Following our recent post on the best setup for online music lessons we have had numerous related questions from fitness instructors and personal trainers. The most common question has been about how to sync music and instruction so that your fitness class students have a great online workout experience.
In this post we are going to help you get the best setup for your online workouts and exercise classes. Get the right studio gear so that your audio and video runs smoothly and your online fitness sessions are as good as the pros!
We will focus mainly on the audio and sync issues, but will also add a few tips to improve the quality of your video too.
Below are a few video tutorials we have created to help online fitness professionals get started. You may find it helpful to watch that first. Then scroll down for more detail, and links to the equipment.
Live Online Fitness Class Video Tutorials
Your Most Frequently Asked Questions About Audio and Video Equipment for Online Fitness Classes
Here are some of the many questions you have asked us about that we will address here:
- Q. What’s the best way to stream music for my online workouts? At the moment I just use a small external blue tooth speaker and controlled by my phone that I play into my computer’s mic.
- What if I want to add music to my Yoga classes? I tried and it cut in and out horribly. I have playlists on Soundcloud that I would like to use to give my students a full experience, what do you recommend to stream the audio?
- What is the best way to interface the music with my voice during a class? I would love to have my music playing at the same time for them to move to. I tried playing the music from an external speaker and also tried playing it directly from the soundcloud site on the computer while in a Zoom meeting. Neither was successful. Can you tell me exactly how this is achieved?
- I’m teaching dance classes online with Zoom. Some students told me about music sync problems. Movements are not synced with the music. I tried sending the audio/music from my speakers through the laptop on board mic. The audio sounds terrible but there are no sync problems. Then I tried the feature on Zoom to share audio from my computer/laptop. This gives good audio quality but BIG sync problems. How can I sync the class to the music and still have good quality audio?
- How can I improve the quality of my video?
This is Your Main Problem: Live Streaming Audio and Video Involves a Lot of Data!
Let’s just think about exactly what your goal is. You want to stream your fitness class over the internet. You want the video to look good, and the audio to be clear. You almost certainly want the audio to sync with your movement. But video and audio streams are very data intensive. So you need to make sure you do everything you can to optimise your hardware and settings.
And remember, you can give this your best shot, but there will be glitches along the way. However, there are ways to minimise these glitches and maximise your live workout experience.
So, here are some tips and suggestions to make a success of your online fitness class venture.
1. Use the Fastest Computer You Can
You will get the best results, and have the most control over your settings, if you use a laptop or desktop computer for your live online workouts. And for audio and video data processing, obviously the faster and more up-to-date the better.
Although you could use a mobile device for your fitness classes, you will have much more success with the processing power and hardware connection possibilities that a grown up computer will allow you.
2. Internet Connection
Give yourself the best chance of success! If at all possible connect your computer to your router with an ethernet cable. You may have to purchase a connector to do this, in addition the ethernet cable. For example my Macbook Pro does not have a built-in ethernet connection port so I use a thunderbolt-ethernet adapter to get a wired connection to the internet.
Note – if you have a later Macbook (mine is 2015), you may need a different adapter.
If you really cannot use a wire, then make sure you position your computer as close to your WiFi router as you possibly can.
3. Optimise the Software Settings
Using Zoom to stream your online fitness workouts? If so, then make sure you adjust the audio settings. Put Zoom into what I call “music mode“.
The default settings in Zoom are designed to filter out noise from office environments, but can play havoc with your audio stream, rendering it almost useless.
4. Invest in the Right Audio Equipment
To give your students the best experience, you need a good microphone to capture your voice and at the same time stream music to move to. And this needs to sync with your video (internet glitches aside) so the class participants can follow you.
Option 1. Wireless Headset Mic + USB Mini Mixer + Speaker (For Monitoring Sound)
Click these links to read more on each component
- USB Mixer – for a simple online fitness setup
- Wireless Headset Microphone – designed for fitness instruction
- Portable Speaker – you may have one of these already. So you can hear the music too!
- Invest in a decent wireless headset mic, one that is specifically designed for fitness instructors. The best wireless headset mics will: fit securely; be water resistant (perspiration is an occupational hazard!); have a windscreen over the mic for reducing occurrences of popping and wind noise; have a built-in transmitter so you don’t need to wear an additional pack; have really good connectivity to the mic receiver.
- Buy a USB mixer that has a dedicated microphone XLR input so you can connect the wireless headset. The mixer should also have line input so you can use your mobile phone or other media player to stream your music. Use the appropriate cable to connect the headphone output of your phone to the line input(s) on the mixer. (So, if you want to stream music from SoundCloud or elsewhere, stream it on your phone or mobile device and connect that to the mixer.)
