Hey everyone! A couple weeks ago I wrote about my fitness journey and all the ways that God has used exercise as part of my life and how effective it’s been for me. In that post, I primarily talked about all the online workouts I did right from my room, and I said that I would share some of my favorites, which is what I want to do today.

I’m always looking to improve my workout routines, so these videos represent just a few of the ones I’ve done and enjoyed. Nowadays, there’s so many channels and videos out there on YouTube that are all FREE and incorporate a lot of the same exercises I would do in gym for PE or that you could find in paid apps and what not, which is what I love about them. When I go to college, I will get a “free” gym membership and their gym is awesome, so I definitely want to go there and use it, but I love these workouts I do so much, and it seems silly to go to the gym for them when you can just do them at home. My point in that, though, is to show you that working out doesn’t have to be this complex, expensive chore; these “simple” workouts I do have been very effective for me over the years, and I will continue making them part of my life. I’m going to round up some of my current favorites that I actively do and that have benefitted me most over all the various muscle groups. At this time, I like to do workouts that specifically focus on one part of the body, but I have done full-body workouts in the past that have been good. There’s seriously so many types out there, so let me know if you’d like to see more beyond these. Without further ado, here are *a few* of my current favorites:

Workouts Targeting Arms

Victoria’s Secret Model Sculpted Arm Workout ~10 minutes; weights required
This workout is INTENSE. It doesn’t involve hardly any cardio, but it will definitely test your upper strength and very effectively begin defining your arms. I have been doing this workout since last summer and I STILL can’t get through all the reps of this workout perfectly without my arms giving out on me. I really like the way this one is set up with two different sets of weights—I use a pair of 5 lb. dumbbells for the regular reps, and then I switch to 3 lb. dumbbells for the faster reps where you continue to wear out the muscle. I’ve gotten the best results from this one, hands down. My arms got slimmer than ever last summer and have remained that way, and I credit most of that to this workout. You’ll have to excuse all the “model” phrases in these workouts; I mentioned in my fitness post how it was my aspiration to look like a model that motivated me in selecting a lot of these workouts, haha, but they are effective and do give you that lean look, so if that’s what you’re after, I definitely recommend them.

Pamela Reif’s Upper Body Workout ~10 minutes; no equipment required
I always like to have at least one favorite with weights and one without; I think weights are more effective, but when I travel or need to rest my muscles from the weights, having a no-weight workout and just using bodyweight is just as effective. This is another workout I began doing a lot of last summer, and for a workout with no weights, I definitely was impressed with how much this seemed to slim my arms. I know that this workout helped with that because the creator of this workout made these workout plans using just her videos and for awhile I was just doing those, so I wasn’t even doing any arm workouts with weights, but my arms were still the leanest they have ever been, so I definitely recommend this one as well. I love the music she uses and the way her videos are set up, and this one is also good at targeting every part of the upper body such as the back and not just the arms.

Workouts Targeting Abs/Core

Alexis Ren’s Ab Workout ~10 minutes; no equipment required
So, Alexis Ren is some Instagram model-influencer who I don’t endorse at all but whose tiny waist is envied by tons of girls including myself, so at the time of my life when I found this workout, of course I jumped at the chance to add it to my routine. I try not to place the value on whose workout it is like the fact that she’s this popular model girl, but I do think her routine includes lots of basic, essential ab exercises targeting all the areas of the core, and lots of the exercises she included we would also do on ab days in PE, so I do think this is a really solid core workout that I continue to do for that reason. It’s not extremely strenuous, but it does always wear me out when I’m done with it.

Pamela Reif’s Sixpack Workout ~10 minutes; no equipment required
Pamela Reif is another popular fitness model that I just happened to stumble across on YouTube thanks to the popularity of her videos, and I guess it is her ab workouts that are most popular. I have to hand it to her, though, they definitely make me BURN, and it’s like I can feel their effectiveness. I think hers are the best at defining the abs in a short amount of time from doing the workouts, as at least I felt that was the case for me, and this, in my opinion, is the easier of her two ab workouts, though they’re both challenging. This one also has a good combo of exercises targeting all aspects of the core, and the moves are different from the ones in Alexis’s video, which gives me good variety as I’m working out so I’m not just doing the same exercises every time. And this girl knows how to pick solid workout music.

Workouts Targeting Butt/Glutes

Booty Sculpt Workout ~10 minutes; weights recommended but you could do this workout without them
Rebecca Louise is the creator of this workout, and I used to do her workouts all the time; she did so many of the Victoria’s Secret model workouts I used to do but feel like I’ve outgrown since they were more basic, but her bubbly personality and passion for fitness is contagious, which makes her very enjoyable to work out with. She is the one who really got me into working out and increased my knowledge of it, and this workout of hers focuses on glutes using weights, but you can do the exercises without them, too. When I work out with weights, my glutes always respond so much better, though. I remember in PE during our weight days, one of the exercises was lunges while holding weights, and I only used like 5 lbs., and I’d ALWAYS feel it in my glutes the next day. This workout does a lot of good glute exercises and also involves a lot of cardio, which I hate, but it’s always good to get the heart rate up and include that in your routine, so I definitely recommend it.

Grow Your Booty Workout ~12 minutes; resistance band optional but I don’t use it
This is another of Pamela’s workouts, and she has several butt workouts that I do, but I chose this one to include because I think it does the best at targeting specifically the glute muscles without adding the thighs, and it’s also designed to be “knee-friendly” so it doesn’t include the more common butt exercises like squats and lunges, which is helpful if you do have pain in your knees or joints there, which I have had from time to time. Even though this is called “Grow Your Booty,” I don’t really feel like that has happened for me, but I think a lot of that is dependent on genetics and takes a lot more than doing just this workout, but I do it just to tone up; I don’t care about growing my butt. I like how a lot of this is done on the floor; there’s a lot of small, repetitious movements that really do burn and are effective. She uses a resistance band but I don’t just because I don’t have one that’s ideal for this type of exercise, but I still get a great burn without it.

Workouts Targeting Legs

Leg workouts are some of my favorites to do because I love the look of toned, lean legs, and I get a good cardio workout from both of these workouts that I swear by:

Inner & Outer Thigh Workout ~15 minutes; weights recommended but you can do this workout without them
This is another one of Rebecca Louise’s workouts, and it’s been my favorite for years. While it focuses specifically on the thighs, there are some calf exercises, too. This has really helped tighten and slim my legs, and the weights make it all the more effective. I’ve been doing it for awhile, but it never fails to challenge me every time and I can always feel it in the best way.

Model Leg, Hip & Inner Thigh Workout ~20 minutes; no equipment required
This girl is a Victoria’s Secret model who shared this workout, which drew me to it at first, but it’s one of my favorites because of how much it burns, gets my heart going, and targets all areas of the entire leg. I could not even get through this entire workout when I first started doing it, especially the part at the end that targets the hip and outer thigh; now I can, but it still burns every time. It’s definitely very effective, though; my legs have gotten very slim since I’ve done it, especially that area around my hips and thighs I got with my “womanly body” that was more flabby when I was sedentary. I definitely recommend this one; the only downside is that you have to pay attention because she doesn’t talk you through it like the others or have a sound once the exercise switches, but I like it so much I don’t care, and I’ve about memorized the whole routine by now anyway haha.

Let me know if you give any of these a try! I hope they can help you in your fitness journey and that you can be inspired to praise God through exercise above all. Be sure to tell me what your favorite workouts are as well since I’m always looking to expand my playlist! Thanks for reading!