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?!
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 lovebeauty 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.
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: 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.
The instructor: Cassey Ho, the creator of Pop Pilates, who is known for her upbeat and positive take on Pilates.
Fitness style: Pilates/body-weight strength training.
How long the workouts last: 10 to 15 minutes.
Best for: People who like pop music and Pilates. Fine for beginners — the moves aren't intimidating, but first-timers might need to reduce the reps.
Sweat rating: It's not high intensity in terms of cardio, but your muscles will burn.
The instructor: Adriene
Fitness style: Yoga
How long the workouts last: 10 to 40 minutes
Best for: People who need to relax or like to stretch. Good for beginners and intermediate students.
Sweat rating: Most of her yoga sequences are gentle and more about flexibility than working up a sweat.
The instructor: Dance teachers from the Dutch school
Fitness style: Cardio dance
How long the workouts last: 3 to 5 minutes
Best for: People who like to curate their own playlists. Beginners through intermediate — the dance-cardio videos are repetitive, but some of the straight dance tutorials are more complex.
Sweat rating: Each dance tutorial is short, usually about one song long, but if you create a playlist with them you'll have a sweat-inducing workout.
The instructor: Sophia Pym
Fitness style: Pilates
How long the workouts last: 3 to 30 minutes
Best for: People who want a core workout that is also weirdly relaxing. For beginners through intermediate — some of the poses are going to require a lot of arm and core strength.
Sweat rating: Some of the more intense moves will leave you sweating.
The instructor: Us
Fitness style: Basic body-weight moves
How long the workouts last: 60 seconds each
Best for: Beginners looking to kick it up a notch. Each of our "60 Seconds to Fit" videos on Brawlers features one challenging body-weight move. They're digestible and quick for a reason: to help you really master the move.
Sweat rating: Depends on whether you make a playlist and which moves you're doing. It's up to you!
The instructor: Lesley Fightmaster, certified yoga instructor
Fitness style: Yoga
How long the workouts last: 10 to 30 minutes
Best for: People who have tried yoga before. She breaks down the moves, but has more intense sequences, as well. Also, you won't get the in-person feedback that can be essential for total novices.
Sweat rating: It's not Bikram, but it's more physical than a restorative yoga class.
The instructor: Kai Wheeler, a personal trainer
Fitness style: Circuit training
How long the workouts last: 2 to 5 minutes.
Best for: People who need to work out in a small space — no equipment required.
Sweat rating: Wheeler's videos are more how-tos than workouts in and of themselves, but if you do sets and reps of her toning moves, you'll get a great workout.
The instructors: Kelsey Lee and Rebecca Louise
Fitness style: Pilates, strength training, and everything in-between.
How long the workouts last: 5 to 15 minutes
Best for: People who want to mix it up constantly. XHIT posts a new workout video every day.
Sweat rating: The mix of cardio and strength training in these videos will work up a good sweat. Some of the CrossFit videos are especially intense.
The instructor: Tim Senesi
Fitness style: Yoga
How long the workouts last: 2 to 60 minutes
Best for: Someone who wants to try at-home yoga before hitting up a class. There are targeted videos for single stretches as well as longer, more intense sequences.
Sweat rating: The longer videos may leave you a little sweaty, but nothing major.
The instructor: Rachael Okesola
Fitness style: Dance
How long the workouts last: Entire 20 minute dance routines and quicker 5 to 10 minute videos
Best for: People who get bored during more straightforward cardio activities, like the treadmill. The moves are introduced slowly and learned through repetition.
Sweat rating: You won't be drenched, but you'll definitely get your heart rate up.
The instructor: A mix of voice-overs and fitness celebrity guests
Fitness style: Strength training
How long the workouts last: 2 to 10 minutes
Best for: Beginners looking for ideas. The channel's best resource are brief videos that break down form. It's great if you want to choose your own moves and build your own workouts.
Sweat rating: It depends on how many reps you do after you get the move just right.
The instructor: Deanne Love
Fitness style: Hula-Hoop cardio
How long the workouts last: 3 to 15 minutes
Best for: People who happen to have a Hula-Hoop handy. Love has a series of videos for beginners, in addition to more advanced breakdowns.
Sweat rating: You will not believe how much Hula-Hooping works your core.
The instructor: A collection of Zumba instructors
Fitness style: Zumba
How long the workouts last: Up to four minutes
Best for: Lovers of Latin-inspired moves and music. The shorter videos are broken down routines for beginners, but the strength-training interval videos are challenging enough for a Zumba veteran.
Sweat rating: The Zumba step videos are brief, but the music-lead interval training clips will get you sweating.
The instructor: Autumn Calabrese, celebrity fitness trainer
Fitness style: Strength training
How long the workouts last: 2 to 13 minutes
Best for: People who like to lift and have access to equipment. These videos are definitely not for those new to working out.
