HEALTH & FITNESS: MY FAVOURITE FREE WORKOUT VIDEOS

Hi lovelies, another health and fitness post for you all today! If you read my last gym/ fitness routine, you'll know that I love the gym (by gym, I mean my gym at home, as I have cardio machines in my home gym), however simply running on a treadmill or cycling on a stationary bike can not only get boring, but it can also get too easy if it's all you do every single day. By now, I feel like my general fitness is pretty good (nowhere near expert but pretty decent for me!) so I do tend to get used to workouts quite quickly, so while I may be out of breath after 45 minutes on the treadmill at 20 minutes on the bike, it doesn't always feel like a challenge. While these workouts obviously do do me good, they aren't necessarily helping me to get stronger and better, unless I increase timing/ intensity. So, on the days where I'm just not feeling the treadmill, but still want to challenge myself, I tend to turn to workout videos. These videos are almost like having a personal trainer there with you! (Although, I don't think you can beat the real thing and if you are in the market for a London Based Personal Trainer definitely check out Right Path Fitness as its great to start with a real trainer for those who need a little more guidance!)

What I love about workout videos online, is that there are so many. Fitness accounts on Youtube have many, many workout videos that vary in intensity, so you can pick depending on your level of fitness, or how challenged you want to be that day. Today though, I've picked out a few of my current favourite workout videos. I've purposefully kept all of these to less than an hour long, but you can have a little browse if you fancy a longer workout. These though are for those of us who don't have loads of time on our hands, but want to fit in a workout that challenges and pushes you in a fairly short amount of time. Remember, these are all suitable to me and the level that I'm at right now, when I start finding these too easy I'll find harder ones, but all of these are about how hard you push yourself, maximum effort = maximum results! If it's too easy, you're not working hard enough!

First up, this Millie Mackintosh workout vid from Women's Health Mag is incredible. You'll need dumbells for this one, so if you don't have those, you'll either want to skip, substitute or even pop out and buy some, as you can get them super cheap! It may be short, but this workout is a killer. I don't like to have a very short workout as my only workout for the day, so on the days I've been not so busy, I do this in the morning, followed by cardio later in the day, or even do this twice. This workout is about improving mobility and flexibility, strength training and conditioning, so it's great if you're trying to build lean muscle and just improve general fitness. Fitting this into your routine once or twice a week along with longer workouts will definitely help to improve your stamina and strength.

Fitness Blender has to be one of my favourite fitness accounts on Youtube, infact probably my all time favourite. The routines are fun, easy to follow and straight to the point. Most of their workouts use absolutely no equipment, so I used to do these all the time before I had any cardio equipment or access to the gym. Now I try to do a couple a week to mix up my workout routine. This one in particular is  a great one to start out with, it's a fairly simple fat burning cardio routine. It's 37 minutes, but it is fairly intense, however just how intense depends on how hard you want to work!

Another thing that I love about fitness blender is that every move has a clear timer in the corner of the screen and the rough calorie burn is in the bottom corner too. This way you can really track where you're at. This video includes general cardio and an abs workout. As I've never really had to work my abs, as I naturally have a flat stomach, I've been a bit lazy with ab workouts in the past. This means despite the fact I have a flat stomach, I have almost no strength in my core so ab workouts are a killer! I'm trying to build up strength though and this workout is a great one for me, as it's intense enough to challenge me, but not so much that I feel like death afterwards!

I absolutely love pairing this Kickboxing Workout with the Millie Mackintosh workout above, as it's not quite as draining as the Millie Workout, but it will make you sweat in a fairly short amount of time. As with the other Fitness Blender vids I've shared, this includes a warm up and cool down, preventing injury. This video is great because it works your entire body without the need for any equipment.


Another of my favourite Fitness channels on Youtube is Tone It Up, Karena and Katrina are super gorgeous and so much fun and I find watching ladies who look that good working out super motivating. This video is fairly short, but it's a HIIT workout, meaning it's slightly brutal! Again, this is another one that I'd probably pair with another video (though probably not right after!) or with some light cardio later in the day, but for building stamina, this is perfect. It's been made to be used in your own living room, so all you need to get started is your sofa, no really!

My Top Tips:
- If you're doing short videos, try to fit in at least two a day, it's recommended that you get at least 30 minutes of cardio exercise every day, or at least 5 days a week for general health, so make sure you're hitting that. It's up to you how intense those 30 minutes are.
- Watch the video you're doing at least once before you plan to do it. Practise the moves and have them nailed before you do the workout, this way you'll get more out of your workout.
- Despite the fact these are for use at home, I'd still recommend wearing workout gear and good trainers. This means you'll feel more comfortable during your workout, the clothes absorb sweat better and good workout footwear prevent injury to your knees, shins and ankles.
- I enter all my workouts and exercise into the My Fitness Pal app, as you have to put in your gender, age, height and weight, it calculates more accurately how many calories you've burned. This is also good to keep in mind when you're working out on cardio equipment too, as the calorie count isn't always accurate.

So, that's it! A little selection of some of my favourite workout videos. I'm loving doing health and fitness posts lately, so let me know if you've been enjoying reading them as much I have been writing them!

If you have any requests for these types of videos, I'd love it if you'd let me know in the comments!

Do you use workout videos? What ones are your favourites?