The Best YouTube Workouts I Use Regularly

So, hey. I'm back. Ready to blog on a regular basis to share my insights with whoever fancies reading this. If it can help anyone on their fitness journey, then I'll be super stoked. 

As you may have read in my first post aaages ago, I wanted to start a blog to share what I do, how I do it and what I've learned on my journey. I gave a picture of how I started in my first post. Now I want to drill down into the nitty gritty with tips and tricks that I use. 

*Please do keep in mind that I am not a PT. So these are tips based solely on my experiences. If you are starting out with diet, running, hiit or just anything else, please do check with your GP or a proper PT if you have any underlying health conditions or feel you need some medical/health advice. The way that I do things may or may not work for you. So this is a disclaimer to ensure that you are fully aware of that before you read on.*

The Best (in my opinion) YouTube Workouts I Use Regularly

With true kudos to the PT community who work extremely hard, I have to admit that I don't and haven't used a PT in my journey. I think this is mainly because I started working out in lockdown 2020 and YouTube sparked this initial motivation for me. In the day and age of Cost of Living issues and as a single parent, I have found that I can do really effective workouts from the comfort of my home - completely for free! Yes, you heard me - free! No money spent. The downside of this is I have to hold myself completely accountable and schedule these workouts in. I also don't have any training or knowledge about how to set plans, goals, correct form or nutrition. I have had to become self taught. But it has worked for me. I've researched and stayed consistent. So which workouts do I do that keep me coming back?

My first recommendation:

Joe Wicks (The Body Coach) The Body Coach TV - YouTube

Joe is now a household name and, frankly, a national treasure in the UK, all thanks to his recipe books, YouTube channel and the live PE with Joe workouts during lockdown. I actually did PE with Joe every morning live with millions of other people and it was a godsend in boosting my mental health and in helping me feel connected to the rest of the world when we all felt so cut off in early 2020. Following the last PE with Joe video in July 2020 I started to look for and complete other workout videos on Joe's channel. I picked up some dumbbells and gave a few weights workouts a go, tried his Tabata videos and abs blaster videos. ALL of these were fun, effective, some were difficult (which I wanted when upping my game) and a lot of the time Joe talked about the mental attributes of exercise, which boosted my motivation to keep on coming back. 

Joe has various challenges; for instance his 7 Days of Sweat. These are only 20 minutes long and kept my interest when I was having a lull in my routine. 

I still go back to his workouts. Yeah, they aren't Peleton or Insanity/Beach Body, but I personally enjoy how Joe comes across as a human being, his workouts are short and intense and, although he has recently launched a paid-for app, he keeps on posting up free videos. I have also learnt a lot about form, how to complete each exercise (easy and hard level) and exercises for muscle groups that improve endurance, fat burn & muscle gain. Joe talks through his workouts, rather than adding music - which I enjoy when I want to learn about what I'm doing. I would definitely recommend starting out with Joe. 

growingannanas growingannanas - YouTube

I discovered Anna in late 2020. I cant remember where I found her videos (most likely suggested to me on my YouTube home screen), but I remember the first time I tried one of her workouts. I think it was called Military Monday... it absolutely did me in! Most of Anna's workouts are longer - 35-45 minutes and she posts hiit, cardio, weights and Tabata's. I think the thing that keeps me coming back to Anna's workouts (apart from how much she pushes me), is her energy. It's like working out with your wholesome, happy, bouncy, energetic best friend. She's fun and informative, with the Shorts she posts about nutrition and her daily life. She has zero ego and isn't pushing an unattainable body in your face. You cant help but really like her. 

Anna's workouts are to music, no talking, so you do have to follow along by checking on which exercise move is next on the preview screen. But that isn't much of a problem in my opinion. However, she is a complete machine! How she manages 50 seconds of push-up holds is completely mind-blowing. 

(Honourable Mention) Insanity Workout (Beach Body)

Ok, so Beach Body has a YouTube channel. But I don't use this - hence no link above. Most of their workouts are paid for by subscription or by purchasing DVDs (old-school). I am adding this mention here, as I own the Insanity Workout with Shaun T (the original workout - 60 days programme) and I have used them regularly over the past 3 years. 

The Insanity Workout (I cant really talk about the other Beach Body workouts, as I haven't tried them) are not for the faint hearted. They push you to the extreme and I would recommend a solid fitness level before attempting these. The 60 day programme is varied, yet intense. It uses no equipment - it's all body weight and cardio, with strengthening exercises and stretches that really do work. I cannot really recommend this programme enough if you are looking to really up your game. 

The workouts are set in a school/college gymnasium and feature some ripped looking participants. But Shaun pushes even them to breaking point. So I would suggest taking the water breaks he offers and only going to your own limit to start with. Unfortunately, the cycle of workouts can become a little monotonous after a while. Thankfully the first month is then replaced by another cycle for the following 30 days. However, this next set of workout routines is even more extreme. You'll be dripping with sweat at the end of every 45-50 minutes. But the Insanity Workout truly shaped my body. So it deserves it's place on this blog. 

So that's it. If you want to checkout my personal workout playlist, featuring all the workouts I do regularly, you can do so here: Workouts - YouTube I pick and choose depending on how I'm feeling or my goal for the day. There is no real set routine, except I usually do cardio in the morning and weights in the evening. This is around my weekly run training. 

I hope that this was helpful. 

Ciao for now, 

Gigi x