- You need to be able to hear the music too, so connect the master output of the mixing console to a speaker of some kind. Alternatively you could use your computer speakers for the sound output – although you may experience a little bit of latency (delay) if you do this. It is better if the input and output device is the same where possible.
- Connect the mixer up to your computer via USB. A USB mixer is a small mixing console and audio interface combined. Some have been designed with this exact purpose in mind. Once the mixer is correctly connected you will be able to adjust the levels of your music and voice on the console until you get a good balance.
- Finally select the USB mixer as the sound input in your computer’s control panel (Windows) or Audio/MIDI Setup (Mac). Make sure that Zoom or other streaming software is using the mixer for audio input.
- Optimise the Zoom settings for streaming music by referring to our detailed step-by-step guide on how to do this.
Bear in mind that Zoom allows stereo input, so both channels of the mixer will be picked up automatically. If you use Skype, then it is mono only, and so only the left channel will be picked up. You will have to pan all the audio to the left channel.
Although Zoom allows you to transmit stereo audio, you will be better not selecting this option, but allowing the stream to be a mono mix (this is the default option in Zoom anyway). Otherwise you will have your voice coming through one channel, and your music coming through another and you want them to be mixed.
Whichever software you use, test, test, test to get the levels and settings right.
If you are confused about the difference between an audio interface and a mixer, then our detailed post will help you understand the difference.
Option 2. Wireless Headset Mic, Mixing Console and External Audio Interface
Click these links to read more on each component
- Mixing Console – for a simple online fitness setup
- Audio Interface – to connect mixing console to your computer
- Wireless Headset Microphone – designed for fitness instruction
- Portable Speaker – you may have one of these already. So you can hear the music too!
This second setup is very similar to option 1. The main difference is you use a standard mixing console. In this case you will need to use some sort of external audio interface so you can stream your voice and music from the mixer, via the line inputs of the interface, into your computer.
This is because you cannot connect an analog mixing console directly up to your computer.
(Confused about the difference? A USB mixer is effectively a Mixing Console with a built-in audio interface, which is why you can connect it direct to your computer).
Again, use your phone or media player to playback or stream audio, and hook it up to the mixer line input. Don’t try and stream the audio on your computer as this will cause sync issues.
You will need a speaker to monitor the music stream.
This setup is more expensive if you are buying all the equipment from scratch. However, if you already own a headset and mixing console of some kind (many freelance fitness instructors do) then all you need is a suitable audio interface. And you’ll be good to go.
Working Example – Reboot Health and Fitness
I have seen this setup in action, working really well for a fitness instructor near me. Sally of Reboot Health and Fitness has successfully shifted her awesome exercise classes from the gym to live online Zoom workouts.
It did take a bit of trial and error get everything working. But now she has got a setup that is working really well and her choreographed fitness classes sync well with the music.
If you’re wondering, she already owned a Samson headset and small mixer so she hooked it up to her computer with an iRig Audio Interface. Works very well. Voice comes over very clear. Music syncs well to her movement.
(And if you want to check out Sally’s classes or find out more about her nutrition coaching, you can find her on Facebook, or check out her website.)
How Does it Fit Together? The Cables and Connectors You Need
If you go for one of the above options, you may be wondering how on earth it all connects up. Exactly which audio cables do you need?
Fear not, all is explained in the video below. If you are not sure about any of the terms used, then refer to our detailed guide on audio cables and connectors.
Option 3. Wireless Headset and Audio Interface
Click these links to read more on each component
- Audio Interface – to connect mixing console to your computer
- Wireless Headset Microphone – designed for fitness instruction
- Portable Speaker – you may have one of these already. So you can hear the music too!
You could optionally omit the mixer, and connect your wireless headset mic directly to one channel on the audio interface, and then stream audio from phone or media player into the second port. The signal from the phone would be mono, but as all the audio will be mixed down to mono anyway, this will be fine.
Option 4. USB Microphone and Portable Speaker
Click these links to read more on each component
- USB Microphone – Easy and cost-effective upgrade from your computer’s built-in microphone
- Portable Speaker – you may have one of these already. So you can hear the music too!
If you are worried the above setups are too expensive, or too complicated then a simple and effective option is to purchase a good quality USB microphone. Opt for something like the Blue Yeti which has switchable pickup patterns. Then you can find the pickup pattern that works best for you. It is likely to be a choice between cardioid and omni depending on your room layout and the kind of workouts you do.
The way this method works is instead of your computer’s built-in microphone, you position a USB microphone so it can pick up your voice together with the music you stream from a speaker.
