Chicana punk icon Alice Bag wants to make sure you stay active throughout your quarantine. Dubbed Fit for the Apocalypse, available on Instagram and YouTube, the workouts are low-impact, living room cardio routines injected with a bit of dancing—because each clip, of course, is soundtracked by an uptempo punk song Bag loves.
“This series is about staying active and maintaining a positive attitude,” she captioned a March 25 workout. “Do it with your kids, do it with your grandma. It’s not about the steps. Exercise can help clear your mind of noise and it should be fun!”
That session included typical moves like squats and punches, but also a few that we’re deeming signature Alice Bag: The swim, the hallelujah, a squat-shoulder-dance combo that has yet to be named and jazz hands. Other one-of-a-kind moves: A cat-like kind of clawing at air, the “punk mashed potato,” and running in place while wildly shaking your head (something you might do at an actual punk show).
Bag is partial to Latinx bands—Guadalajara’s Le Bucherettes, San Antonio punks Fea, Chicanx pop-punk icons Go Betty Go have all been featured—but also gets hyped to music from non-Latinx acts, like Melbourne’s Amyl and the Sniffers and Glasgow’s Shopping.
On the Go Betty Go workout, which Bag wrote was originally created for the Southeast L.A. girls and gender-expansive youth camp Chicas Rockeras, Bag reminds us: “All bodies are beautiful. This is not about weight loss, this is about keeping spirits up and staying healthy.”
At the end of another session, despite the exhaustion of non-stop cardio, she adds, “Don’t forget to buy people’s music!”
Alice Bag is truly a treasure to this world. Be sure to check out her latest single, “Sister Dynamite,” from her forthcoming LP.
Once you’ve gone through all of Bag’s sessions, this song is a good choice for designing a workout of your own — or for going wild bouncing around and dancing in your living room.