Why I Ditched the Gym for YouTube
On the humiliations of public exercise and the joys of working out alone
I clasp my hands together. I raise my arms over my head. Lift my knee. Lower my arm unit to touch said knee. Repeat on the other side. Soon I’ll be stepping from side to side. Jumping. Lunging. Holding my trembling body in the plank position.
It’s 2019, but it could be 1999 or even 1969. After all, women have obeyed fitness gurus from the comfort of home via vinyl or VHS or DVD for decades now. But there’s something about YouTube, isn’t there? There’s something about having a million free videos available on demand in your living room, or your bedroom, or your office, or even on a platform waiting for a train.
Listen, if you’ve got a problem with your normcore bod, rest assured that YouTube has a celeb solution. Oversized thighs? Get legs like a Victoria’s Secret model. Bingo wings not winning you any jackpots? Try these moves and you can have arms like Michelle Obama. Those trips to the brewery leave you nine months pregnant with a beer baby? Do these five easy exercises and your abs will be as flat as Ariana’s.
Having access to YouTube is like having your very own, very versatile personal trainer — one you can mercifully pause or stop. I should know. For the past two years, I have mostly…