The quality will be much better than the internal computer microphone. If you have found that you get a reasonable result using your computer’s built in microphone, a USB mic will significantly improve the quality of your audio, but be almost as simple to use.
Note that you still need some kind of external media player, or phone, together with a speaker. As many of you have already found, if you try and share your music directly from your computer via Zoom, then it will not sync satisfactorily with your movements.
(NB if you are not so worried about sync, then you can use USB mic for voiceover, and stream the audio from your computer)
Option 5. Microphone and Audio Interface
Click these links to read more on each component
- Audio Interface – to connect mixing console to your computer
- Condenser Microphone – to broadcast your voice – alternatively you can buy a recording pack that contains audio interface and microphone in one bundle
- Portable Speaker – you may have one of these already. So you can hear the music too!
This works in a very similar way to option 4. However, you use a standard XLR microphone, rather than a USB microphone, and then you connect it to your computer via an audio interface.
You can choose to play your music back on a speaker that will be picked up by the microphone along with your voice. Or, you can connect your microphone to one input, and you can use an appropriate cable to channel the sound from your phone or media player to the line input on the interface.
You will only get a mono output from your music, but as all your audio is going to be mixed down into a mono stream in Zoom this will be fine.
This would be a good option if you already own this equipment, However, if you are buying all the equipment from scratch, It might be better to buy a headset microphone designed for fitness classes rather than a more general studio microphone.
Streaming Music for Yoga Classes
It may be you just want to share background music for your class, and it does not need to sync up to your movement. (For example an online Yoga Class or similar)
To do this, you need to run the Zoom Client on your Mac or PC ( you cannot do this from the web browser). Choose ‘Share Screen’ then click on the Advanced tab and select Music or Computer Sound Only.
When you have done this, you will be able to share your music and also the sound of your voice. You will get the best voice quality if you use an external microphone – for example a USB microphone. Or any of the options above.
Remember you must adjust the settings for Zoom so it is in music mode.
6. Up Your Video Game
Once you have your audio hardware in place, turn your attention to your video production.
Option 1. Upgrade Webcam
You could use the built in webcam of your computer, these have definitely improved over the years. However, you can give your video a quality boost by investing in a better webcam. Invest, for example, in a Logitech webcam with 1080p and you will reap immediate benefits in terms of video definition.
A good quality webcam will integrate seamlessly into Zoom or Skype, you simply select it as an alternative camera to the built-in webcam. The added benefit is you can choose where to position the camera so you should be able to frame your shot better.
Option 2. Use Video Capture Device with Digital Camera
Another option, if you already own a DSLR, GoPro or Compact Camera is to buy an HDMI-USB Video Capture Device. This will enable you to use your existing high quality camera as a WebCam.
Once installed, you will be able to select the capture card as a webcam in Zoom, or Skype, and you will be streaming from your camera instantly.
7. Lighting
If you have a well-lit room, and you can stream your workouts during the day, then all you need do is set your camera up so that it is in front of the windows and you should find that the natural light will be OK.
Don’t make the (common) mistake of standing in front of the window with the camera pointing at you. You will be a silhouette!
At some point you will probably want to invest in some additional lighting. Specialised lighting for video is actually very inexpensive, and so it’s definitely worth a look at the various options available.
It is better to buy lighting designed for video photography as it will have the right colour temperature for your camera to decipher.
What is Your Why? Focusing on the End Product
Although this article has been all about the tech, never forget about the end product. I recently had a great conversation with JD, a fitness instructor at Bridge4 Studios. JD, along with his colleagues, transferred their fitness classes and workouts online throughout 2020.
In the video above you can hear all about their journey, and also pick up some useful tips, tricks and hacks for your own virtual fitness classes. But the most important message is going back to what is your end product? And who is your community. At the end of the day, this is a people thing – not a tech thing!
You can see regular updates about Bridge4’s online fitness programme on their Facebook Page.
That video is an edited version of the conversation we had. If you want to hear more, then you can listen to the entire interview as a podcast below.
Trial and Error – You Can Do This!
I do hope this information will help you get a really good setup for your online workouts.
I just want to finish up with a big thank you to all of you who have chosen to step into the arena and offer online fitness classes.
I have attended lots of online fitness classes during the Covid-19 lockdown. It’s been a particularly good experience to attend live workouts online, because of the connection you feel with both the instructor and the other class attendees.
You will have to persevere a bit to get this working. It is a bit of a steep learning curve if you are new to all this hardware and software. But you’ve got this! You can do it. Keep experimenting.
And thank you so much …. and let me know how you get on, or if there is anything else I can do to help.