Lifestyle

My Favorite Home Workout Channels (including some Diastasis Recti friendly options)

This is one of the things I’ve been getting asked about a lot since I began working out at home (and posting updates on Instagram). So here I am, sharing my favorite channels for home workouts. I have done workouts from all of these channels and have thoroughly enjoyed them for various reasons which I’ll talk about in detail as we go.

If you’d told me at the beginning of the year that I’ll be working out from home, I would have laughed at you. Although I was going to the gym for months then, I still didn’t think I had it in me to do the same at home. But almost four months later, here I am, still working out at least 5 times a week and more importantly, not hating or considering it as just another chore to be ticked off of my daily checklist.

If you’re new to working out or just looking for a change in routine, I really hope my list helps because most of these channels/people have workouts for people at all levels of fitness. As someone who lets laziness get the better of her ever so often, mixing up things between these accounts has helped me stay motivated and look forward to working out. So without beating around the bush, I’m gonna jump right in and share my favorites with you (in particular order) –

FitOn App

I have been using this app since end of March and absolutely love it. It’s free and comes with PLENTY of exercises that you can access at any time. They have everything in one place – Yoga, Pilates, Barre, HIIT, you name it.

You can also choose exercises based on which area you’d like to workout on or depending on your time constraints. To make things interesting, you can also take up monthly/weekly challenges. It covers everything and is one place/app you should check out if you’re looking for some solid help with being regular at workouts.

You can add your friends too to cheer each other up. So overall, it’s AMAZING (in case I wasn’t clear by the 1000s of shout-outs I’ve already given to them on Instagram).

Blogilates

I discovered Casey (who runs Blogilates) on the FitOn App. Her Pilate workouts are brutal but super effective and energizing. I then found her on Instagram and got to her website/YouTube channel from there.

If not for anything else, her energy will keep you going. I’ve enjoyed doing her ab, inner thigh and arm challenges so far and thoroughly enjoyed them. I could have definitely gotten better results had I been more consistent with my eating.

I also love that she puts up a monthly calendar on her blog (with supporting YouTube videos) so that you can plan your workouts in advance.

Mr. & Mrs. Muscle

I discovered them on Youtube late last year and although I didn’t follow their workouts then since I was still going to gym, I thoroughly enjoyed watching their every video because they’re a treat to watch.

So coordinated and almost dreamy to watch.

But I digress. I love, love their workouts and have done a lot of them since lockdown. Their workouts are sweaty, energizing, mostly body-weight based HIIT sessions (some with weights which you can still modify). They literally have a gazillion workout videos you can choose from. Safe to say they’re one of my absolute favorites.

Fit Style Grace

Another gem I discovered on Instagram. I absolutely love her workouts. Again, minimal to no equipment and yet will leave you feeling absolutely refreshed. She has plenty of exercises that you can mix and match to get your day’s quota of sweat in.

She’s a certified fitness instructor and shares a mix of pilates, cardio amongst other fitness options. The puppies on the videos are a happy bonus. The only downside is that she doesn’t post the videos on Youtube, so you will have to note them down and perform the exercises or play them on Instagram over and over again as you go about them.

I Will Get Lean/Tanvi

I’ve followed Tanvi’s fitness journey on Instagram for almost a couple of years now. She’s the real deal. Keeps things straight forward and real, shares a ton of information in layman terms and I truly admire her consistency.

Chloe Ting

Though I’ve followed her YouTube Channel for a while, I only recently started using her workout videos. After doing a lot of HIIT workouts, I do find her workouts not as intense or sweat-breaking as some of the others I have done but I like that there is no repetition of exercises. These are perfect if you’re a beginner or need a quick hit workout.

Other accounts I love include –

  1. Fitness With Sup – Supraja shares a lot of fun workout ideas, general knowledge about fitness and nutrition (real talk). Her mid-week challenges are fabulous!
  2. Dmirgonfit21
  3. Tracy Steen
  4. Beautiful Brown Bodies – Group on Facebook – Being a part of this group has been extremely motivating and rewarding in terms of learning about (all forms of) fitness and nutrition to go with it.

I also recently discovered that I have Diastasis Recti (DR). Diastasis Recti is essentially the separation of your rectus abdominis (abs) common in women who have been pregnant. But this can also happen to men or children. While trying to find what could be the reason for this stubborn fat in my abdominal area is when I realized that I may have DR. This was probably why none of the ab exercises that I crazily put myself through had little to no effect. In all likelihood I was worsening the situation without enough knowledge.

I followed a couple of videos I found on Youtube to assess the extent of my DR. Following this, I have done a fair amount of research and understand that the best way to rectify/fix it would be by working on healing/strengthening my core and pelvic area with the right kind of breathing, posture correction and some exercises to this effect, of course. I understand this is going to be a long process and not something I can get results on in a week or two. I’m still very new and figuring things out, but if you are a mother (new or old) dealing with stubborn belly fat/bulging/pooch, I’d highly recommend you get this checked either with an assessment at home or meeting a Physical Therapist or a Postpartum Fitness Specialist.

For now, I’ve started with basic exercises to fix my core and breathing following a few accounts:

  • Pregnancy and Postpartum TV – Jessica’s was one of the first DR friendly channels I bumped into. She has also been kind enough to share her 30-Day Core and Pelvic Floor Healing Program with me and it’s currently free for everyone to access. She provides detailed information relating every aspect of it along with a meal plan and 10-12 minute exercises for each day. In addition, her Youtube channel has plenty of other workouts you can use along with these to get a full body workout in. I’m only on Day 3 of her program right now but really like the feel
  • Ritu Kumar Singh/Fitmomsfitterhomes – She was the most mentioned profile when I asked for recommendations on Instagram for DR friendly accounts. She has been sharing her DR rectification journey on her profile and also shares a lot of tips, techniques and exercises to follow.
  • Tone and Tighten – I came across this one on Youtube as well and they have a lot of workout videos and a phased DR rehab program too. Their videos explain everything in great detail. This was recommended by quite a few people on my Instagram poll.
  • Julie Baird/OurFitFamilyLife – Although her program is paid, she shares a lot of helpful content on Instagram. I’m yet to use her content extensively but this was another one of the most recommended profiles.

I’m still very new to working on healing my DR and yet to see a PT about it, so if you have more questions or need help, I do suggest you speak/meet to someone qualified for the same.

Now that I have come to end of my list, I realize how I’ve said ‘I love this account’ for almost every one of them but what can I say, they all really do share great content. For almost 4 months since I started working out at home, I’ve mostly stuck to workouts from these accounts. I find that having too many choices/accounts to follow makes it very hard to choose and makes me confused easily. So I plan to stick to these until I truly feel the need to try something new.

As always, I hope this helps you in some way and if it does, please do share it with others who might benefit from this.

Until then, happy endorphins to you!

3 thoughts on “My Favorite Home Workout Channels (including some Diastasis Recti friendly options)”

  1. This is very informative Madhu. Thank you. I am refraining myself from doing strength training exercises knowing I have DR. . when ppl.say surgery is the option to fix DR, I feel so pathetic. I see some ray of hope. I checked out postpartum TV s 30 day program. I don’t see it as free. Are there any other free resources ?

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