Hi Everyone,
I posted a couple of days ago and mentioned that I have been using some YouTube trainers that people had never heard of but were really interested in. I assume this might not be of interest to a lot of you. I know a lot of people follow S&S and other workout programs that aren't guided and I might not like using a trainer, but I have found that using (the right) YouTube videos has kept me focused and on track more than anything else I've ever tried. Honestly, I've always preferred to workout out alone and have been very surprised to find how much I like these vids. Personally, I have found it very useful to use timed workouts. They keep my heart rate up and I have a bad habit of taking too much time between sets when I do a self-designed workout. I also like variety and learning new exercises have found some of these trainers fulfill that. Basically, I have a menu of workouts that I use to plan my week and wanted to share that and see if any of you have any recs.
My favorite trainer is Caroline Girvan. Her vids have timers with tones to countdown the last 3 seconds of each set/rest. This is great because you're pretty much never looking at the screen, so the tones are great for staying on time. Also, she doesn't talk during the workout which is great. I absolutely cannot stand most YouTube trainers who never shut up through the whole workout. Her videos also include cool downs. Most of her videos are dumbbell, but she has three great kettlebell videos that I have used and love. And just recently, she did a week long kettleseries (5 vids). She has a couple others I think, but I only ever do full body workout vids.
Her 15 minute video has a series of standard exercises (e.g. squats, rows, etc.) interleaved with swings and rest periods. I like using this one with my 16 kg bell during deload weeks or my 25 kg for a quick and brutal workout (actually thinking of going down to 20 kg on this vid for a bit).
Her 30 minute video will also get you swinging your ass off. Each exercise is interleaved with alternating single arm swings.
Her 45 minute video is a good long workout that doesn't include interleaved swings (but does feature TGUs).
There's also the 5 kettlebell series vids that recently went up. Haven't tried them, but browsing through, they look pretty interesting (shuffle swings and things like that). So I'm sure I'll love them.
I would also recommend her dumbbell videos. I like to end the week on either one of the 1 hour full body dumbbell vids or the half hour muscle building dumbbell vid.
15 Min:
30 Min:
45 Min:
Kettlebell series Day 1:
Kettlebell series Day 2:
Kettlebell series Day 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAPVxCMycvs
Kettlebell series Day 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp65NrCYv_k
Kettlebell series Day 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA4laPv2CVo
1 hour dumbbell (there's a few more): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7uDhHZ5qps
20 min dumbbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_d1qyHATb0
30 Min muscle building dumbbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GViX8riaHX4
One of the drawbacks of Caroline's channel is that the music she uses isn't what I would necessarily choose (although it's fine for a workout; standard workout class music). You could just mute the video and listen to whatever you want, but then you lose the sound of the timer. I just found this channel in which there's no music, so you can play your own, but still get the timer in the video. They have a lot of kettlebell vids with a bunch of different trainers that all look cool/interesting. Here's a couple I'll be trying.
20 min HIIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhJ0oTE1IcE
14 min: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTEK4xn42GI
20 min HIIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v9RQMkPtD0
As I said, I crave variety. So in addition to kettlebell workouts, I do a lot of dumbbell workouts, but also calisthentics, medicine ball workouts and some steel mace stuff. I haven't found a YouTube trainer who does steel mace stuff that I like, so I use a timer app and do a workout I designed. Recommendations welcome!
For calisthenics, I love Bullyjuice. He also doesn't talk during workouts- love it. Also does some dumbbell vids, but I haven't used them. In addition to the timed workouts, he does some challenges that have whooped my ass.
30 min workout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auo8veVyRIY
10 min jumping jacks workout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfv084H00QI
Juice & Toya do a lot of variety. They do talk in some of the vids, but it's not annoying like a lot of YouTube trainers. They have some kettlebell workouts and dumbbell workouts, both of which are fine, but my favorite is their 15 min medicine ball vid. It was much tougher than I thought the first time I did it and immediately added it to my menu. And I just noticed they added another 15 min medicine ball workout.
Their stretch videos are also great. Hurt my back a couple weeks ago and their stretch videos have really helped in the recovery.
15 min medicine ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LwfKnjxto
15 min medicine ball HIIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8kz3la3nbs
15 min dumbbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqVBoyKXbsA
Hips stretch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIRTPXj1Q1U
Full body stretch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixZVPFJWnRY
There are some other YouTube trainers that do kettlebell videos with similar formats (sound timer and they don't talk), such as Heather Robertson, but I haven't used her videos since she does a lot of jumping and I have neighbors below my apartment. Maybe some of you would like her vids though.
