Not got a lot of time to get a sweat on? Enter stage right, a Joe Wicks workout. Why Joe’s workouts over other personal trainers? Simple: they’re easy yet effective home workouts (opens in new tab) available for free on YouTube. The twenty-minute or so high-intensity interval training (opens in new tab) sessions also don’t take up a lot of your time – winner, winner.
Wicks has been headline news this week as his BBC documentary, Joe Wicks: Facing My Childhood (opens in new tab), hits screens. In the doc, he reflects on his troublesome childhood (growing up, the star’s father struggled with drug addiction and his mother, OCD tendencies) and how it’s shaped who he is as a human but also father today.
Now on a mission to reshape the UK’s mental health (opens in new tab), Wicks is taking things up a level. With the recent MBE under his belt – he’s single-handily sold the most fitness books in the UK since records began – he’s keen to keep transforming millions of lives through his free workout and nutrition content.
Back to the Joe Wicks workouts — the reason you’re on this page. The personal trainer’s online sessions are universally loved for good reason. Unlike some more convoluted celebrity workouts (opens in new tab), they’re short, simple, and effective, with most under half an hour and requiring just yourself (and one of the best sports bras (opens in new tab)).
As above, Wicks’ workouts have always been high-intensity interval training. Otherwise known as HIIT, it’s as the name implies – short, sharp, intense bursts of exercise (aim for 80% of your rate of perceived exertion or RPE) followed by rest periods. Forget hours in the gym: if you’re willing to work hard, he reckons you can get just as good results.
Not convinced? You need only take a quick scroll of his Instagram page (@thebodycoach (opens in new tab)) to see the hundreds of transformation photos. Sure, HIIT training may not boast the long-term health benefits of running (opens in new tab), hiking (opens in new tab) or cold water therapy (opens in new tab), but it sure as heck seems to work for fat loss.
We’ve rounded up 30 of the best Joe Wicks workouts for all abilities. Whether you’re after something short and sweet, need it low impact because of an injury, or are after a longer session, we’ve got just the workout.