Hellooo!
I hope all is well in your neck of the woods this afternoon.
My day began with work, but I had a longer-than-usual lunch break which was fabulous. I didn’t feel like hanging out at the gym for my workout, so I completed a workout outside and at home with Sadie and my computer. First up was a 25-minute jog around the neighborhood with my favorite furry running buddy.
Once we made it back to the house, I flipped open my laptop and searched YouTube for some fitness inspiration. I looked for upper body workout videos and completed the following short workout videos with dumbbells I had on hand.
It was a fun way to shake up my usual routine and try something new. Completing two short new-to-me workout videos made the time fly by!
After my workout, I took a quick shower and headed out the door with Sadie to meet up with my friend Amanda and her two kids for a 30-minute walk at a local park.
Sadie enjoyed the extra exercise and I had fun chatting with my friend before it was time to work again.
Lunch
Before my walk, I inhaled another one of my microwaveable quesadillas (cheese + tortilla microwaved for 40 seconds) and made myself a more satisfying lunch once I arrived back at the house to drop Sadie off before work.
For lunch, I felt inspired by Caitlin’s brown rice and egg scramble, so I recreated it at home.
My version wasn’t quite as healthy because I used fried rice that we had leftover from last night’s Chinese takeout dinner, but it was quite delicious!
Off to work again! It will likely be a late night at work today, but I’m hoping it will be a fun one, too!
Question of the Afternoon
- Do you ever use YouTube videos to complete workouts at home? Any favorites? (I think this may be a fun blog post topic, so I’d love to hear your recommendations!)
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Yo quiero quesadilla!
I’ll have to check out those arm workout videos. I have been doing 8-minute abs from Youtube lately. It totally cracks me up because it’s sooo 90’s. It definitely works your core though! The egg scramble looks yummy, speaking of eggs…I need to go to Costco and get some more!
I totally do the 8 Minute Ab video 80’s style on YouTube too! I find it to be quite effective actually, and hey, it’s only 8 minutes!
I like doing some yoga workouts from YouTube. I just search for yoga workouts & find ones that have a lot of views 🙂 Mostly do those because I know I need more yoga in my life. hah!
I love Fitness Blender workouts when I want go get in a cardio session at home. And I also love Tone It Up workouts whenever I want to do some toning moves. Both are great!
I love videos like that! I always do the arm burner by Gina (fitnessista)
I haven’t really tried any YouTube fitness videos, but sometimes if I’m in need of a quick workout or some inspiration, I’ll look through the OnDemand section of my television for fitness videos. They have a bunch of different kinds depending on what you’re looking for and even have some pretty we’ll known videos like Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred or Carmen Electra’s Striptease workout. A lot of the videos are shorter too, which I like if I’m in a rush!
I loooove Fitness Blender workouts! I often do them at the gym using the YouTube app on my phone.
I was literally eating a microwave quesadilla as I read this, which is so random because this is the first time I’ve made one in years!
Yes, whenever I need a stretch and don’t have time for a full yoga class, I do this 10-minute Vinyasa Flow Yoga session from PopSugar Fitness at home in my living room. It’s great! http://bit.ly/1adqph0
In addition to the workouts mentioned above, I love Pop Pilates workouts! Once you get used to Cassey’s style, they’re great and her stories completely distract you from the burn!
Ditto! Cassey’s style is definitely different than any other Pilates I’ve done, but at the same time, I’ve never had Pilates give me such a great workout. They are fun, free, and require virtually no equipment. I actually think I’d pay for them if I had to…
I just recently been looking for YouTube work out videos. There’s 2 that I love but can’t remember the same – saved them in a Workout File so I just click & go 🙂 I need to look up Fitness Blender!
I have done a few workouts from You Tube before, but I am really liking the NTC ab right now!
Tara Styles yoga! LOVE all of her youtube videos!
Fitness Blender videos are awesome! I also love Zuzka Light’s videos for quick, but intense and effective workouts. Blogilates is also super fun 🙂
I love Zuzka’s workout too! 🙂
LOVE fried rice with egg! Good call on the youtube workout hunting! Two goodies!
I love FitnessBlender, Jessica Smith, and Blogilates!
8 minute abs cracks up my husband and I, but its a great, quick ab-burner! I also love Jillian Michaels’ Yoga Meltdown. good stuff! I also really like browsing Pinterest for good workouts.
I’m excited to read what everyone else likes… I’m always looking for some fitspiration 😉
Fitness Blender is was amazing! They have such a great variety of workouts. I lost 35 pounds last year and used their videos for the majority of the time with a set of adjustable dumbbells I have at home. Such a great site!!
Congrats on your success!!
I love Fitness Blender’s HIIT workouts. They are very challenging, and also can range in time from 15 – 40 min. If you go to their actual website they list breakdowns for the workouts so you can see what craziness you are getting yourself into before hitting play! Cindy Whitmarsh ab videos are good ones too. =)
I like the Fitness Blender workouts. Not something I would want to do all the time, but they definitely come in handy on days that I can’t make it to the gym, or just need a break from the routine.
Hey Julie – I love your blog. My husband and I recently added a puppy to our family and wow – we love her but it’s so much work! I enjoyed reading your Sadie posts. At what age could you leave her home alone and trust her not to chew everything in your house? At what age did she start sleeping through the night? Thank you! 🙂
I love Tracy Anderson’s arm workouts on YouTube, I get on kicks where I use them all the time
I love doing the Fit Sugar videos when I need to switch things up — I love making an entire workout of 10 minute videos, because it makes the time go by SO quickly!
