10 YouTube Fitness and Yoga Channels for Quarantine and Beyond
As you may have figured out, we love food and eat quite a lot of it. Life is what happens in between meals, right? 😉 But we also love to keep in shape and healthy and be the fittest version of ourselves we can be. Working out or hiking consistently 5 to 6 times a week, even if in small doses, has become a norm for us.
We’ve always been massive fans of home workouts. Partly because for a long time we lived far away from the nearest decent gym. But even now in the new neighborhood where we’re spoiled for choice with Barry’s Bootcamp, Equinox and 5 different yoga and pilates studios within walking distance, we still mostly choose to workout with our good old YouTube buddies.
As long as you can motivate yourself and stay disciplined enough to actually do it on the daily, they are a fantastic way to get your exercise in while also saving you time and money. And frankly, we’ve grown so used to our online fitness and yoga instructors it feels like our little extended YouTube family 🙂
Here are the channels and the amazing people behind them that help us stay on track with fitness while researching all those veggie burritos for you guys 😉
1. Bad Yogi
Number one has to go to Erin Motz from Bad Yogi because she’s essentially the person who got both myself and Tony into yoga in the first place. Erin’s original 30 day yoga challenge is epic and she’s since released a 10 day challenge and other series. She’s basically redefined yoga culture and made it super down to earth and more accessible to those who swore they wouldn’t be found doing downward dogs in a million years (like my hubby). Thanks Erin! There is also the Bad Yogi podcast which makes the community more holistic and features some very inspiring guests.
2. Rebecca Louise
This girl has so much energy! We discovered Rebecca when we were living in Orange County, CA, quite far away from a gym. Incidentally she was based in our area – a virtual personal trainer and a neighbor! Rebecca and her adorable sidekick Alfie the pup are guaranteed to not only get you burning those calories but to keep your spirits high. Her videos are filmed in beautiful outdoor locations in Southern California and beyond and the community (and an app) she’s built over the years will help you stay on track. Try the 30 day booty challenge! We love you Rebecca! 😀
3. Fitness Blender
Seriously we’d love to buy Kelly and Daniel dinner one day, these duo have become our virtual workout buddies and coaches over the years. The videos are refreshingly no frills yet great quality and there’s a workout of every body part and every level of fitness, from 5 minute butt workout with Kelly (one of my favs!) to a mighty 90 minute total body strength training. We’ve been sharing their channel with friends and family and are proud to see them grow to over 6 million subscribers!
4. Yoga with Adriene
Who doesn’t know and love Adriene? Over 500 videos to choose from, 7 million subscribers (!), great attitude to yoga and life and just generally an awesome vibe. The classes range from short gentle beginners sessions to full length more advanced yoga for fat burn. There is also morning yoga, bedtime yoga, detox flows, yoga for back pain, yoga for vulnerability, you name it. Plus lots of good feels, kindness and self love in between. In the words of one YouTube commenter, “She’s basically my online best friend. She doesn’t know it, but she is!” Adriene’s community truly rocks and we’re super hyped to be a part of it.
5. Blogilates
Pilates, HIIT, PIIT (pilates intense interval training), bikini blasters and fun bootcamp sculpting workouts with LA-based certified fitness instructor Cassey Ho. The channel is pop and pink but don’t let that fool you – Cassey is the real deal and some of her videos have been known to leave us shaking and aching for days! They are also very diverse and entertaining, when you think there’s nothing new in at-home trainings Cassey comes up with yet another idea. There is even an entire ‘Apartment Friendly Series’. Try the 28 days summer sculpt too!
6. Cirque du Soleil
The legendary circus troop has their YouTube channel and part of it is dedicated to Cirque It Out workouts. Elizabeth and Guillermo will seriously kick your butt! When they say extreme abs they mean extreme. I seriously don’t know how they manage to talk through it! If you’re a couple try their no equipment at-home couples workout.
7. Chloe Ting
If you haven’t heard of Chloe’s two week abs challenge then you’ve been living under the YouTube mushroom. 😉 Chloe is technically a fashion blogger but this cutie from Melbourne means business when she hits the exercise mat. Her workouts are very no-nonsense and everyone else who’s taking the two week flat tummy challenge alongside you will keep you motivated, give it a go!
8. Popsugar
These guys provide some of the highest quality workouts out there and there’s something for everyone, every ability, every mood, every body part and every time of the day. We’ve been particularly enjoying their dance inspired cardio workouts. Choose between Bollywood, Zumba, hip hop, belly dancing and many others!
9. Annie Taylor Efremsky
We’ve been doing Annie’s 4 minute arm workout religiously and the effects are amazing! You don’t even need dumb bells! Tony uses ours when we workout together so I resort to cans of tomatoes/beans/whatever’s in the pantry. You can even use water or kombucha bottles. Because Annie’s workouts are about endurance not weight. Mind over matter. 4 minutes – no excuses. Give it a try. I’ve even grown to like Justin Bieber 😀
10. Five Parks Yoga
Another lovely yoga instructor called Erin. Erin Sampson is a yogi with a ton of experience and a great approach to teaching. Amazing how this intangible teacher quality can be projected over a YouTube video. She films in stunning locations both in the US and in Nosara, Costa Rica where she hosts regular retreats. I love how the bird song and other occasional jungle sounds in the videos remind me of our trip to Costa Rica! Give Erin a try, especially when you’re after a longer deeper, more holistic class or when you want to take your yoga to the next level.
Honorable mention: Passion for Profession – there isn’t an actual human instructor but the channel is nonetheless one of the better ones. We half-joke that they use animated robots in the videos because no human is capable of keeping up with the pace and level of difficulty of some of their workouts. Especially the infamous abs workout Level 3. I dare you! 😉
Have you tried any of them out? What’s your favorite YouTube channel or person for at-home exercising? Share in the comments below.
images: unsplash
