If you’re not ready to spend the money on a gym membership, or the idea of leaving your house to workout is daunting, checkout my top picks for best free workouts on YouTube to kick start your workout routine:
- Pamela Reif – HIIT and Dance videos
- Growing Annanas – Tabata HIIT and HIIT videos
- Eleni Fit – HIIT and Pilates videos
I have personally used each of these free workouts on YouTube. They are great ways to dive back into the habit of fitness, put on some muscle, and tone up. As someone who travels a lot, I love having access to a digital workout routine that is FREE.
Let’s get into it.
Pamela Reif: One of the Best Free Workouts on Youtube
Type of Workout: High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Ab Workouts, and Dance Videos
Difficulty Level: HIIT videos are Medium to Advanced and Dance Videos are Easy to Medium
Style: 30 second intervals with no breaks (the longer videos do have a minute break built-in)
Video Length: 10 to 25 minutes
Pamela Reif is the first free workout video series I discovered on YouTube that I actually liked.
Her video format includes completing a series of HIIT workouts in 30 second intervals back to back with no breaks. She doesn’t talk and has a simple 30 second count down on the screen. The countdown beeps the last three seconds to let you know the exercise is about to change.
Pamela has been around as a fitness influencer for years and has perfected her workout format. She has a large following and even has her own cooking platform.
Her videos also include the name of the next exercise on the screen so you can be prepared to roll right into that exercise. While it is easy to follow along with Pamela, the back to back with not breaks format is challenging.
I labeled the difficulty level medium to hard because it takes me almost 4-5 weeks of consistent HIIT workouts (4-5 days a week) to build up the stamina to keep up with Pamela and not need to pause the video for a break during a 15 – 20 minute video.
Do I yell at her for never taking breaks, sure. Have I also worked my way up to completing multiple of her videos without taking a break? Also, sure.
Pamela’s ab workouts are on another level. The continual workout focusing on one section of muscles is almost always too tough for me to get through without a break.
Pamela’s workouts are accompanied by background music. The music choices sometimes aren’t clean, so just be aware of that. The dance videos Pamela has started to add to her channel offer a different form of workout that isn’t as tough as her HIIT videos.
Growing Annanas: Best Tabata Free Workout on YouTube
My latest workout obsession has been the free workout channel on YouTube, Growing Annanas.
Type of Workout: High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Difficulty Level: Medium to Advanced
Style: 30 second Intervals to warm up, 50 seconds of workout + 10 second breaks
Video Length: 15 to 45 minutes
Growing Annanas has been a very enjoyable workout style for me. Her Tabata HIIT workouts have built-in 10 second breaks. You complete the workout activity for longer (50 seconds), but you always get a 10 second break between each set.
To my understanding, Tabata is considered a more time-sensitive form of HIIT. Regular HIIT is just about getting the exercises done without a constrained break.
The actual workout activities of Growing with Annanas are similar to Pamela’s, but involve more squats and less jumping exercises based on my experience.
Annanas’s style is also nice because she doesn’t talk during the workout and just has the countdown on the screen During the 10 second break, she overlays a video of the next exercise so you can see what your next set will look like.
I enjoy the Tabata format and 10 second breaks. I can make it through her 35 – 40 minute videos fairly easily after 4-5 weeks of consistent workouts. This is a moral boost compared to pausing the Pamela Reif workouts to make it through.
The music selection for Growing Annanas is usually a basic upbeat song, which I appreciate.
Eleni Fit – Free Pilates Videos on YouTube
My newest workout buddy is Eleni Fit. Eleni offers a mix of HIIT and Pilates videos on YouTube.
Type of Workout: Pilates and HIIT
Difficulty Level: Medium
Style: 30 second Intervals to warm up, 50 seconds of workout + 10 second breaks
Video Length: 15 to 45 minutes
Eleni Fit is an excellent choice to integrate in your workout routine if you are mostly drawn to HIIT workouts like me. After 5 days a week completing more intense HIIT workouts, I personally get a little fatigued and like to switch it up. Eleni’s pilates videos are the perfect mix up.
The videos are still rigorous and will make you get your sweat on, but are not as high energy as Pamela and Annanas’s videos. Pilates is a more intense or repetitive version of yoga. With a lot of different plank type positions and small repetitive movements, you will definitely notice an overall toning and lengthening feeling in your muscles.
Similar to Growing Annanas, Eleni has doesn’t talk during the workouts and leads viewers through 45 – 50 second intervals of exercise with a 10 second break in between. I also appreciate how Eleni and Annanas both include 5 minute warmups at the beginning of their videos and often a cool down section as well.
This is not how Pamela runs, so you typically have to include your own form of warm up before staring her videos.
Why I like Free Workout Videos on YouTube
I enjoy being able to workout wherever I have a small enough space to complete body weight exercises. It doesn’t take a large floor mat to accomplish and it also doesn’t take a ton of start up cost. Currently, I’m traveling a lot and working remotely, which means the best way for me to consistently workout is using these YouTube videos. I love the efficiency of an at-home workout and I also love that aside from a few ads, these videos are completely free.
