Years ago when I decided to incorporate exercise into my daily routine, I shopped around at local gyms in the hopes of finding the right one and becoming a member. I quickly realized I wasn’t ready to join the widely popular, large-chain gyms that were taking over the industry at the time. Quite frankly, I was intimidated by the muscle-clad men and well-toned women who seemed to be the majority attending these coed gyms. Eventually, I did find a small, all-female, boutique-style studio that met my level of comfortability. It was the perfect setting where I felt I could reach my fitness goals and eventually slowly ease my way into the big gym masses.
However, these dayswith the convenience of the Internet, one has so many options to accommodatetheir schedule and fitness goals until they’re either ready to join the gymscene or choose to make virtual workouts a permanent option. The key is toconduct your search according to your current level of fitness and graduallybuild up your exercise routine. This may be done with the same or variousfitness channels you find that will last throughout your entire fitness journeyor may progressively evolve as you move into your next level of fitness andgoals.
In recent years, I have found quite a few hidden treasures on YouTube. The beauty of online fitness videos is that you can dabble in as many types of exercise workouts that your heart desires. This is how I initially got into yoga. I tried all types from Kundalini to Vinyasa; it was an amazing way to find the ones I truly enjoyed practicing and was made possible all from the comfort of my living room. The best part of finding these workouts is that they were free. Eventually some of the workout channels I subscribed to gained massive popularity resulting in some of them switching to paid subscriptions so I would just move on to the next best thing.
Although I have been a paying gym member for years now, oftentimes my work schedule and parent responsibilities do not allow me to hit the gym or take a class, therefore my fall back continues to be at-home workouts. Personally, I enjoy diverse workouts each week whether it be yoga, HIIT, cardio, or weight training in an effort to avoid monotony and boredom. This is also the most beneficial way for me to avoid my body from hitting any plateaus.
Sydney Cummings
One YouTube fitness trainer in particular that I have been devoted to for over a year is Sydney Cummmings. A former high jumper college athlete, Sydney brings a wide range of diverse, high-energy as well as low impact workout videos which are posted by 5 a.m. each morning in order to meet the schedules of all her subscribers. These free videos range from 30 to 60 minutes and consist of specific body-targeted to full-body workouts.
Cummings offers subscribers the option to join a paid membership called the Sydney Squad, however, her philosophy is to continue offering free workouts to the public in an effort to provide access to anyone looking to get fit. I have personally seen beneficial and transformational results in areas I was targeting since starting Sydney’s workouts.
POPSUGAR
Another great fitness YouTune channel is POPSUGAR Fitness. POPSUGAR offers an enormous array of fitness workouts that are hosted by Anna Renderer, in which she brings in various fitness experts and celebrity trainers to run a full range of workouts from your traditional exercise routines to the latest fitness crazes. Videos range anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes in length.
Like Sydney Cummings, POPSUGAR also offers a paid membership that gives subscribers access to their Full-Body Fusion program. This four-week schedule of curated, 45-minute or less workouts led by five different expert instructors, span across all types of workout routines to accommodate all fitness levels.
Although theseworkout channels seem to consist mainly of female subscribers, I can say thatboth channels offer extensive workouts that benefit both males and females inparticular in the weight training and boot-camp style workout categories.Whether your goals are short- or long-term, these web-based channels are aneasy, comfortable, and convenient way to begin, increase, or maintain yourfitness journey.
