“NEW YEAR, NEW ME.” Chances are, you’ve either heard someone say that or you said it yourself. The new year brings resolutions that people want to follow through but often times don’t. Sometimes their resolutions are a far stretch, such as losing 20 pounds in one month. To many others, hearing the words “healthy” and “fit” is the equivalent to the sound of nails on a chalkboard. It doesn’t matter which one of those situations you’re in, you can benefit from this article. You don’t need a fancy, expensive gym or even a fancy, expensive personal trainer. You can workout FOR FREE. Yeah, you read that right — free [every college student’s favorite word]. You’re either reading this on a computer or your phone, which means that you have access to the billions of videos on Youtube. I’ve compiled a couple of channels that I go to when I want a quick, but efficient, workout!
If you haven’t heard of Cassey Ho, then I don’t know where you’ve been living. Cassey combined her love for upbeat music with pilates and created POP Pilates. What started as a single youtube video became hundreds. Cassey has POP Pilates videos to work every part of the body – legs, arms, abs. You name it, she’s got it. One thing I love about Cassey’s videos is that while I’m squatting for three minutes straight to Call Me Maybe, Cassey is talking to me the entire time. While there’s no way to COMPLETELY distract me from the pain in my legs, it’s nice being able to focus on something else for a few seconds. Blogilates is a great channel to go to when you want to take a break from your normal routine of running or lifting weights. The exercises are simply, but don’t be fooled, you’ll start feeling sore the minute you begin a workout video. You’ll also be fairly hungry once you’re done, so check out Cassey’s “cheap clean eats” series. My favorite? The peanut butter dorm cookie I could make right now if I wanted to.
Karena and Katrina are an unstoppable duo. How awesome would it be to run a fitness business with your best friend? Pretty awesome if you ask me. Tone It Up has grown into a community of women of all ages. From all different parts of the country, women are brought together by their love for a healthy lifestyle. K+K carry out a couple of workout series throughout the year such as the Love Your Body series which ended on Valentine’s day and focused on physical and mental health. Fun fact, it’s also Love Your Body month at UMD! Each series carries challenges and workouts to partake in with the rest of the Tone It Up community. The fun vibe of K+K will instantly put you in a good mood and ready to workout. Tone It Up also has something going on every day of the week to keep you motivated. The greatest thing about K+K is that we get to know them on a personal level, creating an environment where we’re working out with friends. From Monday to Sunday, you’ll read inspiring stories from members of the community, try a new workout, and make delicious healthy food.
The picture says it all. Lisa-Marie will take you through a workout that will leave you lying in sweat and she has an awesome accent. You won’t want to move or do anything else for that matter, but it’s worth it. DailyHiit (originally BodyRock TV) has a variety of HIIT videos. HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training and the point is to go as hard as you can for a short amount of time. There are many benefits to it, one of them being time. Being a college student means that we are busy with maintaining good grades, extracurricular activities and a social life. There are no excuses here because you choose a program that will work your body in less than 12 minutes. Most of the videos contain exercises done with equipment such as a sandbag and an equalizer. However, you can still do the exercises and get a great workout if you modify them. Some of the programs offered are HIIT wekend which combines the toughest moves in one workout, HIIT bonus for hitting trouble spots and HIIT lite for beginners. Don’t be afraid to choose HIIT lite because it’ll push you to your limits.
If you weren’t scared of DailyHiit, then you should be afraid of Zuzka Light. Before creating her own videos, Zuzka had co-created BodyRockTV. This means that the tough workouts from before became even harder. You’ll find a similarity between the two channels; they both incorporate HIIT. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been working out, Zuzka will still find a way to stump you. I know some pretty crazy exercises but there are still a bunch of exercises in the videos that I’ve never seen. While the exercises aren’t very complicated, they’re paired together in a short amount of time so you can really feel the effects. Zuzka has workouts for different parts of the body, but many of the exercises hit several muscle groups.
If you’re stuck at home, have no time you simply just don’t want to go all the way to the gym, these four channels are great alternatives. Stick to the workouts and you’ll definitely see results. For those who want more of a challenge, DailyHiit and ZuzkaLight are your best bet. Try out workouts from these channels and let Her Campus Maryland know how it goes! We’d love to know what your favorite video is!