I would say FitSugar is a staple in my workouts throughout the week, when I want to relax a bit on weekends but still feel the burn I always do a full body workout or strength routine to keep my blood pumpin’! 🙂
I recently found my favorite Pilates video from college on YouTube! It’s a great ab workout but you get extra ab work laughing at how incredibly awkward it is (especially the outfits!)
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YW2eRv4kCag
Ok so I recently discovered Jessica Bass Burge on YouTube and her choreography to Katy Perrys darkhorse is fantastic. All of her vids are great. Her username on YouTube is Dance Fitness with Jessica. Definitely check her out!
I’ve done the Old School 8-Minute abs. The music and the leotards are AMAZING! “Come’on gang!” 😉
Standing Ab workout by toriteachesfitness and Gina’s barre burners are my favorite. Great way to mix up your normal weight lifting with audio!
So funny – I just READ Caitlin’s site about her egg scramble this morning and the next post I read, is this one. Both look equally delicious to me. 🙂
I’ve done Tracy Anderson arm workouts. My favorite is about 7 minutes and it is KILLER! I also love fitsugar workouts-I’m planning on doing a yoga workout tonight from their site. I’ve never heard of Fitness Blender so I’ll have to check them out.
I love fried rice! I have to try this ‘healthier’ variation!
I used to use YouTube a bunch for my workouts. I haven’t been using it as frequently, but today I went with my standby favorite of Jessica Smith TV YouTube channel. I also like Fitness Blender, 12 Minute Athlete, and will search for yoga videos via YouTube. Recently I discovered WaveShape, you have to go togetinwaveshape.com to get the full workout video (yes, it’s a youtube video but I can’t find the full workout via the youtube website) and it’s an excellent cardio bodyweight workout.
I kid you not: I was just YouTube-ing arm workout videos to do later tonight, and I watched both of these. Then I headed on over to your blog (as I do daily) and voila! Way to read my mind.
Hahha! Same page!!
I’m currently without a gym membership, so am relying on Pinterest and YouTube for workouts. PopSugar and Fitness Blender are 2 of my “go to’s. Most of Jillian Michael’s videos and 10 lb. Slimdown videos are on YouTube, and are great workouts as well.
I enjoy doing yoga at home with videos from myyogaonline.com. Sometimes I go to classes and walk away not feeling like I got a good workout, so with myyogaonline.com, I can guarantee that I will pick a class that makes me successful after.
I would LOVE if you did a blog post on YouTube at-home workouts. We are moving to Arizona this week and I may not have a gym membership right off the bat, so I’m counting on some good at-home workouts that I can find on the internet.
It’s in the works!!
I love thedailyhiit and charliejames1975 . Their cover pics for their videos are very sexual, but the workouts are fantastic and the instructors are just normal. I also really love insanefitathome she has the cutest accent, but great workouts! Doyouyoga is really nice for quick great yoga.
I’ve tried the YouTube fitness thing, but find myself too impatient to search for videos, find one, don’t like it, move to the next, have my phone freeze up, lost signal … I’ll just do some squats and call it good now. However I just checked in to my hotel and was about to blow off the gym for dinner. But now I feel a kick in the pants to squeeze a workout in and get over the jet lag!
i love the tracy anderson arm work out. i’m not coordinated enough for her full on dance routine, but the stationary videos are my jam.
It was a great day for an extra workout outdoors- finally beautiful this afternoon! I’ve never used YouTube for workouts, hmm, great idea!
Fitness Blender is one of my go to YouTube videos when I’m not in the mood to design my workout. I love that they explain you everything, and are constantly reminding to breath, to maintain posture. They are very specifically and professional. As a personal trainer myself I understand them, but I know that everyone will know what to do with their videos. I’ve also used Tone It Up, PopSugar and Blogilates, though I’m still a Fitness Blender kind of girl.
I believe that using youtube is a way to change your daily routine, to try something new.
I use YouTube for almost all my workouts! I love blogilates and have been following Jillian Michaels recently, but I have also been loving some of the FitSugar arms videos to look for some bridal workouts!
Julie, did you know that you can buy the Les Mills Body Pump program on Amazon? I am a huugeeee fan of Body Pump, and just recently bought the DVDs. Such an awesome way to enjoy my favorite program in the comfort (and proximity) of my home/couch!
Fitness Blender is my go to. I also really like Cathe workouts, too!
Honestly I believe the best workout video I’ve ever done that yielded awesome and fast results (3 days or less) is Jillian Michaels’ Boost Metabolism workout. It’s only 30 minutes long if you can make it through!
I’ll check it out!
My husband and I use a Fitness Blender workouts all the time! I love that you can search minutes, type, equipment, difficulty, and target areas to get just what you’re looking for. I’ve toned up a lot since starting them a few months ago.
Show us pics of your sisters wedding already!!
I did a random OnDemand workout a few days ago that left me limp the next day. Those short videos are no joke!
When I workout at home I always use youtube videos. I often do cardio on the spin bike and then do a couple videos after that. I usually use videos from Fitnessista, Tone it Up, or Pop sugar…they are all great.
Julie,
You are the BEST! Whenever I can’t make it to the gym, I always try to do something at home. Instead of scouring the internet, I just go to your page and do the latest workout you posted (bootcamp, circuit, videos… love em all!). I have seen 80’s 8-minute abs mentioned quite a bit in the comments, and I have to agree… it is GREAT! You should definitely check it out.
I’ve been needing some more inspired workouts for my third trimester of pregnancy and I don’t know why YouTube didn’t occur to me! Thanks for posting. I’ll definitely be using that this week!