*Favourite Online Exercise/Workout Videos!*

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My 12 year old ASD son and I are, after about 5 years of infrequent or zero physical activity, ( though in typical spectrum style his use of the computer has also always involved getting up and pacing and weird positions all over his chair whereas my equally typical spectrum style has meant total inertia/out of body immobility!! ! :lol ), now following a daily exercise plan in order to get fit and strong.

I've been trawling the net in search of fun/"enrolling"/engaging/charming, inspiring as well as the most useful/efficient online workout videos for our daily 30-40 minute sessions, and these are my favourites so far ( we also use a couple of other more merely useful/practical ones for warmups and stretches ) but would love to hear about others!

We alternate heavy/fairly intense weight training and core exercise sessions ( Monday, Wednesday, and Friday ), with more specifically cardio ones, ( Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday ), plus one longer boxercise one on Sundays.

For weights/upper body workouts: ( both from ThinQFitness TV )

http://www.thinqfitness.com/video/GMM/P ... ms_Workout ( 10 minutes ) This guy started working out aged 6, and at 16 was running/teaching step-aerobics classes. He is really "cute"/sweet and funny and inspiring.

http://www.thinqfitness.com/video/GMH/K ... kout_Video ( 10 minutes )

For core: ( this 5 minute video is actually meant to be expanded over 25-30 minutes )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4z5mwWr ... re=related ( though apparently current thinking is that the crunches/abs work should be done standing up, or on hands and feet/knees, eg. "horizontal mountain climbing", rather than lying down? )

[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4z5mwWrwyw&feature=related[/YouTube]
For cardio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCekB36Y ... re=related ( 20 minutes )

[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCekB36YGEc&feature=related[/YouTube]
And for boxercise:

http://www.thinqfitness.com/video/EFJ/O ... ness_Video

We still collapse/get seriously confused/muddled about left and right etc, during most of the cardio ones and we're still only lifting nearly-newbie-level weights. But we like all the presenters, and the first cardio one is, as the poster on YouTube says, "Awesome"! !! :lol

What brilliant exercise routines have other people found online? Please post your all-time greats/favourites!
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Last edited by ouinon on 17 Apr 2012, 3:38 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Exercise video, brought to you by Nestle? Bad hidden message for a losing weight video.

Compound exercises are nice. I personally, have never seen anyone transform their bodies with Zumba Fitness or anything like that.

Noone else on WP use online exercise/workout videos?

The reason why I/we do is that we live in a tiny village, and the local gym only has a couple of appropriate or convenient aerobics sessions per week, only one of which I actually liked when I tried it, ( I live in France, and aerobics classes here use tons of complex dance steps ), but once a week is not enough for cardio, and it has no weights/circuit stuff at all, and I need the "model" and impetus of videos to get me/us doing anything at home.

Snapcap, yeah, the Nestle thing put me off slightly too, and I watched the video the first time with serious reservations, but it really is a glorious cardio/aerobics session, though I do absolutely have to spend 15 minutes on another ( lots less cool ) warm-up/"soft" cardio video beforehand in order to keep up and avoid pulled muscles. I don't eat dairy at all, am on a gfcf diet, ( nor sugar/sucrose most of the time ) anyway. :lol

Kurgan, do you have recommendations for/links to some good compound exercise videos, even if you don't use them yourself? ... Edit; having googled "compound exercises" I discover that there are already heaps in the videos I've posted/linked and the others we're using, so that's ok! I looked at Zumba stuff a couple of weeks ago, and wasn't impressed; too many different moves/steps to follow, horrible music on the videos I saw, and too many trainers/teams wearing silly bikini outfits too. :lol
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Take a look at the videos of Scooby1961 on YouTube. This guy is 50 and (to put it mildly) in a great physical condition.

A good compound workout is Mad cow 5x5 which is a great program if you want to focus on a workout program that is solely focused on compound lifts.
http://stronglifts.com/madcow-5x5-training-programs/

If you're looking for something that will build your cardiovascular system, lean mass and muscle and get you in great shape a sport, the P90X program is great in that aspect and it doesn't require a large amount of equipments or weight. Some of the upper body workouts consist of variations of push ups, chin ups and pull ups.

http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitnes ... ms/p90x.do

I find it really hard to follow programs for some reason. I always end up going to the gym and basically screwing around, usually I have a bit of a gameplan in mind (ie, "today I'll do squats") but I have a tendency to just...do stuff.

