Let me tell you what an old broad hates about the holidays. People and their cars. Yeah mugs are generally all ’tis the season to be jolly” and such, there’s just too many of them. During this time of year I generally avoid retail establishments other than the grocery store like the plague and even that can be dicey. Now I do happen to be fortunate to a) have a gym that’s not close to popular retail establishments and b)an old broad body that wakes up early sans clock most days to get to the gym, allowing me to avoid said people and cars. However some of you may not be as fortunate. Your gym may be next to the mall or worse, Wal-Mart and you just don’t want to fool with all the hoopla. Well guess what? You can skip the gym and get those reps in…
AT HOME. Surely you didn’t think you were going to get a pass did you?
Believe it or not gym rats there are tons of fitness channels on YouTube. (Now if you already know this, this post is not for you, but feel free gift this to someone else). I’ve been working out with YouTube folks for maybe 5 years now and enjoy the convenience of rolling out of bed jumping in clothes and getting it in right at home. Any type of workout you want can be found there, strength training, cardio, HIIT, kickboxing you name, as well as the more centering practices of Yoga and Two Chi. So to help some of you nOObs along, here’s the YouTube trainers I currently workout with now as well as some of my tried and true faves.
HASFit – Coach Kozak and Claudia are the dynamic duo behind HASFit. They have over 1000 FREE videos on YouTube and a variety of them, HIIT, Cardio, Strength you name it. Kozak usually does the high intensity moves, Claudia the lower intensity. These two are not the “HEY C’MON LET’S GET IT” types, they are quiet assassins. They calmly whoop your tail and you’ll love it. I do most of my strength training with these two, most recently this.
BodyFit by Amy – I came upon her by accident, looking for a Kettlebell workout. I had done most of the ones that I like with my old standbys and was looking for somebody, anybody else and Amy fit the bill. She has a wide variety of workouts by type Cardio, Strength etc, but also specialty workouts like her prenatal series. I did one of her prenatal cardio kickboxing workouts on a day when I was really sore and it was great to for getting in some light cardio. I generally do Kettlebell and strength training with her, most recently this.
Lumowell – My standing workout schedule includes 3 days of walking per week. Some days, due to work, fatigue and downright laziness I can’t make it out of the bed at 0 dark thirty to go to the gym. Instead of wearing out my carpet with household laps, I looked for walking workouts on YouTube, found a few that were good but a few years old, then Lumowell popped up. I was like whaaattt is this???? Well the trainer is an animated lady or gent (haven’t done one of his yet), with voiceover ques. The exercises are great and include modifications. For the workouts I suggest turning the sound down and using your own music if you like exercising to music. I most recently bumped some House doing this one.
Now for my faves, my tried and trues, the ones I ALWAYS go back to week after week after week
Yoga – Yoga by Candace, Fightmaster Yoga, YogaTX, Yoga with Adriene – I’ve been ALL over YouTube trying various Yogis, subscribed and unsubscribed to many, but these 4 I go back to every single time. I can’t tell you why but these are the ones that are best for me and the way I wish to practice right now.
Favorite HIITMAN – Millionaire Hoy. This dude is non-stop work, energy and talking! I have never seen anyone do what he does and talk like that at the same time. What I like, is that he doesn’t hide the fact that he’s working as hard as the viewer. Every now and again he’ll let out a little scream which is HEEEEELARIOUS to let you he’s feeling it. I dig him so much and believe in what he’s doing that I joined the BOOM Fist Bump family on his Patreon. MillHoy has incredible HIIT workouts, cardio, targeted body area workouts, themed workouts and as of late a lot more strength training which, if you can tell I’m starting to ALMOST enjoy. Check him out, his energy is contagious even at 5:00 am in the morning.
Do you have enough tools now to skip the gym but NOT skip your workout? I hope these resources help and that you find the right trainers for you and your lifestyle. If you have tried any of these folks or would like to make some recommendations, I would love to hear from you in the comments and in all the usual spots.
Until next time, enjoy time with your family during the holidays, but don’t forget about yourself, put in that WORK!
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