Workout channels are a popular lifestyle subgenre that cover a wide range of fitness activities including bodybuilding, yoga, dance, ab workouts, cardio routines and almost everything in between.
Fitness-focused creators often have a base of dedicated fans who rely on their videos as a consistent way to find workouts they can do in their homes, often using little or no workout equipment. These five workout channels offer different approaches to the art of making interesting and engaging videos that foster channel growth and financial success.
Fitness Blender is a very successful channel run by a husband and wife duo. With 4.7 million subscribers and more than 500 full-body workout videos posted, the couple has learned how to use sleek, consistent visuals and simple, easy to follow workout instructions to attract and retain viewers. They release a new video every Monday, which establishes consistency for their audience. Their workouts are organized into warm ups, main workouts and cool downs, which naturally leads viewers from one of their videos to another. Fitness Blenders has monetized their channel through advertisements before and during their videos. They’ve also used the channel as a link to their personal website and Home Workout Plans which cost anywhere from $5 to $10.
With strong viewership and a high number of subscribers the channel seems solidly founded on monetization from both external advertising and sales of their own workout programs.
POPSUGAR Fitness is one branch of a much larger lifestyle brand that covers entertainment, beauty, fashion and fitness on YouTube and other platforms. On the POPSUGAR Fitness channel, the team creates a sense of consistency in their videos with Fitness Host Anna Renderer, who introduces the guest instructor for each video. With 1.8 million subscribers, POPSUGAR Fitness relies on popular health and workout trends and brings in celebrity trainers to lead workouts that come with a lot of name recognition for viewers (i.e. the Victoria’s Secret model workout). POPSUGAR Fitness also uses collaborations with other creators from mostly the lifestyle genre to grow and expand their audience.
As far as monetization, they sometimes acknowledge corporate sponsors within their videos, and they also use pre-roll advertising. In the “About” section, the creators also provide a link to their clean-eating app, which viewers can buy on iTunes for $2.99.
Yoga With Adriene is one of many yoga channels on YouTube, and with 3 million subscribers, Adrienne has found an equation that attracts viewers of all ages, genders and skill levels. Her videos are simple and consistent visually and stylistically. Adriene has created a consistent brand through her on-screen graphics, intros and thumbnails. When the video starts, she usually jumps right into the workout and uses a calm, quiet voiceover to provide instructions and keep the videos engaging. Adriene addresses trends in health and wellness in many of her videos and she offers yoga routines to help viewers deal with anxiety, depression, specific bodily pains or workout goals like weight loss or increased flexibility. Adriene uses ads to monetize her channel and she also provides a link on YouTube to her personal website and online store, where she sells merchandise and subscriptions to personalized yoga programs with exclusive, ad-free versions of her videos at a cost of $9.99 per month.
The Fitness Marshall is a workout dance channel run by Caleb Marshall, whose high-energy personality and killer dance moves get viewers moving along to popular songs for a fast-paced workout. At 1.1 million subscribers, Caleb creates short, effective workouts — they only last the length of one song — and encourages viewers to create their own workout “playlist” using a combination of his videos. Caleb brings in a different group of backup dancers for each video, and they usually represent many different skill levels and body types. By asking viewers to create their own “Cardio Concerts” he encourages his audience to stay within his channel to create a workout of whatever length they desire. On his channel, Caleb also provides a link to his Patreon, where supporters can gain access to additional “patron only” videos or pay for a special shout out from him on social media.
As far as monetization, the Fitness Marshall promotes sponsored products within some of his videos in a way that’s fairly brief and painless, and the channel also uses pre-roll advertising.
Scola Dondo describes herself as a “personal trainer and food lover,” and she runs a lifestyle channel focused on health and fitness. She releases several types of videos every week including “Motivation Mondays” (mostly advice on health and wellness) and “Workout Wednesday” (fitness routines). Scola shares her personal story about weight loss with viewers and her channel feels more casual and personal than the other workout channels featured here. Her contagious personality and openness with her audience make the channel feel safe and approachable, even for viewers who many not have much experience with fitness or workout programs. Scola’s workouts are easy to follow and designed for all skill levels and living spaces. Her videos address more than physical health and are meant to help viewers feel healthy physically, mentally and emotionally. Ads are present on some of her videos, but she isn’t selling any type of personal product or workout plan, which makes the channel feel a little more genuine and familiar than some of the more business-oriented workout channels.
These five channels all strive to make fitness accessible to a broad range of viewers, and they employ a variety of business strategies to make that possible. If you want start or grow your own fitness-oriented channel, use the success of these five channels to inspire and inform your own channel’s development. And if you’re just looking to break a sweat, these channels won’t disappoint.