YT fitness video series for beginners

February 6, 2023 1:19 PM

I have a friend (really!) who was basically scared/shamed out of exercising back in his school days. He's looking for kind, supportive exercise guidance.

I remember once seeing a YT video, maybe the first in a running series, of really user-friendly, do-at-home exercises for people. The presenter -- a man, maybe Asian, iirc -- has a reputation for being kind, encouraging, etc.
Apologies; I'm sure this guy is immensely popular and feel like this should be easy to find, maybe even a previous post here, but the auto-search says no. But my searches are either total strikeouts or return a million shouty musclehead dudebros. A pointer to the fitness guru I'm thinking of -- or to others you love -- are much appreciated.

posted by martin q blank to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

Best answer: I wonder if you might be thinking of hybrid calisthenics with Hampton?

I like Body Project's beginner workouts.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:25 PM on February 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Hybrid Calesthenics
posted by jonathanhughes at 1:25 PM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Justin Augustin?
posted by sarajane at 1:35 PM on February 6, 2023 [4 favorites]

Not the guy you’re thinking of, but I can recommend HASfit.
posted by yawper at 1:44 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not what you're thinking about, but how about DAREBEE. Their YT channel has great videos for at home workouts for a range of skill levels.
posted by skye.dancer at 1:47 PM on February 6, 2023

Response by poster: Yes, that's it! Hybrid Calisthenics with Hampton. Thanks, jacuilynne and jonathanhughes. ("Calisthenics" is the one word I didn't put in my search terms... )

I'll check the others and pass them along to my friend, too.
posted by martin q blank at 1:48 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Upright Health guy on YouTube fits this description.

Also, Margaret Martin does nice gentle exercise videos - they’re geared towards people with osteoporosis, but they’re basic exercises anyone can do.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 1:50 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's me again, back with yet another enthusiastic recommendation for the Peloton app. It's ALL kind and supportive, they have programming at all levels including for people who have not been exercising at all, tons of representation of body types in their instructors, and it's all really fun and engaging and once you're in their ecosystem it takes WAY less effort to exercise with them than it does to do it through YouTube. All for $12.99/mo! Also there are some nice FB communities if he's into that.
posted by HotToddy at 3:21 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Paul Eugene's videos on You Tube are excellent. He has many different videos for every sort of person who might be starting to exercise. Fun, encouraging, and many different styles. I highly recommend!
posted by furtheryet at 5:16 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

I love HAS Fit so much that I bought the app (which allows you to track workouts). It's very no-frills and not a lot of annoying music and chatter (I'm looking at you, Beachbody).
posted by simonelikenina at 6:37 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

And when your friend builds up some fitness, there's PE with Joe.
posted by gakiko at 10:26 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Enthusiastically seconding The Body Project. I've started doing a 10-minute cardio thing every day before lunch at work, and their stuff is so encouraging and supportive; I first found them through a longer 30-minute video for "total beginners" that one of the leads, Daniel, did with two other women following along; I appreciated that the other women weren't super-fit model types, but were more "ordinary", and one looked a lot like my own middle-age size and shape. And Daniel was so positive and encouraging - "you've got this! Even if you're just starting right now - you actually did make a step to start and that's awesome!"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:51 AM on February 8, 2023