Sweat rating: The longer videos will leave you sweating and sore.
The instructor: Keaira LaShae, professional fitness trainer
Fitness style: Cardio dance
How long the workouts last: 15 to 20 minutes
Best for: When you're in need of a good cardio sesh, but you also need to have a good time.
Sweat rating: The dance tutorials are intense and they'll leave you drenched.
The instructor: Husband-and-wife team, Daniel and Kelli
Fitness style: Strength training and cardio
How long the workouts last: 10 to 30 minutes
Best for: If you want a no-frills workout.
Sweat rating: These feature weights and cardio. With longer videos, you will be working hard.
The instructor: Mandy Jiroux, half of The Miley and Mandy Show
Fitness style: Dance tutorials
How long the workouts last: 5 to 10 minutes
Best for: Wannabe serious dancers. Jiroux teaches the real choreography from the music videos, so you can live out your music-video dreams while you work out.
Sweat rating: Once you've got the moves down, you can do the dance in real time and you won't understand how real dancers do it without messing up their makeup.
The instructor: A team of trainers
Fitness style: Kickboxing, cycling, yoga, and Pilates
How long the workouts last: 30 to 60 minutes
Best for: There's a lot to choose from on this channel, but this video is great if you missed kickboxing at your gym. You can cool down with a gentler yoga video after.
Sweat rating: Depends on the video, but especially for the longer ones, you will definitely need a shower after.
The instructor: Danielle Peazer, pro dancer and Reebok ambassador
Fitness style: Dance and strength training
How long the workouts last: 5 to 10 minutes
Best for: Those times you really only have 10 minutes.
Sweat rating: The videos are quick and targeted, so string some together for a sweaty, full-body workout.
The instructor: Jessica Bass, dance instructor
Fitness style: Dance tutorials
How long the workouts last: 3 to 5 minutes
Best for: Another one that will help you live out your music-video dreams.
Sweat rating: The routines range from slow and low-impact to more heart-pounding cardio.
The instructor: Caleb Marshall
Fitness style: Dance tutorials
How long the workouts last: 3 to 5 minutes
Best for: If you want to do a dance workout and the other instructor's aren't enthusiastic enough for you. Seriously, Marshall's voice will pump you up enough to dance alone in your living room like no one else can.
Sweat rating: The moves aren't complicated, but they're done at a fast enough clip to make you sweat.
The instructor: John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars
Fitness style: Basic strength and flexibility training
How long the workouts last: One single video under 10 minutes
Best for: Nerds, as the name suggests.
Sweat rating: This is a gentle workout that would probably work best as a very encouraging warm-up to another one of the videos.
The instructor: Cole Chance and Jen Hilman
Fitness style: Yoga
How long the workouts last: 2 to 30 minutes
Best for: People who are overworked and need some Zen.
Sweat rating: These videos are more about gaining flexibility than sweating.
The instructor: Phil Weeden
Fitness style: Step aerobics
How long the workouts last: Up to 5 minutes
Best for: People who really miss step aerobics and also love hip-hop
Sweat rating: With fast moves performed on steppers, these videos will make you feel hardcore.
The instructor: Sarah Beth
Fitness style: Yoga
How long the workouts last: 2 to 30 minutes
Best for: People who want to make a habit of yoga, but have trouble making it to class.
Sweat rating: The yoga sequences are gentle and more about stretching and building strength than getting your heart rate up.
The instructor: Melissa Bender
Fitness style: Total body
How long the workouts last: 2 to 35 minutes
Best for: People who want all-in-one workout videos and who have access to dumbbells.
Sweat rating: The sweat level will depend on how much you challenge yourself when choosing weight for the strength-training sets.
The instructor: Choreographer Matt Steffanina
Fitness style: Dance tutorials
How long the workouts last: 10 to 25 minutes
Best for: Former dancers who miss learning choreo — they break the moves down, but speeding them up will take some practice.
Sweat rating: The videos are slow, but once you've got the moves down, you can do the dance in real time and that will make you sweat.
The instructor: Kelsey Lee
Fitness style: Body-weight strength training
How long the workouts last: 5 to 15 minutes
Best for: People looking for a challenge — look to the videos labelled "intense" for a more challenging workout.
Sweat rating: The longer videos, especially the intense or HIIT clips, will get your heart and sweat rate up.
The instructor: Tess Christine of Chaise Fitness in NYC, with Annie Georgia Greenberg
Fitness style: Body-weight strength training (plus a dance break)
How long the workouts last: 10 minutes
Best for: When you want to workout with a friend.
Sweat rating: You will feel the burn, but you'll still be able to catch up in-between moves.
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