 hours/week for 6 weeks
Skillshare doesn’t have any deals during COVID-19, but they always have a free 2 month trial. I love Skillshare because you can take classes on just about anything, including painting, animation, music and other artsy things.
In my post about staying healthy and motivated during COVID-19, starting a project is a great way to keep busy and mentally active. Combine your project with a new skill from the Skillshare library.
Make Irresistible Cakes
CakeFlix.tv has a 7 day free trial. Participate in up to 35 courses, hundreds of tutorials and be part of the community. Cake design ranges from beginner to expert and will teach you how to make a whole range of designs including decorating tips and techniques.
Cooking – Introduction To Culinary Skills
Gain an expert chef’s insight into tips, tricks, and secrets that will cover the latest techniques, ingredients, tools, flavours and skills in cooking.
This course will provide the foundational culinary skills in your path to become a Chef, or for anyone looking to elevate their cooking to delicious and impressive meals. There are 24 self-paced lessons
Allergy Training
Anyone in the hospitality industry or who regularly works with food will benefit from this course. This is a great one to add to your CV if you are interested in becoming a yacht stewardess.
There are 6 modules that aim to:
- improve awareness of food allergies among food law enforcement officers
- enable officers to communicate five simple messages about food allergies during a food business inspection
- enable officers to audit allergen control measures during an inspection
- raise awareness of allergens as part of any hazard analysis system and to demonstrate allergen control that can be built into such a system
- raise awareness of sources of information on food allergies
Free Online Courses for bloggers
SEO
SEO knowledge is crucial to be a successful blogger but courses are often hundreds of dollars. MOZ and Yoast are offering their SEO courses free of charge during the corona period.
The MOZ Academy breaks its courses up into beginner, intermediate and advanced so no matter where your knowledge base is at they have you covered. Enter code wegotthis at checkout to claim your free course.
Yoast Academy is offering its beginner and all-around SEO course free as well as courses on SEO for WordPress using the block and classic editor.
Blogging for Business
Learn how to grow your blog past 100K monthly visitors and turn thousands of your readers into paying customers. This course run by Ahrefs Academy is usually $800 and currently, it’s free! This course is recommended by some of the biggest blogging names. I think this one is too good to pass up.
Duration: Less than 5 hours
Strategic Social Media Marketing
Learn how to drive social media engagement by linking strategy and tactics and measuring results.
In this course, we examine how organizations capitalize on social media and consumer-to-consumer interactions to support their marketing efforts. We view these issues from a strategic and a practical perspective, rather than a technical or platform perspective.
We will give you the knowledge you need to create engaging content for platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat and how to identify influencers, deliver content to a targeted audience, and measure the success of your efforts.
Duration: 4-6 hours/week over 6 weeks
Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content
Ever wondered why some things become popular, and others don’t? What are the key ideas behind viral marketing? This course explains how things catch on and helps you apply these ideas to be more effective at marketing your ideas, brands, or products.
You’ll learn how to make ideas stick, how to increase your influence, how to generate more word of mouth, and how to use the power of social networks to spread information and influence.
Duration: 6 hours
Secret Sauce of Great Writing
In this course, Shani Raja, a former Wall Street Journal editor, will teach you the four ingredients of good writing: simplicity, clarity, elegance and evocativeness. After discovering how to add those ingredients skilfully, your writing will almost certainly begin to stand out from that of others in your field, profession or industry.
Duration: 41 minutes
Raelyn Tan’s Roundup of the Best Free Blogging Courses
No matter where you are in your blogging journey or what kind of blog you run, Raelyn has offered this wonderful roundup of the best free courses on the internet. Whether you want to grow your email list, write catchy headlines or are after a 7-day blog starter challenge she has you covered.
Social Media Manager School
The premier place for social media managers to access platform based learning and the latest and best social media strategies and tactics. This course is usually $997 and now it’s free for 4 weeks!
Free Fitness Courses, Apps & Videos
Barefoot Fitness Challenge
This 30-day challenge is complete with a weekly fitness card, nutrition tips and a live workout every Monday. Everything is recorded so you can do the daily workouts when the time fits for you.
The challenge has been made for the lockdown period, so all workouts can be done at home and do not require special equipment.
Downdog App’s
Down Dog has a variety of apps to download for your phone. This usually paid app is completely free until May 1st, students can get the apps free until June 1st.
Depending on your preferred workout style download one or all of the following:
- Yoga
- Yoga for Beginners
- HIIT
- Barre
- 7 Minute Workout
- Prenatal yoga
I have the 7 minute workout which is great for a quick sweaty session. You choose the level, styles, music and the app will customise the workout so you never do the same one twice.
Wanderlust
The MATS DOWN DAILY is a daily series of free live classes on Instagram brought to you by Wanderlust’s extended family of teachers.
We hope that these teachings will bring you a bit of space, calm, and resilience as we get through this challenging time together.
To join these classes, open the Instagram app and find @wanderlustfest. The global schedule can be found here.
Fitness Blender
Join the Fitness Blender community to access over 600 full-length workout videos with professional training and support from a positive and active online community — for free.
Daily Burn
Daily Burn is offering a 30-day free trial to it’s extensive library of workout videos. With over a 1000 different class’s you can choose a workout that is perfect for your fitness level and desired style of workout.
Fitbod App
Up until May 1st (and potentially longer), Fitbod app is making their bodyweight-only workout completely free. To access the bodyweight exercises, download the app here. Once you have signed up tap on, add an exercise – categories – bodyweight only and bodyweight equipment.
Pilates Anytime
Make most of the 15-day free trial with Pilates Anytime. Get unlimited access to 3,400+ streaming Pilates videos in your home for all levels. Feeling up to a challenge? Sign up to the 10-day Ready, Set, Glow challenge with Courtney Miller to kickstart your at-home Pilates workout.
Yoga with Adriene
I had to include my girl in here. I do Adriene’s free Youtube video’s everyday anyway. So although not free due to the corona virus you can do these free anytime! Youtube is a great source for all types of free workout videos not matter what style or level you are at.
Adriene is hilarious, she cracks herself up at her own jokes and has her trusty sidekick Benji, her pup to encourage us on the mat. Her classes vary in length from 5 minutes to a full-length video and have different focus points. If you haven’t heard of her yet, her 6.8 million subscribers should tell you she is doing something right.
Jump on in and try a video now!
