As a Mama who wants to achieve health in simple ways, I wax lyrical about the multitude of benefits of workout out at home. But are all Home Workouts created equal? Join me as I review the Best YouTube Workout Channels right from my own living room.
I try to keep things interesting for my home workouts, otherwise I get bored. At the beginning of every month, I formulate a new fitness regime to follow. Sometimes it is focusing on different workout styles (HIIT, Tabata, Kickboxing, Cardio), or your classic leg day, arm day, and so forth.
The fitness plan for the month of October is to dedicate each week to a different fitness channel. I am going to share my insights and comparisons in this 4-part series. Hopefully you find them useful!
Week 1: Eleni Fit
This week, Eleni Fit is in the spotlight. Boasting of a mere 250k subscribers (not enough, in my opinion), Eleni has 158 workout videos to choose from. I am only going to do 6.
I really enjoy her workouts so I was looking forward to my workout sessions (this is not always the case). Eleni has great movement combinations which make the minutes fly by and you are surprised when you get to the end. I love workouts like that!
Eleni Fit has just as many easy-going workouts as she does difficult. And I’m pleased to say that I actually gravitated to the difficult ones (again, not always the case!). I think this is because even her difficult ones are still enjoyable.
Lets see how she stands up in my stringent review!
Workout Length
Eleni Fit has a range of different workout lengths to choose from, which is great on days where you just cannot be bothered to do an hour-long workout. I was able to mix it up so every day looked different.
She has a lot of 1-hour workout options (not many fitness channels do), which is great when you are in the mood to just get it done in one fell swoop. The only bummer is she does not have many short videos of 10-15 minutes.
Score for length options: 8/10
Workout Variety
Eleni has probably the widest variety of workouts. She has awesome Pilates and dance workouts, walking, no jumping, all standing, high intensity and Tabata workouts. You could stay on her channel for the whole month and not get bored! In fact, I might do that for next months challenge…we’ll see!
Score for variety: 10/10
Workout intensity
Eleni’s intense workouts are intense, but not to the extent that you are throwing the screen to the other side of the room in a rage. She has quite challenging moves, which push you, but these are never too much, too often. She intersperses them with “breather” moves so you feel like you are having a break without actually stopping your workout.
She has lots of walking-only and Pilates workouts if you are not in the mood for jumping or being explosive. These workouts still challenge your body, and I find that her movements are pretty unique, so it keeps the workout interesting.
Because she has intensity levels to suit all fitness types, I would recommend her channel to everyone, even those just starting out. Although, if you are an expert, you would probably want something a little bit more challenging, like Growing Annanas.
Score for intensity: 7/10
Pregnancy Friendly
I have found that the YouTube workouts specifically designed for pregnancy just do not cut it for me. Pregnancy is for a long period, and I do not want to lose my level of fitness over that time. Plus, giving birth is like running a marathon, they say, so I need to have my body physically capable to prepare me for birth and afterwards.
For the first two trimesters of pregnancy, exercise doesn’t have to change that much, other than changing the way you exercise your core, and perhaps not jumping as much.
Eleni Fit has a wide range of moderate, all-standing, all walking workouts which are perfect for this. You are still keeping your core strong and limbs moving.
Score for pregnancy-friendliness: 10/10
Video watchability
User-friendliness is a big factor of enjoying your home workout. Does it have a progress bar at the top of the screen so you can see how much of the workout is left? Can you clearly see what the next move is going to be?
Some of Eleni Fit’s workouts do not have the progress bar, which I find very un-motivating. I’m always wondering how long it has been! Very hard to manage my expectations. Although, she does include a little timer in the corner of the screen for the movement segment.
Eleni Fit also makes it very clear what the next move is to be, which is great. I don’t like to waste time figuring out how to do a move. But her previews take up the whole screen, rather than being a piddly little clip in the corner.
Score for watchability: 7/10
Favourite Move
Tuck Jumps! Oh man, I hate tuck jumps, but you’ll learn to love ‘em after a week of doing Eleni Fit videos! She always saves the hardest move for the last one, so beware!
Overall Rating for Eleni Fit’s YouTube Workout Channel
- Video Watchability 7/10
- Pregnancy Friendly 10/10
- Workout Intensity 7/10
- Workout Variety 10/10
- Workout Length 8/10
Overall Rating: 8.4/10
Is Eleni FIT’s the best YouTube Workout Channel? Stick around to hear my other reviews!
Next week: Heather Robertson
