I grew up watching Richard Simmons. I still hear oldies songs and can do some of the Sweatin’ to the Oldies routines. Before my collection of Jillian Michaels’ DVDs, I had Gilad, Denise Austin and Tamilee Webb on VHS.

I like exercise videos just as much as going to the gym. They add variety to my workouts, they work well when I’m crunched for time and the people in the television cannot see me struggling with coordination (ask my friends how well I did at the Fame Dance Workout).

For some, going to a gym is cost prohibitive, intimidating or just not their style. For those people, I would recommend they check out home workout videos. While not all libraries have them, it is my first stop to try before you buy. If you’re ready to buy, check out Collage Video they have descriptions, meters that show how the video is broken down (warm up, toning, cardio, strength, cool down), reviews and video clips so can see a little bit of the style, exercises and most important to me the instructor’s voice.

Here’s a rundown of resources I use for non-gym workouts:

YouTube
BeFit uploads new workout videos weekly so hopefully there’s something for everyone. They are the ones who put up Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Level 1, Yoga Meltdown Level 1 and Billy Blanks Jr. Cardio Dance.

Pump It Up is a 10-minute cardio workout and if nothing else the outfits will take you back to the 1980s. Don’t miss Part 2.

The Tone it Up YouTube channel offers workouts from their DVD and videos they made from before the DVD came out. If you go to their website, you can download PDFs of workouts, like this arm workout. Grab some of those plastic sleeves, put your print outs in them and in a three-ring binder. If you buy fitness magazines and tear out the workouts or photocopy them from library magazines, you can add those as well.

Spark People, headquartered in Cincinnati, also has a YouTube channel with a variety of workouts.

Magazines
Shape Magazine has a section on workouts and you can look through to find workouts that appeal to you or the equipment you have available. Fitness Magazine has a workout finder tool that helps you find a workout based on criteria you enter. Women’s Health Magazine also has a fitness section without workouts that are video and print.

Apps
To the best of my knowledge, the following apps are free and for the iPhone, but I don’t know if they’re available for the Droid. Most of these have an option to upgrade and receive more workouts, but I find plenty to do with what is available without upgrading.
Women’s Health Workouts LITE
Jillian Michaels Slim Down Solution
Hot Body Yoga
Gorilla Lite

Pinterest
As for Pinterest, type in workout or fitness and scan the boards, but don’t allow yourself to spend more time looking than actually doing. I scan looking for weight lifting calendars to see what people do for a month’s time. Here’s my fitness board.

If you have any tips, tricks or resources to share for non-gym workouts, please leave me a comment.

Note: I’m not a trainer or doctor, just an exercise enthusiast. You should consult a doctor before starting any workout regime.