13 Free Home Workouts for People Over 50: No Gym Required

When you’re over 50 and getting back to–or just beginning–to exercise, it’s easy to feel self-conscious. Or, you may not have the time or budget to join a gym. No worries! Here are 13 great FREE workouts you can do at home.

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I’m all for not worrying about what people think about me. But maybe you’re not there yet.

Let’s be real, joining a gym for the first time can be intimidating. And you may have no idea what you’re doing, or how to use any of the machines.

The last thing you want to do is approach some super-fit, chipper 20-something to ask questions!

I’m not saying you should feel this way. I’m just saying it’s natural. Some people are shy and just not ready to put themselves out into the world like that.

That’s something to be worked on for sure, but meanwhile, in order to get into your best shape, and to stave off a number of negative outcomes as you age, you need to start exercising, plain and simple.

Enter Youtube (and friends) For Home Workouts

Maybe like me you’re a bit late to the Youtube craze, but I’m all in now. You should be, too.

You can watch virtually anything there, from how-to fix your ’56 Chevy, to full-length workouts.

Even better, you can find workouts of any length, any type of equipment, or no equipment except your own body. From beginner to advanced and beyond. It can be overwhelming!

But it’s an exerciser’s dream.

For this post, I stayed with 10-minute workouts. Seriously, if you can squeeze in ONE 10 minute workout each day, you are doing better than 80% of all adults in the United States.

According to HHS.gov, “Less than 5% of adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day; only one in three adults receive the recommended amount of physical activity each week.”

A 10-Minute A Day Home Workout Is Better Than Nothing!

It’s amazing to think that exercising for 10 minutes a day is considered too much for most people!

And surprisingly studies show that breaking up exercise into 2 or 3 separate sessions can be as effective as working out for 30+ minutes straight. It’s also WAY more doable for more people.

Think about it–on most days you can probably squeeze in a 10-minute workout 2 or 3 times, right? And the goal would certainly be to work toward 3 sessions for a total of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

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On To The Workouts!

Most of these are as good as, if not better than many of the DVD workouts I have purchased over the years, with the possible exception of those by Cathe Friedrich.

While exercise alone isn’t the key to weight loss, it’s certainly helpful for re-shaping your body as well as warding off a multitude of the problems we all encounter with aging.

10-Minute Home Workouts

Bodyfit By Amy (Youtube)

Amy has a large number of free workouts available on Youtube. They are quite varied as well, including beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts.

These are short 10-minute workouts, which is what this section will focus on.

This is a truly beginner workout, and uses no equipment except your own body. Sometimes so-called beginner workouts can really tax true beginners. Read some of the comments to the video:

“Every video on YouTube exhausted me so bad I could barely function (energy wise) the next day. However once I found this my life changed.”

Youtube comment

” At last a beginner workout that doesn’t make you feel like a washout loser! Thank you, thank you, thank you , THANK YOU Amy. You are a gem.”

youtube comment

Another super popular BodyFit by Amy workout. It also garners the same sort of enthusiasm for being truly beginner, but also effective.

“Thought this might be too easy. WRONG! I had no idea how weak my core is! This was challenging, yet at the same time doable so I didn’t feel like quitting.”

YouTUBE comment

Here’s one just for legs.

This one threw me for a loop at first because, well, I’m over 60 and Amy leads this one when she’s like, 8 months pregnant! It’s a good 10-minute workout, though, and she’s a bit less energetic specifically because she’s preggers.

Consequently, you can make this one easier or more difficult depending on using or not using dumbbells, or going lighter or heavier with them.

And another for arms.

I think you can see that if you’re a beginner, doing a 10-minute workout each day is totally doable.

Once you have some experience under your belt, work up to two a day, either together for a total of 20 minutes, or 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon or evening, depending on your schedule.

This is only a very small taste of all that Amy has to offer. She has workouts of all different lengths. Some use body weight. Others use equipment such as dumbbells, kettlebells (my favorite), exercise bands, and more.

You could make a whole year’s workout plans with just Amy. She is not to be missed!

Popsugar Fitness (Youtube)

Popsugar has absolute loads of workouts! I kid you not, a full year’s worth of workouts and more are available here.

Not only that, but you could design a progression with only Popsugar from beginner 10-minute workouts, all the way to full-on 40-60 minute hard-core sessions.

Above is an example of one of the beginner workouts. Ten minutes goes by quickly, and you know you can fit in 10 minutes on nearly any day.

Honestly, if you can’t find 10 minutes to give your body some love, we have some other issues to work on!

Oh man! If you’re not used to core workouts (known as ab workouts a few years ago), this one will have you sore the next day.

Can we just say arms on fire??

This is another with no equipment needed except the ‘ol bod! It’s tough, though and includes some jumping (which is great for cardio + fat burning). But modify if you need to.

Moms Into Fitness (Youtube)

I am a mom, but my kids are long gone from home. But who says this is just for young moms? Or that you even have to be a mom to follow along?

Another beginner Hiit routine (you remember that term, right? High intensity interval training).

This one is a very good REAL beginner routine for a home workout.

Hiit cardio routine that’s the same length, but more advanced. Expect to be breathing a little harder with this one!

Pamela Reif (Youtube)

This gal has abs! Her ab workouts are known for being intense, and even though this one is for beginners, it’s still tough. But it gets the job done!

This one for the behind, uses loop bands. You will be amazed at how much more intense workouts can be with those dang things added. You may want to do it a few times first without the band!

Now Get Exercising, Ladies!

Now you have 13 beginner 10-minute workouts to get you started on your home workouts. Coming up I’ll write about 20-minute, 30-minute, and maybe 45-minute workouts for those of you who want more!

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