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4 great workout plans that you should follow to get fit
Summary
Mix up your training with these workout series that will challenge you and improve your fitness
Usually, my end-of-the-month month fitness article are about useful workout videos. This time it’s a bit different. Given that we are right at the top of November, I thought it would be nice to do a collection of the best workout series available online. These range from five days to six weeks, and can be done with either minimal or no equipment. Some of them can be done in the gym as well if that’s how you train, so there is something for everyone.
Following a workout series requires a bigger commitment than just following a one-off video. It could be the next step to knowing how your body responds to regular workouts of a particular kind, and is the natural progression to getting serious about your fitness journey.
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Caroline Girvan’s five-day kettlebell plan: If you’ve been following this column, then it’s not the first time Caroline Girvan has popped up. With very little talk and a lot more work, Girvan is one of YouTube’s top performing fitness content creators. Her no-nonsense workouts hit that sweet spot between too easy and too difficult. Called the “kick-ass kettlebell series", it has five videos you can do spaced out within a week.
The kettlebell series is brilliantly crafted because apart from the first one which is specifically for the legs, the other four workouts are divided into more skillful days: complex, power, and cardio. The complex is really good for those who want to eventually start doing barbell complexes—and there is more on that in my earlier piece for Lounge titled 3 Barbell Workouts To Reach Your Fitness Goals. The power workout is for explosive moves and the cardio is for fat burn. The division is so good that you can replicate this split in the gym, and all the videos are between 35 to 37 minutes.
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Tiff and Dan’s six week shred: TIFFxDAN is quickly gaining popularity as a great workout channel, and the couple is not too far from hitting a million subscribers on YouTube. Mixing HIIT with muscle-building dumbbell workouts is their forte, along with precise instructions on how to follow their series. Their six-week shred has 30 workout videos, and they’re all around 35 minutes long.
“This playlist is designed for five days of workouts and two rest days per week, targeting all major muscle groups and helping you burn fat and build muscle. We recommend resting on Thursdays and Sundays, but you can adjust the schedule to fit your needs," says the description of the series. It does need some equipment though, like dumbbells and a chair or a bench and a yoga block and an exercise mat. If you’re intimidated by a long programme at the gym or don’t have the time to go to one, then this is a great starting point to create a workout discipline that lasts for six weeks.My favourite out of the series is their dumbbell build and burn circuit, which is on day 10.
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Move with Nicole’s November 2024 Pilates week: This is absolutely fresh off the oven and for those who like body weight workouts and balance and movement and flexibility. But Nicole’s Pilates workouts are not easy. This is not a 15-20 minute series which will make you think you have moved a little. This is a proper series with all workouts exceeding 30 minutes and can get tough.
Nicole’s Pilates workouts have a specific focus on glute and arm strength and she is a strong believer that it can build muscle as well. So get ready to rep these out in a focused way. This is the only Pilates channel I follow if I ever want to do Pilates, because when I finish a workout, it feels like I’ve done a proper gym session. There are a lot of unilateral moves and she has just come out with this series, so enjoy.
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XYZ Fitness’s 30-day abs challenge: There is something nostalgic about workout videos made a decade ago. XYZ Fitness is a channel that popped up in 2015, created a 30-day abs workout plan and then stopped making videos. However, this gem of a series with 30-ab workout videos remains on the internet.
Will this alone give you abs? No. But will doing this for 30 days after your workouts, with proper nutrition and planning, help you achieve the desired midriff? Quite possibly. Abs are made in the kitchen, but for many, just thinking about doing them after a workout is what becomes boring. So here are 30 workouts, which you can do day after day, for less than 10 minutes a day, targeting your core.The videos have a nice slow focus on good reps rather than more reps, and that is why this series made the cut.
Pulasta Dhar is a football commentator, podcaster and writer.
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