For aerobics, my aerobic exercise is ice skating everyday. My gym membership gives me free public sessions at the ice skating rink next door, so it's kinda hard to schedule around sometimes, but it's fun, ice skating. With ice skating and some dieting, I managed to drop from 215 to 180 pounds in like 4 months. Now I'm up to 195, after starting weightlifting, I've gained muscle for sure, but I've probably gained a little bit of fat, too, but if I drop down to my "old" 180, I'd be ripped now.

Anyway, I find it hard to use premade routines like that. It just feels weird. I do read other people's routines and sorta just take bits and pieces, and yeah.

Kurgan, I had a look at scooby and it's true he looks really good for a 51 year old, :O and he seems to have loads of free and full-length/solid workout videos online, but unfortunately I didn't like his voice or his facial expressions/grimaces while talking or lifting/exercising so that's a no go for me, I have to "like" the person training, and I also prefer videos with music, so that I don't have to deal with that aspect myself. I read his advice for teens though, because my son is nearly 13, and I think we're actually already following a lot of his guidelines, which is good to know. Thanks for the tip.

Wolfheart. Thanks for the links. Wow, that Mad Cow stuff is really advanced, ( too much so for me at the moment! :lol We're still really feak and weeble ). And the P90 seems to be pay-to-play/view, so I couldn't see what its videos are like. Thanks anyway.

1000Knives; yeah, I don't think I'm going to get into any set programmes either; I much prefer picking and choosing/creating a programme for myself and my son a la carte with lots of shortish videos from lots of different places/people, as above. Do you have any favourite online short videos/examples?

Thanks for all the replies. Look forward to watching/hearing about any other favourites.
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Well not really examples, more inspiration as like "holy crap that looks sweet."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLNzd_FcThs[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y9w_9EsKFM[/youtube]

One thing maybe I'd like to try is a Bulgarian routine involving a lot of heavy singles. Olympic weightlifting, though, is like a martial art almost in what it takes to master it, what I'm doing is sorta dumb really, no coach or anything like that.

For ice skating, not much for video help, I tend to get help personally from people on the ice who know more than me, and yeah.

One "program" that might be good for you if you wanna be serious about strength and athleticism is Crossfit, however my criticism of Crossfit is it's basically really hard and fairly easy to injure yourself, and not much of the stuff really makes a lot of sense to me, like the exercise selection is entirely random. For me, I found the only way for me to be motivated to lose weight and be healthy was taking up a sport. Crossfit I believe works like that, in that it gives people a competitive environment, and makes the individual exercises themselves a sport (ie, now they have the Crossfit Games,) basically Crossfit becomes the sport of Crossfit. But, there's some decent stuff there, and you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater, but some stuff in it is a bit wtf to me.

http://www.crossfitkids.com/images/uplo ... fina11.pdf

I have been 'trying' to get started again myself, as to model good behavior for my son. I used to run. However I must admit all I do right now is a few pushups, planks and wall sits. I use my bike indoors on a trainer. I know my depression is much more in the background when I have an established habit of working out.

(but the other day my stoopid ipod broke and without music for motivation I get bored, focus on the pain of the seat & the repetitive noise of the trainer.)

Must eat candy bars...

Pretty awesome, but I actually find highly developed strength much more impressive and inspiring when combined with agility, as in these examples!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPgFDyU1 ... re=related
[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPgFDyU11PQ&feature=related[/YouTube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY2V-XwQ ... plpp_video
[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY2V-XwQ0tM&list=FLAM9Pvp3HzKvIAbAXHxidow&index=5&feature=plpp_video[/YouTube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGzepBg2 ... re=related
[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGzepBg216M&feature=related[/YouTube]
And almost anything from the Cirque de Soleil website at: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/jobs/c ... lines.aspx

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I have a hard time sticking to a routine and I'm also in a rural area. Sometimes during warm weather I'll just shoot basketball.

I'm currently a college student not working, but when I'm in town at the school I think it helps for me to do a lot of store walking. Or at a satellite campus there is a mall so I plan to mall walk when I go there. It's also nice for me personally to be "In Town" and mall walk since I live in the boonies.

Oddly enough you'd think I would just walk here but we live on a hill on a corner and the street frequently has SemiTrucks coming down it so I don't feel comfortable walking down the skinny curb. Also I did a short walk and wound up brushing off a few Ticks I picked up from the woods. Not a fan of blood suckers that could potentially give me Lyme disease.

