Work out at home for free: When you aren't ready to commit or are trying out something new

By Brette Bliss

Want to add more activity to your life but don’t know where to start? Maybe you're on a budget, can’t make it to local classes, don’t know what interests you, or aren’t sure if you’re ready to commit. Regardless of your barriers, YouTube might be able to help.

YouTube is a free tool that can help you find and try out new activities, interests, and even exercise classes. I use YouTube to take yoga classes in the privacy of my own home.

I had taken yoga classes in the past and never felt like I was getting the most out of them. As someone with anxiety, I was always worried about making mistakes, if I was wearing the right thing, who was watching me, and God forbid what if I fart in the middle of class. So, I just figured group exercise classes weren’t for me.

When I realized YouTube was a treasure trove of free exercise videos and classes I knew I had to try it out. Because I had done yoga before, I figured it was an easy one to start with.

I started looking for short videos labeled “beginners” or “easy” because I didn’t want to figure out halfway into a 60-minute class that it was beyond my abilities and have that sour the experience for me. I started doing quick and easy 15-minute yoga sessions in the morning to build a routine for myself. I used my laptop at first to watch along and later my phone to listen. I started to increase the length of the classes as I felt more dedicated to the time commitment. As I improved I started picking more varied and harder classes until I was doing intermediate power yoga classes for an hour every morning. Every yoga session I did was guided by a YouTube video.