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Best Home Workouts on YouTube to Replace the Gym

I Stopped Going to the Gym in 2020 and Did These 8 YouTube Workouts Instead

Best Home Workouts on YouTube to Replace the Gym
Image Source: Getty / Guido Mieth

2020 was the year my tiny living room became my gym. As you can guess, it hasn't been an easy transition. Aside from having almost no space (aka one strip of floor just big enough for a yoga mat), the Great Dumbbell Shortage of 2020 also left me with almost no equipment to work with, at least for the first few months. I had to rely on the skills I picked up during university, when I worked out in my equally-minuscule room using an '90s-era exercise mat I stole from my parents and all the free YouTube workouts I could find.

My new YouTube routine can't entirely fill the gym void (oh, how I miss the elliptical and the lap pool), but it did what I needed it to do: kept me busy, moving, and motivated. Along the way, I got to work out with a variety of trainers and try out lots of new training styles, from yoga to barre to HIIT, all for free and without leaving my apartment. Quick shout out to the incredible trainers who created these workouts and helped me get through the longest year ever. Check out my favourite routines ahead, and give them a try if you're looking for small-space-friendly, minimal-equipment workouts to get you moving and sweating.

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