These Are Hands Down The Best YouTube Workouts To Up Your At-Home Fitness Game
These Are Hands Down The Best YouTube Workouts To Up Your At-Home Fitness Game
Of all the habits we picked up during quarantine, all of that time you spend Googling the best YouTube workouts arguably has the most staying power. In fact, about one-third of 11,000 respondents in a recent survey from RunRepeat.com said they planned to forgo their gym membership for good in 2021.
But leaving the gym behind does have its drawbacks. First and foremost: Eschewing fitness facilities means you’re also omitting all the expert-curated classes, trainers, and machines designed to help make reaching your goals a heckuva lot less complicated.
Of course, that drawback is partially nullified if you know where to look for top online workouts and trainers. And lucky for you—we’ve done the legwork for you. Here are 20 of the best workouts on YouTube for HIIT, strength training, cardio, yoga, and more.
1) BEST YOGA VIDEOS: Yoga with Adriene
Adriene Mishler has amassed an enormous following—nearly 10 million subscribers—for good reason. On top of her relaxing, energizing, and strengthening flows, she’s fun to watch and move with, known for her down-to-earth, quirky personality. Mishler’s videos are also a solid choice if you’re new to yoga, as her motto “find what feels good” encourages you to push yourself, but only to an extent where you feel comfortable.
2) Aham Yoga
Arundhati Baitmangalkar is super-passionate about yoga—so much that, in addition to providing meditative or sweat-inducing flows on her popular channel, she also hosts a podcast, Let’s Talk Yoga. Get into the flow with gentle morning sun salutations or work your way up to inversions and more complicated moves with thorough beginner how-to videos.
3) Yoga With Kassandra
A yoga teacher with over seven years of experience, Kassandra offers more than 550 classes, ranging from beginner level to experienced, on her YouTube channel. One of her specialties is Yin yoga, a gentler style of yoga where poses are held longer.
4) Sarah Wes
You can find a trove of yoga sequences that'll make you feel stronger and more limber on Sarah Wes's YouTube channel. Wes touts her workouts as a "360-degree mind-body-spirit experience through visuals, sound, movement and breath." Get ready to feel a lot calmer (and rejuvenated) by the end of one of her artistic flows.
5) BEST HIIT & STRENGTH VIDEOS: Les Mills
If burpees, planks, and abdominal-scorching core moves are your thing, you can’t go wrong with Les Mills. Ranging from 15-minute sessions (perfect for that mid-afternoon slump) to 30-minute workouts, the offerings on Les Mills’ YouTube channel are designed to pack a lot of burn into a tight timeframe. And while you have to pay for Les Mills’ full workout catalog on the website, the YouTube channel provides a substantial amount of content to get you started.
6) SWEAT
Led by top female trainers—Kayla Itsines, Sjana Elise, Kelsey Wells, Stephanie Sanzo, and Chontel Duncan—SWEAT offers HIIT training, cardio, yoga, post-pregnancy workouts, and even powerlifting. The channel also has a section for apartment-friendly workouts, in case you have a salty downstairs neighbor.
7) MadFit
Browse from bodyweight strength workouts, dance-based cardio routines, and beginner “how-to” move tutorials on Maddie Lymburner’s YouTube channel, MadFit. You can also select mini workouts for select songs and artists—Lil Nas X, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd—if there’s a particular tune that gets you really pumped to do planks.
8) Body Project
Although the Body Project’s YouTube channel is jam-packed with a variety of workouts, you’ll find no shortage of heart-pumping HIIT videos, both high- and low-impact, to do sans equipment. Run by (literal) power couple Daniel and Alexandra, the pair prides themselves on not being “fitness models” who "exercise for two to three hours a day."
9) Orangetheory Fitness
Orangetheory has amassed a cult-like following over the past decade, and its team of top instructors are definitely part of that success. The company now offers workout selections for free on its YouTube channel, with both HIIT and strength classes. Grab a pair of dumbbells for the workout above and expect a serious burn in your glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
10) FitnessBlender
Another husband-and-wife training team, creators Daniel and Kelli house over 600 full-length strength- and HIIT-based workout videos on their channel, FitnessBlender, that receives nearly 33 million hits each month. You can sift through videos based on time, difficulty level, and muscle group focus.
11) Pamela Reif
If you haven’t tried one of German fitness pro Pamela Reif’s insanely challenging strength, HIIT, and cardio workout videos on YouTube, now’s the time. Her videos rack up millions of views apiece. One major differentiator in Reif’s videos: A significant chunk of workouts are snack-sized, spanning roughly six to 20 minutes in length.
12) BEST DANCE WORKOUT VIDEOS: 305 Fitness
Each class (ranging from 15 to 60 minutes) packs in jumping jacks, kicks, slides, twerks, and everything in-between—all set to music you’d expect to hear in a club. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing video after video, as time truly flies in these high-energy sessions.
13) PlyoJam
Originally founded in Los Angeles, YouTube dance-cardio channel PlyoJam is exactly what it sounds like—you literally “jam out” while executing high-energy plyometric moves. Choose from 30- or 60-minute videos with routines set to top 40 hip hop hits, like from Saweetie in the video above. (Don’t be surprised when you find yourself smiling, and burning calories, long after the workout is done.)
14) Deja Riley
As a former dancer for Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Trey Songz, and Lady Gaga, Deja Riley knows a thing or two about holding a beat (and entertaining an audience). And she’s doling out tips and routines for free on her YouTube channel. Try Dance Out of the Box for a high-energy, smile-inducing, rhythmic cardio workout.
15) Nikki Pebbles
NYC-based certified personal trainer Nikki Pebbles is also a certified body image and life coach, plus a public speaker and event hostess. So, expect some serious charisma and energy in each of her fun, fast-paced dance workout videos. And rest assured, even rhythmically-challenged folks (including myself) can keep up with Pebbles’ clear, on-point instruction.
16) BEST PILATES VIDEOS: Blogilates
One of YouTube’s OG fitness influencers, Pilates instructor Cassey Ho’s specialty is called POP Pilates, a practice combining pop music and traditional Pilates movements into a fun, upbeat workout that’s as enjoyable as it is heart-pumping (and muscle-burning). In addition to full workouts, you can find beginner move tutorials on Ho’s channel (including how to do the splits, one of her more popular videos) and nutrition and self-care advice.
17) Lottie Murphy
For the quintessential Pilates burn, look no further than Lottie Murphy’s channel of equipment-free YouTube sessions. Murphy’s been teaching Pilates for more than 10 years, leading viewers through core-focused ab routines, calm stretches, and full-length Pilates flows. Get ready to feel sore after this one.
18) Isa-Welly
In addition to being a top Pilates instructor, Isa-Welly is a registered nutritionist and certified health and wellness coach, making her a go-to resource if you want to re-energize your entire self. But if you just want a solid burn, turn to her catalog of low-impact, equipment-free workouts, including this 30-minute session that weaves in traditional barre moves.
19) Gone Adventuring Pilates
If you need travel inspo (or just want to transport yourself to the beaches of Santa Barbara for a hot second), Gone Adventuring Pilates is the workout channel for you. Find Pilates sessions that are equipment-free and mat-based (or using a reformer, if you have access to one), in addition to strengthening routines.
20) Tory Rivera
Like many content creators on this list, Tony Rivera puts forth a range of workout videos, from cardio to HIIT to dance. But as a trained ballet dancer, Pilates and barre are her specialty. Try workouts that produce a major burn ranging from 10, 15, 20, and 30 minutes that are divided by muscle group focus.
From yoga to HIIT, snack-length to hour-long, there's something here for everyone.