Your Gym Doesn't Want You To Read This

By Molly Horan, Refinery29

 

The year is 2004: Everyone is talking like Napoleon Dynamite ("Whatever I wanna do, Gosh!"), Britney Spears just married K-Fed, and YouTube...doesn't exist?

[post_ads]Yes, it's super-hard to even imagine the world without YouTube — the place we now turn to for everything from how-tos to live presidential debates. But in the roughly 11 years since YouTube became a thing, it's also gotten kind of out of control, especially when it comes to tutorials.

There's everything you could ever want on the platform, but unless you know exactly which video you're looking for, it can be time-consuming to find one that fits your specific needs at any given moment. I mean, how many hours have you wasted sitting there, watching a beauty tutorial just waiting for the person to get to the point?

Those frustrations aside (and please don't misunderstand, we still love beauty bloggers and vloggers), this could not be more true for workouts. Thanks to the sheer number of trustworthy trainers and fitness aficionados posting videos on the daily, YouTube is full of free exercise advice and inspiration. And yet, when you're trying to find a quick workout ASAP, a stretching tutorial, or even a trainer with a channel you can rely on consistently, it's kind of counterproductive to be sitting in your living room, all done-up in your gear, and sifting through videos.
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Even worse, a lot of stuff on YouTube (including — well, especially — the comments) isn't exactly user-friendly for people who want to take a rational, body-positive approach to their fitness.

Still, we shouldn't totally write the platform off; there's just so much there to work with. And hello, did we mention it's free? In order to help you sidestep these downsides, we went ahead and curated a comprehensive list of great workouts on YouTube.

You can use the videos featured as one-off workouts (allowing you to get the advice and inspiration) that will liven up your regular routine or you can click through to the trainers' channels to get to know them better.

The instructor: Crystal Dena'e Hawkins
How long the workouts last: One to 30 minutes
Fitness style: Strength training with weights and short, Tabata or HIIT cardio workouts.
Best for: If you're curious about strength training, but don't know where to start, Hawkins has tons of helpful instructional lifting videos. Her upbeat, approachable attitude in the videos is exactly what you might need to get motivated.
Sweat rating: These workouts are difficult, but don't be intimidated. You can always try the exercises sans weights at first, and then work up to doing them full-out.
   

Krav Maga Girl

The instructor: Lior Bitran, a Krav Maga instructor and a martial arts expert
How long the workouts last: 10-30 minutes
Fitness style: Krav Maga is an accessible hand-to-hand combat technique that's like a mix of kickboxing and mixed martial arts. You'll start with some cardio and plyometric exercises as a warmup, then do a combination of punching and kicking drills. (Don't worry, you won't be hitting an actual human, it's all air-punching.) Bitran also incorporates strength training moves throughout the workout.

Best for: People who like boxing or other martial arts.
Sweat rating: You jump around a lot during these workouts, but it's beginner-friendly and easy to follow along.
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Shelly Dose

The instructor: Shelly Dose
How long the workouts last: 5-30 minutes
Fitness style: HIIT cardio and strength training with weights.
Best for: People who get bored easily. Dose gets very creative with her workouts, and there's a dance cardio routine and another workout that involves drumming with real drumsticks.
Sweat rating: The workouts are very energetic, and often timed to fast-paced music. If you're not used to doing HIIT cardio, it could be overwhelming at first, so take lots of breaks if you need to.
   

HASfit

The instructor: Joshua and Claudia Kozak
Fitness style: Body-weight strength training, plus some HIIT
How long the workouts last: 5 to 30 minutes
Best for: Approachable partner workouts. Claudia usually demonstrates the modified version of the exercise, so even if you and your workout buddy have different fitness levels, you can do it at the same time.
Sweat rating: They fit a lot of different exercises into the workouts, sometimes targeting one specific body area, so you'll sweat a lot.
   

Raw Alignment

The instructor: Alyse Brautigam
Fitness style: Strength training
How long the workouts last: 5 to 10 minutes
Best for: Beginners who want strength and weightlifting tutorials. She also has strength workouts for hikers and tips for eating vegan.
Sweat rating: The strength circuits might be hard at first, but once you build muscle, they’ll feel easier.
   

Jessica Valant Pilates

The instructor: Jessica Valant
Fitness style: Pilates and stretching
How long the workouts last: 5 to 20 minutes
Best for: Learning basic Pilates moves with an emphasis on technique and posture.
Sweat rating: The workouts move pretty slowly, but you'll really have to focus on your breath and form.
   

Brett Larkin Yoga

The instructor: Brett Larkin
Fitness style: Yoga
How long the workouts last: 10 to 50 minutes
Best for: When you're craving the spiritual part of yoga more than the fitness aspect.
Sweat rating: Many of the routines have a built-in meditation practice, so you won't get super sweaty, but you will feel like you did a mental workout.
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Hang Tight With MarC

The instructor: MarC
Fitness style: Pilates, yoga, body-weight strength
How long the workouts last: 5 to 30 minutes
Best for: People who like yoga and Pilates with a little something extra like cardio or strength.
Sweat rating: The sequences move quickly and may require a little more strength than traditional yoga classes.
   

Caroline Jordan

The instructor: Caroline Jordan
Fitness style: Cardio and strength training
How long the workouts last: Five to 50 minutes
Best for: People who hate when fitness pros who focus too much on "burning" and "blasting." You'll find none of that in Jordan's videos, just straightforward workouts imbued with positivity.
Sweat rating: The cardio workouts are short, but meant to leave you sweating.
   

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