One of the most frequent excuses made by people who don’t work out regularly is that they don’t have time. While it’s certainly true that life can be hectic, exercise confers so many health benefits that it should be regarded as equally important to well-being as eating healthily and getting sufficient sleep.

Fortunately, there’s a simple solution for anyone who thinks they’re too short of time to form an exercise habit. It’s free, you can use it at home, and it can take as little as five minutes. It’s YouTube, and here are the best fitness channels for you, however long you have to spare.

If You Have Five Minutes

If you only have five minutes, don't worry; you can still get a sweat on.

1. 5-Minute Fitness

If you only have five minutes to spare, there’s a YouTube channel just for you. Conveniently called 5-Minute Fitness, this US-based channel has a growing catalog of strength and cardio-based training videos.

Featuring titles that promise great outcomes, for example, Need ABS in 5 Min? - Here’s How! and 5 Min 5 Pushups Everyday for CRAZY CHEST GAINS!, these videos boast animated videos and clear countdowns to get you moving quickly. At the end of each one, you’re told, “You have earned my respect…for now!” and challenged to take on the next workout, so those five minutes may well lead to another five.

Also, remember that the intensity of these moves means you’d be advised to remember to add a little time for warming up beforehand. Use one of these warm-up apps to help you get the best results from your workout.

With new videos added weekly, it’s worth subscribing to keep up with the latest from this rapidly-growing channel.

If You Have Seven Minutes

If you've got seven minutes, you can try these exercises.

2. Lucy Wyndham-Read

UK-based fitness trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read has over one thousand home workout videos on her well-established YouTube channel. Among the impressive catalog, you’ll find a series of challenges designed to be done at home.

Head for the 7-Day 7-Minute Workout to burn belly fat, and you’ll join over 140 million people who have taken on this challenge. It’s a series of seven calorie-burning toning and strengthening moves that you repeat each day for seven days, ideally first thing each morning, to boost your metabolism rate for the day. You could use it alongside these apps to start a happy and productive morning routine.

Along the way, Wyndham-Read shares additional information to help motivate you and understand how good nutrition will help supplement your exercise efforts. If you like her approach, explore the other short workouts on offer. There are also several great 7-minute workout apps for exercising when you’re short on time.

3. BeFiT

Lionsgate BeFiT is a workout platform with over three million subscribers. Based in the USA, BeFiT has a series of fitness trainers to get you working out through various disciplines, from yoga and dance to strength and cardio. There are good warm-up and cool-down guides, too.

The BeFit 7-Minute workout series is perfect if you can spare seven minutes daily. It’s a series of HIIT routines that will put you through your paces with energetic cardio and strength moves that are clearly demonstrated with alternative movements offered. Some of the exercises require weights, but these are often optional. Alternatively, try these electrifying online HIIT classes.

If you’re extremely time-limited, the BeFiT 7-Minute Workout series will undoubtedly help you make the most of those valuable exercise minutes. You’ll definitely feel the burn!

If You Have 10 Minutes

Try these workouts if you have 10 minutes to spare.

4. The Body Coach

Joe Wicks is the Body Coach, and his YouTube channel is perhaps the most comprehensive exercise resource on the platform, with options for everyone from the youngest children to seniors. Don’t let his sunny approach fool you; you’ll be working up a sweat in no time if you follow one of the pacy routines.

If you have ten minutes to spare, there’s an excellent full-body workout to try. Wicks demonstrates it all from his living room to prove that a lack of equipment or gym membership need not hold you back if you really want to work on your fitness.

5. Pamela Reif

​​​​​YouTube fitness instructor Pamela Reif offers a Beginner Friendly series of over 70 workouts on her channel. With many of them lasting just ten minutes, they’re another great resource if you’re short on time. Many of Reif’s routines are designed to work a specific body region, so you can opt for 10-minute exercises for your abs, back, upper arms, glutes, or the full body challenge.

If you don’t like the non-stop talking approach from some instructors, this is a welcome alternative. Reif doesn’t speak; she simply demonstrates the moves to a musical soundtrack, with a countdown clock and captions helping you along.

If You Have 12 Minutes

Try these exercises if you have a little more time:

6. Grow With Jo

If you have 12 minutes to spare and you’re an exercise rookie, head for Grow With Jo. This YouTube channel, led by personal trainer Johanna Devries, is based on having fun while achieving fitness goals. There are over 300 videos to choose from, all clearly categorized for total beginners, intermediate, and advanced, and you can also choose according to time duration.

With twelve minutes to spare, head to the 12 Minute Fat Burn Series. At the time of writing, the videos on this playlist provide options for working out in the morning, at night, with dumbbells, and seated. Choose the one that suits you best and enjoy the music-led routine, which, like Pamela Reif, features no vocal instructions.

If You Have 15 Minutes

For those with more time to spare, you can try these 15-minute workouts instead.

7. MadFit

MadFit by Canadian fitness trainer Maddie Lymburner will suit you if you have 15 minutes to spare for your workout routine. There is a huge range of workouts, so narrowing your choice down by duration will definitely help you to navigate the catalog.

Try the 15-minute Beginner Cardio workout that you can do at home with no equipment. If you enjoy it, try one of these calisthenics YouTube classes that also require nothing but your own body weight.

Like many of the routines on this list, there are a series of circuits to work through. Lymburner is a great trainer who explains moves clearly and demonstrates everything as she goes, making it perfect for exercise newbies.

When you’re ready to progress, or you have another 15 minutes to spare, move on to one of the longer routines or try an alternative workout, such as the Cardio Abs class or the floor-based Abs and Booty workout.

If You Have 20 Minutes

20 minutes is more than enough time to get a serious sweat on.

8. Body Project Challenge

​​​​​​​If you’ve taken the time to warm up and get moving, you can probably stretch to 20 minutes. And you can burn a serious amount of calories in that time, so make the most of it by choosing your YouTube options widely.

While many of the instructors in this list have a range of longer routines for you, you could try the Body Project Challenge from the team at Team Body Project. This is a series of home workouts led by married couple Daniel and Alexandra, who promise “real workouts for real people that deliver real results.” Test the theory by sampling one of the H20 workouts, which stands for High Intensity for 20 minutes. The H20 beginner and intermediate low-impact HIIT program is a suitably challenging place to start.

Make Time to Exercise Each Day and Build a Healthy Habit

All the fitness instructors featured here pack a lot into a short video, ensuring that you can maximize your workout time, however little you can spare. All you really need is to carve out a few moments and find a small space to exercise in.

All those moments add up to become an exercise habit that may soon be as much a part of your daily routine as eating your breakfast. If you practice the habit regularly, you’ll quickly notice a positive difference.