No Pain, No Gain!
Assuming you may have not read my earlier posts, let me share that I began exercising in April during the COVID lockdown in Honduras. Back then, I didn’t have any fitness/workout knowledge. I am not saying I am an expert now, but I know much more. The first workout video I did (a slim arm workout), uploaded by a beautiful woman called April Han, was recommended by the lovely Youtube algorithm. Just let me say that even though she doesn’t know I exist, I have a soft spot for her because that workout video prompted the beginning of my fitness journey (which began in July).
My weight during April was around 63 to 65 kg so considering my height is 5’1’’, I was overweight. And I was gaining more weight because I began stress eating more often during this period. My job can be very stressful and working from home where my fridge and pantry were just a few steps away from my improvised workspace didn’t exactly help. I had not been happy with my body for many years and I constantly dreamed of being able to lose all that extra fat and have the toned and firm body I have always wanted. Over the years I tried several times to lose weight and have a healthier diet, but I was too busy and too lazy to exercise and eat proper food.
It all changed last year. Working from home was a blessing for me (it was a blessing and a curse the first months, but now I can say with no doubt that it was a blessing). I had extra time to do more things such as house chores, quality time with my dog, working on my ASMR channel (that sadly had to abandon due to the lack of time for filming and editing as well as the constant outside noise difficulties while filming), and more. As I could spend more time on Youtube, I began getting workout recommendations and a slim arm workout caught my attention (April Han’s video). I have been self-conscious of my arms for as long as I can remember. My arms were thick and flabby and had armpit fat and I hated how they looked so much that I avoided using clothes that didn’t have sleeves. The routine was 8 minutes long and the people in the comment section talked about the amazing results they were getting, so I decided to try it out. It was hard at first, but the more I did it, the easier it became to follow along without stopping.
During the next several months, I began watching other fitness youtubers and making my own playlist for my day and night workout routines. Now, I want to share with anyone who is reading this post, my amazing workout girls clan (I call them like that because I am so thankful to each one of them for everything I have accomplished so far). Their videos (together with changes in my diet that were extreme and unhealthy at first) helped me lose around 17 kg between July and November. My current weight is 47.10 kg and my fat percentage is 22%.
Workout Girls Clan
Here are my workout girls according to difficulty level (let me just point out that this is entirely my opinion and experience. For you, it may be different depending on your fitness level)
April Han
Youtube Channel: April Han - YouTube
She is the first fitness youtuber I began following. I have done almost all of her workout videos and I highly recommend them. In my experience, her videos are very beginner-friendly. They are challenging enough to push your body but easy enough to complete them with few to no breaks in between. Her videos are in Chinese (I have only seen one in English and it felt so weird to understand what she was saying without looking at the screen) but she has subtitles in many languages including English and Spanish so you can understand her instructions and tips.
Difficulty Level: low to high beginner difficulty level (some routines could be considered low intermediate level)
Type of routines: fat-burning full body and specific body parts workout videos for weight loss/fat burn, HIIT workouts
Breaks between exercises: adds 10 to 15 seconds breaks in between exercises
Emy Wong
Youtube Channel: emi wong - YouTube
Website: EMI WONG - Emi Wong (weebly.com)
She is the second fitness youtuber I began following due to Youtube algorithm. I put this incredible woman in a high intermediate level (some of her videos can be beginner-friendly. She includes it in her video titles when they are). I tried two of her videos (one of them is the one in the screenshot) around a month after I began my fitness journey and they were very hard to do without taking many breaks in between. While doing them, I almost injured myself several times (though this is on me not her because I was going through a 3-month workout obsession period between August and October and I wanted to exercise as much as I could even when feeling sore). Her videos are in English and she is my second favorite of my workout girls clan due to the amazing motivation phrases she says during her videos.
Difficulty Level: high intermediate difficulty level
Type of routines: fat-burning full-body and specific body parts workouts, HIIT, Tabata, and dance workout routines
Breaks between exercises: adds 10 to 15 seconds breaks in between exercises
Holly Dolke
Youtube Channel: Holly Dolke - YouTube
The third fitness youtuber I began following. I consider her workouts to be between high intermediate and advanced level and have been doing several of her routines to tone my body and increase muscle during the past three months. I have seen amazing improvement, especially on my arms. She is my favorite out of all my girls because there is just something so sweet about her. Also, I admire her body and it's similar to how I would love to look in the future. Definitely recommend her workout videos for amazing muscle toning results.
Difficulty Level: between high intermediate and advanced difficulty level
Type of routines: fat-burning full-body and specific body parts workouts, HIIT, Tabata
Breaks between exercises: some workout videos has no or few breaks (between 10 to 15 seconds breaks)
Chloe Ting
Youtube Channel: Chloe Ting - YouTube
Chloe is the fourth youtuber I began following (almost at the same time I began following Holly). At first, I was afraid to do her workouts because they seem so advanced. I would say her workouts to be between high intermediate and advanced level (she has beginner-friendly workouts too). I have been doing several of her workouts to tone my body and increase muscle as well, especially my stomach. I enjoy very much doing her videos even when they feel hard at first and she transmits this sweet and bubbly personality that is so contagious (at least to me). I also admire her body (especially her abs) and I have done several of her ABS workouts and have seen tremendous improvement. I recommend her workout videos for stunning muscle toning results, especially on the stomach.
Difficulty Level: between high intermediate and advanced difficulty level
Type of routines: fat-burning/toning full-body and specific body parts workouts, HIIT, and dumbbell workouts
Breaks between exercises: depending on the type of workout, she adds breaks between every two or three exercises (but her dumbbell workouts have a break between each exercise)
Other Fitness Youtubers
Now, I also want to mention the following fitness YouTubers I have been following recently. I have only done two or three of their videos so far therefore I am not very familiar with all of the workouts they offer.
Madfit
I started following this inspiring girl in November but she will quickly become part of my workout girls clan. In November I did an arm dumbbell workout that I absolutely loved and in December I did a band leg toning workout. She has fat-burning/toning full-body and specific body parts workouts, HIIT, dumbbell, and dance workouts. So far I can say her workouts are between a high intermediate and advanced level. I feel great doing her workouts and will continue doing more.
Bailey Brown
She has many short cardio full body or body part specific workouts (between 5 to 8 min). I have only done two 5 min videos of hers and overall I was able to do them perfectly though she did have one or two exercises on both videos that were very challenging, In my experience, her videos are between beginner-friendly and low intermediate level.
Pamela Reif
She is my workout goal. I had been avoiding doing her videos because they look so difficult and have no or very few breaks in between exercises, but in December I decided to slowly add her videos. Last month, I did one of her Christmas dance workouts that I loved doing despite being a little challenging for me. For January, I am doing one of her leg workouts because I want to tone my inner thighs. She has fat-burning/toning full-body and specific body parts workouts, HIIT, dumbbell, and dance workouts. From what I have seen and read in the youtube comments, I will say her workouts are at an advanced level.
I have done routines from other YouTubers since November but because I have only done 1 video from each I thought it was not worth mentioning them on this post. I will share in future posts the videos I did between October to December plus my routine for January 2021 so I will mention them there. I say goodbye for now and please remember that is never too late to start working out, no matter your age. Just do it and find your motivation to make it part of your daily life. You will not regret it, trust me!
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