Two new favourite online exercise videos, which I thought were rather naff/embarrassing/fluffy-girly when I first looked at them but am finding really good for compound exercises, both upper and lower body and core, plus general cardio fitness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4APrCMWx ... re=related
[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4APrCMWxrjY&feature=related[/YouTube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfZCvyPW ... re=related
[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfZCvyPWksk&feature=related[/YouTube]
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Well, that reason you state is why I like Olympic weightlifting. Some people say the Olympic snatch is gymnastics with a barbell. I'd venture to say they're right. Olympic weightlifting is not a brute strength sport at all, it's very much about flexibility and agility. If you doubt me, try doing some of the Olympic lifts, even with just a bare bar. The reason they require so much agility and actual athleticism is that they're full range of motion lifts, the bar goes from the ground to over your head, in the clean and jerk, 2 motions, and in the snatch, one motion. It's an entirely different ballgame than say, benchpressing, where your ROM is only as long as your arms to your chest, or a deadlift, from the ground to your waist. Think of it this way, too, imagine you holding your bodyweight over your head, can you imagine how much balance it takes to simply not fall over with it over your head? The Olympic lifts, once you get into sport training, are often used to develop good explosive strength and overall full body strength.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th-DIj1c7vs[/youtube]
But yeah, check this Chinese girl out, if you wanna see more of what I mean, see how she has to drop down really low to catch the bar? It's a really complex kinda motion.

Powerlifting though, is basically the sport of sheer strength. Squat, deadlift, and benchpress are the lifts for powerlifting. Started out as "odd lifts" from Olympic lifting training, and yeah. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M13EBl_jF0 There's Benedikt Magnusson, WR holder for the deadlift at 1015lbs. Picking up 1015lbs off the floor barehanded, not even straps. Nuts. Anyway, I only went off on this tangent because a lot of people have that misconception about Olympic lifting, that it's "just" strength, and it's simply not so. I'd probably venture to say Olympic lifting is just a rung below more technical than gymnastics actually. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th-DIj1c7vs[/youtube]

Anyway, my sport though is figure skating. Figure skating is so so fun, and it's really technical and stuff. I don't really like parkour, simply for the fact that it seems really dangerous. I have a friend that's into that sort of stuff, and he's overall just nuts and puts no caution at all into about anything he does ever. So that rules out parkour for me, and gymnastics is just, well, really really hard, and I just love in skating the feeling like you're flying you get everytime you step out on the ice.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqxZdG3HRpM[/youtube] Figure skating, though, it wasn't something I woke up one morning and was like "that's so cool" but I started skating at my rink, and I got passed so easily by these little tiny figure skater girls, without them seemingly putting forth any effort. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T5_ToKpK70 There's some freestyle skating, freestyle skating imo is a bit more athletic than dance, to some people's displeasure. But...yeah...

Thanks for that link and analysis. I found it rather surprising but suddenly realised what you meant, especially when I thought of the Cirque de Soleil stuff where someone has to hold someone else over their head or to the side of them etc. Interesting .


I haven't ever lived close enough to an ice-rink to practice it, and the couple of times that I did try it, in my early teens, my ankles didn't seem strong enough to feel safe or comfortable doing it, balancing on a blade ... On the other hand I absolutely loved skating, old-fashioned skating on four-wheeled skates like little "cars". I got really good at it ... around the age of 10-12! :lol But then we moved, from a small village with smooth and safe wide pavements near our house and v little traffic, to a house by the side of a busy road in a big busy town with nowhere close enough for me to skate freely and safely, so I gave up, and later, when I could have picked it up again, the only kind of skates I could find were ones with one long line of wheels under them, which put my ankles under pressure again.

But I loved that flying feeling too, of skimming, of moving way faster than could on my bare feet, while still using "usual" walking/running movements/skills.

Agree about parkour and risk/danger, but just love watching it, the freedom and grace like monkeys swinging through the trees, semi-weightless, almost magical. Wish I could do it! :lol Way too late to start now! Even if I began with baby-manoeuvres somewhere over those huge drop-mattresses.

I'm enjoying lifting weights though, and simply feeling slightly stronger again overall. Another of the online-videos that I've begun using as model/tutorial is all about building core strength, and several of the exercises in it are still really hard for me to do, but I'm gradually getting better! :lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83YoRPB3 ... re=related
[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83YoRPB3P2A&feature=related[/YouTube]