Chloe Ting: we need to talk

I dare you to mention lockdown and not immediately think of Chloe Ting. This lovely girl has invaded our lives in summer 2020 faster than the miss virus itself. And to be honest with all of you, I'm not complaining.

Back in May 2020 I decided that i wanted to be healthier, that i needed to loose weight, that I wanted to be happier with myself. I was not in a good place, but like so many other people determined to give anything a try. Years before i used to love fitness and exercising was part of my weekly routine.

I discovered Chloe on youtube where she gained millions of followers soon after and her growth is so deserved. Chloe Ting creates workout programes and videos on a regular basis that she uploads them to her youtube channel and has an amazing online community of people supporting each other.

In this article, I will be sharing my pros and cons, but also my view on her programme.

Pros / The why you should do it hehe

1. It is free

One thing that might be scary is the amount of "Workout plans" cost out there and even if you search on App Store or Google Play etc, most good apps (cause there are a lot of free ones that take you through the same 5 minute range of exercises) cost money. But why pay when you have so many fitness youtubers out there that have workout videos online for free.

2. Equipment

The majority of her exercises can be done on a mat / floor / even bed hehe and you don't really need fancy equipment. What I like about her is that she always mentions that you can always make it way more challenging with water bottles, resistance bands or dumbbels, but it is not a must. At the beginning of my journey I did not have the motivation to buy all the "home gym" equipment. To tell you i wasn't even sure i wasn't going to give up after a week, so that really made it attractive to me.

3. It works if you stick to it

Now four weeks is a long time to be motivated to do it, but stick with it and it will work. For me in four weeks, the scale only moved 2kg, but you could see the waist definition and maybe some muscle definition here and there.

But, the most important part was the mental improvement / change. Mentally it helped so much. I also found that by regularly looking at other people's progress i knew i would get there one day. We all have different journeys and it is important to remember for some of us it might be faster, while for others it might be slower.

The Cons / the think ahead:

1. Time - it might be long

Now if you have never worked out, a four week commitment can be quite long. And then the almost daily 22 - 45 minutes per day. It can be scary okay. And you are not the only on thinking, hmmm not sure if i can comit. And to be honest with you, at week 3 i was struggling with motivation and workout. I remember dragging myself out and doing the exercises, but never going full in. But i remember i promised myself and that i committed. So i took a two or three break and then continued with energy and a changed attitude.

A lot of the time we are so stuck in our heads that we add barriers to ourselves.

2. Music - can we change the song please

I think everyone at this point laughs, but those same repetitive songs really can be your suffering. After the first week, i couldn't deal with the same songs anymore, so she had to be muted and i played my own spotify playlist hehe.

3. Workouts: repetitive is the word

At the beginning when it is new videos is exciting, you focus on learning the technique or the correct form. After week 1, you notice the pattern of the same combination of videos and you can get enough of it. Out of this workout i had 3 videos i really liked, and the rest i was like meh fine.

Now i always did the warm up routine and the do this after a workout so that made it even longer.

4. Not super back injury friendly

This is one of my main cons with her workouts. Two years ago i injured my lower back and have been slowly trying to strenghten it. When i started the workout programme, i learnt very quickly that i couldn't do 25% of the moves in her videos because my back would be in so much pain.

So, if you are in a similar position, my advice: don't give up, but find alternatives. I had to spend a few hours searching the internet for back injury friendly exercises and adapted the ones i couldn't do. And that my friends made such a difference.

My favourite videos from this workot that i still do to this day in my weekly routine:

Do I recommend or do I not?

Well that is the question. Honestly, yes, i do recommend her workouts, but maybe not this one as the beginner one. She has shorter challenges, but what i also like is that she targets different areas of the body.

She caters mainly towards beginners, so she is the perfect start compared to other youtubers out there and she does use quite a few pilates moves which are a huge benefit in my books.