JuicyTalk
The world of free fitness has gotten good. Like, really good.
Gone are the days when “at-home fitness” meant a VHS tape and a lot of hope. These days, there’s a full-blown digital universe of pro-led workouts at your fingertips — from strength circuits and mobility flows to hip-hop kickboxing (it’s probably a thing). You can do them from your living room, your backyard or anywhere with enough space to sweat.
The best part? Plenty of them cost exactly $0.
The Rise of the Free Workout Economy
We owe the rise in top-tier online home workouts, at least in part, to that one unforgettable global event. (You know the one.) When gyms closed, we got scrappy. We transformed our living spaces into studios, downloaded fitness apps in record numbers, and learned to plank next to our coffee tables. From January to November 2020 alone, more than 2.5 billion health and fitness apps were downloaded worldwide — a 47% jump from the year before.
The trend stuck. By 2023, roughly half of exercisers actually prefer exercising at home, citing the convenience, privacy and serious savings. (Who needs a $250-a-month gym membership when your phone basically is a personal trainer?)
Below, we’ve rounded up the best free YouTube channels and fitness apps that are worth your time, energy and sweat:
Best Free YouTube Fitness Channels
YouTube became the gym’s fiercest rival during lockdown — and we’re still hooked. The platform is stacked with free, full-length workouts led by certified trainers. Here are some of the most useful, consistently high-quality free fitness channels on YouTube:
FitnessBlender
This channel is run by husband-and-wife duo Daniel and Kelli, who focus on efficient, no-nonsense workouts. Their library includes thousands of videos — everything from 10-minute core finishers to 45-minute total-body strength circuits.
Yoga With Adriene
With over 13 million subscribers, Adriene Mishler’s channel is the go-to for approachable, thoughtful yoga instruction. Her videos are categorized by goal (like “mental health break” or “yoga for abdominal strength.”) and span all levels.
PS Fit
This one’s great if you want variety. The channel features a wide range of classes — from HIIT to dance cardio to boxing — with workouts ranging from 10 to 30 minutes.
The Body Coach TV (Joe Wicks)
Joe Wicks is best known for his HIIT routines, which require little to no equipment and are easy to follow at home. He offers everything from 5-minute quickies to 30-minute full-body sessions in his (quite frankly) dreamy British accent.
Best Free Fitness Apps
Prefer to follow a plan or track your workouts on your phone? Here are a few of the finest free fitness apps (no credit card requirements or sneaky trials required):
Nike Training Club (NTC)
This fully free app from Nike has over 200 professionally designed workouts. You’ll find strength, cardio, yoga and mobility sessions, most of which can be done with bodyweight or minimal equipment. Workouts are easy to filter by duration, intensity and muscle group. You can also select coaching voice and music type, which makes it feel like a studio session on your phone.
Nike Run Club (NRC)
A solid running app that’s completely free. It offers guided runs, training plans and GPS-based run tracking. Like NTC, it’s clean, well-designed and totally free — no paid upgrade required.
Seven – 7 Minute Workout
This one’s for time-crunched users. All workouts are based on the science-backed concept of high-intensity circuit training in seven-minute blocks. No equipment is needed. You’ll be guided through bodyweight movements like squats, planks and push-ups, with audio and visual prompts. The app also lets you stack circuits if you’ve got more time (or energy) to burn.
Best Fitness Apps with Free Options
Finally, some big-name apps give you a useful free tier (just be mindful of the upsell attempts). Here are a few notable fitness apps with free options:
FitOn
FitOn offers a surprisingly wide selection of workouts for a free app, including strength, HIIT, pilates, yoga and even prenatal options. Workouts are led by certified trainers (some recognizable from TV or celebrity circles), and the app includes features like workout reminders, group challenges and social sharing. You’ll get prompted to upgrade to Pro, but the free version includes unlimited workouts.
Down Dog
Unlike static video classes, the Down Dog app generates a new sequence every time you practice. You can choose the style (vinyasa, restorative, power, etc.), level, duration and even the voice and music. There is a paid tier, but the base version includes a ton of free guided flows.
Strava
Strava is an app for tracking outdoor cardio (think running, cycling and swimming). The free version includes GPS-based distance and pace tracking, personal records and a social feed where you can follow and encourage friends.
MapMyFitness
This one tracks workouts ranging from treadmill runs to weightlifting. The free tier includes audio coaching, route mapping (for outdoor workouts) and integration with devices like Apple Watch and Garmin. The app also connects with MyFitnessPal for food tracking.
MyFitnessPal
Best known for its food logging, this app also syncs with many fitness trackers to log workouts and steps. The free version gives you access to its massive food database (including barcode scanning) and lets you track calories, macros, water and weight. There are ads, and some features like custom goals are locked behind Premium, but you can use it effectively without upgrading.
The post The Best Free Fitness Apps and Videos Worth Your Sweat appeared first on The Real Deal by RetailMeNot.
