You Can Find Your Favorite Retro Exercise Videos on YouTube
When my treadmill broke down a few weeks ago, I wondered how I was going to do regular exercise at home during the winter. I wrote to a friend asking for advice and she sent me a lot of (old) Pilates workouts on YouTube with this note: “Sorry for the lack of modern suggestions. Apparently, when I find something that I like, I keep the VHS cassette. “
At the mention of the videotape, I remembered a favorite exercise tape from my high school / college: Tae Bo with Billy Blanks. My heart was already pounding with excitement, I quickly looked. And of course therewas my boyfriend :
Everything about this video is great: the clothes, the hair, the way you can’t move your arms or legs when you’re done. As one commentator, Evelyn, put it: “This device is over 20 years old and I still haven’t found anything that I LOVE more. It’s awesome and it works !!! WRITE A MEETING “. Yes, Evelyn, that’s right.
Billy made me think that YouTube might now be home to all of our favorite ’90s (and older!) Exercise videos. So I asked some of the Lifehacker staff: do you guys watch some good old stuff on YouTube?
“Videos of the8-minute press /8-minute weapons /8-minute buns are also on YouTube, and I make them regularly,” says editor-in-chief Virginia Smith. The graphics and workout settings are good, but the music is even better:
One skeptical viewer (hello Terry!) Commented on this last year asking the question, “Who’s still watching in 2018?” To which a dozen people replied to some version of “Miieee!”
Either way, it got us thinking about another classic for all time:Buns of Steel . Don’t worry, it’s in there:
Editor-in-Chief Melissa Kirsch wanted to make sure we checked Jane Fonda’s presence. In the end, Melissa says she “found it so peaceful” that we’re not sure this is the point of the exercise video, but it really is nonetheless. Of courseJane is there .Here .There is .So.Much .Jane .
It would be an oversight if we did not includeDenise Austin’s smallstrength Pilates class in the program. “Scoop up a press now! Scoop them up! “
Last but never – never – last: Richard Simmons. I’m not saying you should feel obligated to dothis workout , but if you don’t even watch the intro, you’re doing yourself a disservice. (RICHARD WE LOVE YOU.)
What would you add to this list? What other classics do we need to bring back into our lives?