Whether you’re not that interested in getting fit or would like to but are short on time, it’s definitely important to challenge the body physically and mentally. It’s essential that each of us squeeze in at least 30 minutes of physical activity several times throughout the week for not only an increasingly efficient body, but also for an overall improvement of life.This goes for your body mentally and physically! Anyways, I understand that it’s quite challenging to make the time to get sweaty and uncomfortable even if it is only for 30 short minutes. For a typical workout, 30 minutes can seem like three hours. Wouldn’t it be the greatest if there was a workout that was short on time but still felt even shorter?! Do me a favor and hop on your internet dinosaur, then search up “The Fitness Marshall” on YouTube. You will not regret it!

The Fitness Marshall YouTube account is run by Caleb Marshall, a dance instructor of Bloomington, Indiana. Marshall’s motto is, “Dance yourself sexy!” My older sister exposed me to Marshall’s videos just last year, and now I can’t get enough! One day I walked into my house, only to see her dancing around the kitchen table with her laptop propped up on the counter with the sound of Marshall’s energetic and encouraging voice echoing in the background. At first, (and for awhile..) I poked fun at my sister for dancing around to some dancing video on YouTube and that she thought it was “actually really hard” and said, “it makes you sweat like crazy!” Soon after, when nobody was home, I fell to Marshall’s videos.

All it took was one video to show me that I could easily spend all day dancing to these videos. I remember waking up one day, exhausted from the busy week prior. I was panicking most the day, since I felt so fatigued and didn’t want to even move off my bed, (which is not like me at all!) even though I had a basketball game in a few hours to mentally prepare and get pumped up for. It was lunch time and I had only 500 steps tracked onto my FitBit, which is unusual-- I usually am at over 10,000 steps by noon! I paused when preparing for lunch, and whipped my laptop out. Something had to give, I was so tired and in no way prepared for the game or even the day in general! I pounced onto YouTube and plugged “Fitness Marshall” into the search engine.

Watching and dancing to Marshall’s “Me Too” video, I immediately regretted nothing. Following that video, I unconsciously kept going through, watching and dancing to video after video after video. Each upload is around 3-4 minutes long, so I was shocked when I glanced up at the clock to see 45 minutes had passed. The best part is, they really do work up a quick sweat, and you’re smiling the whole time! The Fitness Marshall makes fitness enjoyable, and even fun. I’m not lying when I say that I seriously couldn’t stop smiling, even if I looked like a complete idiot trying to dance with no prior experience. Marshall makes it an energy-booster as well as a confidence building routine. You feel as if you’re in his actual studio jamming along with him and his backup dancers, who look just like you! Normal people dancing to normal people songs that are fun and upbeat.

When I decided it was time to complete my last video for the day, my heart was pumping hard and my heart was smiling more than usual! Remember when I said I only had around 500 steps at noon? After dancing along to Marshall’s videos, my step counter was at 6,000 just after 45 minutes!! The same 45 minutes also counted as active minutes, thanks to my FitBit for noting.

Fitness isn’t just lifting and running at the gym. Fitness is doing things that are fun and get your heart pumping! Whether you’re into working out or not, I highly recommend watching The Fitness Marshall’s YouTube videos for a great sweat! Even if you’re not a dancer, you’ll catch yourself sweating and smiling the entire time. Much love to Caleb Marshall of Bloomington, Indiana, thank you for all your hard work; keep working and inspiring those around you!