It's called Fitness Blender and you can find them at fitnessblender.com. Fitness Blender is made up of a married couple, Kelli and Daniel, who create workouts that you do in your own home with little to no equipment. They don't have a fancy studio or a production team or anything, but their videos are very professionally put together in their home studio (garage). Typically, Kelli does the workout and Daniel narrates, but I've seen some videos with Daniel being the model too. I thought I would prefer Kelli describing the workout as she does it (similar to Lisa Marie in BodyRock), but it's much more organized and thorough with Daniel doing it behind the scenes. He's supportive and encourages you to give your all, but doesn't make you feel rushed. He also offers tips on proper form as you go along.
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| Daniel and Kelli |
Another great aspect of this website is that it has a search tool. So you can refine your search based on exercise type (functional, strength, toning, balance, flexibility, cardiovascular, plyometric, isometric) or by muscle group (you name it, they got it). You also have the ability to type in a keyword to search for something in particular, like their famous "Epic 1,000 calorie burn workout at home".
Did I say 1,000 calorie burn workout? Yes, I believe I did. They have two of these actually. Both are about 85 minutes long and include warm up, cardio/HIIT, strength training, stretch, abs, and cool down. I have to say that my curiosity won out over intimidation and I gave this workout a try and LOVED it! It is challenging, for sure, but I was able to keep up or modify so I still got in a great burn. You can modify to make most moves easier or harder, depending on your fitness level. And at the end, if you followed along, I can guarantee that you will feel completely drained but also amazing at the same time!
Not all of the workouts are over an hour though; some of the videos are even just ten minutes long, like some of the ab videos. It depends on what you are looking for. I really feel like they have taken a creative approach to the workouts too, as they don't incorporate just the same old boring moves that you see in many of the workout DVDs nowadays. Many, if not most, of the moves that they have in their workouts are ones that I've never seen before. They're variations of the old stand-by's, sure, but the little variations make them fun.
Each workout also comes with a description of what equipment you'll need and which exercises will be performed and you can even print this out to take with you or to use another time to record reps or weight or whatever you like.
In addition to the full workouts, the website also includes videos on how to perform individual exercises properly. Again, it has the search tool so you can find whichever exercise you want easily. Then there are tabs for different articles on exercise, nutrition, health, weight loss, and even recipes. If you're looking to buy equipment, the website has a store tab. You can also learn more about the Fitness Blender duo and support them by making a donation. They even say that they are willing to create custom workouts for donations of certain denominations.
To sum up:
Pros -
- You choose how long your workout is
- Tons of workouts to choose from
- Search tool to find the workout you want
- Organized and professionally made videos
- Calorie burn bar
- Degree of difficulty scale for choosing workouts
- FREE
- Printable worksheets
- Chart to show what equipment is needed
- Tips on proper form and encouragement throughout videos
Cons -
- I wish they had a timer to show how much time is left in the total workout
- Have to play the video on a computer or device with Internet access
So those are my thoughts. I highly recommend you go out and try them. I am sure you will find at least one or two workouts that you just can't help but love! And if you like them and want to share the love, go ahead and donate or spread the word about the site so they can keep giving us these awesome workouts!
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