I hope this was helpful. I'm really interested in what you all think!
Edit: forgot a couple of links
I posted a couple of days ago and mentioned that I have been using some YouTube trainers that people had never heard of but were really interested in. I assume this might not be of interest to a lot of you. I know a lot of people follow S&S and other workout programs that aren't guided and I might not like using a trainer, but I have found that using (the right) YouTube videos has kept me focused and on track more than anything else I've ever tried. Honestly, I've always preferred to workout out alone and have been very surprised to find how much I like these vids. Personally, I have found it very useful to use timed workouts. They keep my heart rate up and I have a bad habit of taking too much time between sets when I do a self-designed workout. I also like variety and learning new exercises have found some of these trainers fulfill that. Basically, I have a menu of workouts that I use to plan my week and wanted to share that and see if any of you have any recs.
My favorite trainer is Caroline Girvan. Her vids have timers with tones to countdown the last 3 seconds of each set/rest. This is great because you're pretty much never looking at the screen, so the tones are great for staying on time. Also, she doesn't talk during the workout which is great. I absolutely cannot stand most YouTube trainers who never shut up through the whole workout. Her videos also include cool downs. Most of her videos are dumbbell, but she has three great kettlebell videos that I have used and love. And just recently, she did a week long kettleseries (5 vids). She has a couple others I think, but I only ever do full body workout vids.
Her 15 minute video has a series of standard exercises (e.g. squats, rows, etc.) interleaved with swings and rest periods. I like using this one with my 16 kg bell during deload weeks or my 25 kg for a quick and brutal workout (actually thinking of going down to 20 kg on this vid for a bit).
Her 30 minute video will also get you swinging your ass off. Each exercise is interleaved with alternating single arm swings.
Her 45 minute video is a good long workout that doesn't include interleaved swings (but does feature TGUs).
There's also the 5 kettlebell series vids that recently went up. Haven't tried them, but browsing through, they look pretty interesting (shuffle swings and things like that). So I'm sure I'll love them.
I would also recommend her dumbbell videos. I like to end the week on either one of the 1 hour full body dumbbell vids or the half hour muscle building dumbbell vid.
15 Min:
Kettlebell series Day 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp65NrCYv_k
Kettlebell series Day 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA4laPv2CVo
1 hour dumbbell (there's a few more): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7uDhHZ5qps
20 min dumbbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_d1qyHATb0
30 Min muscle building dumbbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GViX8riaHX4
One of the drawbacks of Caroline's channel is that the music she uses isn't what I would necessarily choose (although it's fine for a workout; standard workout class music). You could just mute the video and listen to whatever you want, but then you lose the sound of the timer. I just found this channel in which there's no music, so you can play your own, but still get the timer in the video. They have a lot of kettlebell vids with a bunch of different trainers that all look cool/interesting. Here's a couple I'll be trying.
20 min HIIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhJ0oTE1IcE
14 min: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTEK4xn42GI
20 min HIIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v9RQMkPtD0
As I said, I crave variety. So in addition to kettlebell workouts, I do a lot of dumbbell workouts, but also calisthentics, medicine ball workouts and some steel mace stuff. I haven't found a YouTube trainer who does steel mace stuff that I like, so I use a timer app and do a workout I designed. Recommendations welcome!
For calisthenics, I love Bullyjuice. He also doesn't talk during workouts- love it. Also does some dumbbell vids, but I haven't used them. In addition to the timed workouts, he does some challenges that have whooped my ass.
30 min workout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auo8veVyRIY
10 min jumping jacks workout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfv084H00QI
Juice & Toya do a lot of variety. They do talk in some of the vids, but it's not annoying like a lot of YouTube trainers. They have some kettlebell workouts and dumbbell workouts, both of which are fine, but my favorite is their 15 min medicine ball vid. It was much tougher than I thought the first time I did it and immediately added it to my menu. And I just noticed they added another 15 min medicine ball workout.
Their stretch videos are also great. Hurt my back a couple weeks ago and their stretch videos have really helped in the recovery.
15 min medicine ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LwfKnjxto
15 min medicine ball HIIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8kz3la3nbs
15 min dumbbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqVBoyKXbsA
Hips stretch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIRTPXj1Q1U
Full body stretch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixZVPFJWnRY
There are some other YouTube trainers that do kettlebell videos with similar formats (sound timer and they don't talk), such as Heather Robertson, but I haven't used her videos since she does a lot of jumping and I have neighbors below my apartment. Maybe some of you would like her vids though.
I hope this was helpful. I'm really interested in what you all think!
Edit: forgot a couple of links