Home Sweat Home

Sometimes, getting to the gym is just not doable. Whether you’re trying to save money or simply feeling a bit self-conscious, there’s a whole lot to love about working out in the comfort of your living room.

We've come a long way since Jane Fonda VHS tapes and yoga DVDs. Fitness trainers and personalities have been flocking to YouTube in droves, producing guided workout videos that are increasing in production quality. And with virtual reality pegged as a significant wellness trend, this is an industry that will no doubt continue to grow.

Here are some of the best free online fitness workouts on offer.

Dance

At-home dance workouts are perfect for anyone who loves the idea of dance, but not the thought of performing in front of others.

You can take these workouts at your own pace, pausing and replaying to learn the choreography where necessary. There’s also an enormous variety of videos—great for newbies and experienced hoofers alike.

Amanda Kloots is the creator of The Rope, an interval class with cardio and toning using just a jump rope. Her Cardio Dance classes, however, are high energy, cardio-based dance workouts suitable for all levels and genuinely fun to do.

youtube.com/popsugartvfit

Speaking of fun, The Fitness Marshall is one of the most hilarious, energetic workouts on the internet. His sassy attitude and easy to follow choreography make his videos both a solid sweat session and a whole lot of fun. This is a great one to do solo or with your girlfriends—post workout vino optional.

youtube.com/TheFitnessMarshall

Strength

Think you have to get yourself under a barbell to get that booty? Think again!

While a gym will always be the frontrunner option when it comes to heavy lifting, you can get some quality resistance workouts using your body weight or minimal equipment.

Whitney Simmons has some fantastic at-home workouts on her channel. Her Grow a Booty at Home video uses body weight and resistance bands for a tough but effective lower body strength workout. Other goodies include videos on everything from how to activate your glutes before a gym session through to active wear and beauty products.

Search YouTube for Whitney Simmons

Carly Rowena is a British YouTuber with a library jam-packed with workout videos —including ones designed for home-based exercisers. Her 7 Day at Home Workout Challenge even comes with a free workout plan, so if you want a challenge to kickstart your fitness regime, this is a good place to start. If that’s not your thing, however, there are plenty of individual workouts for you to try.

youtube.com/Carlyrowena

Cardio/ HIIT

Cardio queens rejoice—there are workouts for you too! And you don’t even need a stationary bike, elliptical trainer or treadmill.

Pop Sugar Fitness is a great channel for a multitude of different workouts, and a lot of their cardio workouts are modifications of dance styles like Latin or Hip Hop, with a focus on burning serious energy.

Try the 30-Minute Hip-Hop Tabata to Torch Calories or 30-Minute No-Equipment Cardio Workout to Burn Calories. Alternatively, the Low-Impact Cardio Workout, which doesn’t have any jumps or hops, is not only gentle on your joints but also on your floors— perfect for apartment dwellers!

youtube.com/popsugartvfit

Katrina and Karena, the Tone It Up girls, are personal trainers who specialise in getting women fit. While they primarily offer paid fitness and nutrition programs, their YouTube channel offers a number of free workouts, including a few from their latest body positive ‘Love Your Body’ series.

The Cardio Kickboxing Workout, Tabata Workout and Beginner Dance Cardio Workout are all fun, novice-friendly workouts that can be easily slotted into even the busiest of schedules.

youtube.com/ToneItUpcom

We’ve come a long way since Jane Fonda VHS tapes and yoga DVDs."

Yoga

Every style of yoga under the sun is available for you to practice in the comfort of your lounge room, for free.

Yoga with Adriene is easily the most well-known YouTube yogi, and for good reason. With more than three million subscribers and nearly 400 videos, she’s cultivated a community that caters for every level, and serves her yoga with a side of quirkiness, taking the ‘serious’ edge off yoga and making it accessible to everyone.

Adriene offers a number of 30-day series or challenges—if you’re a beginner, start with her 30 Days of Yoga and move on to Yoga Camp when you’re finished. She even offers yoga for anxiety, depression and heartbreak, perfect for self care when you’re feeling less than wonderful.

youtube.com/yogawithadriene

Alo Yoga make the most beautiful activewear, and their free yoga videos certainly do not disappoint. While they do offer yoga for beginners, most of their content is aimed towards seasoned yogis, with a lot of power Vinyasa flows and workshops in poses like backbends and inversions.

They also offer specialty yoga for runners, or excellent pre-natal flows for mums-to-be. Their recent 30 Days of Mindful Movement series is especially great, with not only yoga sessions but lessons in setting intentions and goals, as well as mindfulness.

Search YouTube for Alo Yoga

Other notable mentions include Yoga with Tim, Cat Meffan and lululemon.

Pilates

Pilates is a fantastic workout for anyone, but especially those who spend a lot of time working at a desk, and there’s a big focus on posture and core strength, as well as muscle balance. The good news? There are plenty of free mat-based Pilates videos on offer.

Lottie Murphy has a stellar YouTube channel, with lots of vlogs, recipes, meal ideas and, of course, Pilates workouts. Her charming British accent will guide you through alignment, balance and fundamental Pilates positions.

Many of Lottie’s videos focus on sculpting specific areas—like the Wonderful Waist Workout or Sculpted Ballerina Shoulders

Workout—but she also has routines for working your whole body.

youtube.com/lifestylewithlottie

Working out at home gives you the freedom to be yourself without fear or judgement."

Cassey Ho and her Blogilates channel have amassed over four million subscribers who tune in to join her high-energy, fun workouts. The majority are set to pop music and focus on booty, thighs, abs and arms and require little to no equipment, save for a yoga mat. Cassie even coined her own workout style—PIIT (Pilates Intense Interval Training)—which combines her two favourite workout styles: Pilates and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).

Many of her workouts are also scalable—either by making adjustments to movements or by repeating the routines for a longer, more challenging workout.

youtube.com/blogilates

Whether you like to work out out in your underwear or baggy sweats, a full face of makeup or bare faced, working out at home gives you the freedom to be yourself without fear or judgement. Stretch, shake, sweat or Savasana—do what makes you feel good!

Words: Ashleigh Went