Each January, millions of people across the country make a New Year’s resolution to get in shape. They spend millions on home exercise equipment and gym memberships that most stop using after a few months. This year, instead of spending a bunch of money on things you think you think will help you get in shape, why not just focus on the actual getting in shape part? Forget spending money. There are lots of great workout videos on Netflix that can get you in gear.

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Workout Videos on Netflix? You Bet!

Although you might not think so, there are literally hundreds of workout videos on Netflix. The tough thing isn’t finding workout videos on Netflix — you can do that by searching “workout” or “exercise” from the website. It’s that so many of the workout videos on Netflix have low ratings. It’s really hard to compare them.

They’re workout videos! They’re hard and require you to sweat! It’s no wonder they’re all getting 2 stars. Follow our lead below and soon you’ll be losing weight at home without spending a ton of money.

The Best Workout Videos on Netflix:

Sifting through all the options, it’s easy to get a sense that there are lots of good workout videos on Netflix. But rather than chance it, we’ve previewed a bunch of them for you to make sure the video quality is good, the workouts aren’t too difficult or absurd and to help you get a sense of what they’re like. This should help you get started on your way to a low-cost, get fit routine:

1) “Caribbean Workout” Videos

Style: Ranging from Pilates to Yoga to Kickboxing
Style: Low to Medium, Designed to Get Your Blood Flowing if You’re a Beginner

All of the videos in the Caribbean Workout series are high quality and many of them are really great for beginners, including Caribbean Workout: Core Pilates and many others. Any of the ones by Shelly McDonald are great, though some of them do require light equipment like small dum bells, steps and balance balls. You should be able to get through most of them without the equipment though.

2) Workout “for Dummies” Videos

Style: Varies Depending on Topic, from Dance to Abs to Yoga
Difficulty: Medium Intensity

We are all familiar with the for Dummies series of books, but did you know they make videos too? There are dozens of “Dummies” workout videos on Netflix. We previewed Dance Workout for Dummies and Pilates Workout for Dummies and loved both because they include both beginner and advanced versions of lots of the exercises, plus plenty of pointers and things to keep in mind in order to make sure you’re learning and doing the exercises right. None of the “Dummies” videos require any additional equipment from what we could tell.

3) “Jackie Warner” Videos

Style: Pure Exercise, No Gimmicks
Difficulty: Medium to High Intensity

There are a few videos featuring Jackie Warner on Netflix, including Workout: One-on-One Training with Jackie and Training with Jackie: Circuit Training. They’re all fairly new and really to-the-point. They’ll get you sweating without the sugar coating you’ll find on lots of other workout videos on Netflix. Some of these videos do require light dumbells, but you can probably get started without much weight. Jackie keeps things moving!

4) “Kimberly Spreen” Videos

Style: Kickboxing and General Aerobics
Difficulty: Medium to High Intensity

Another one we like for her to-the-point approach, Kimberly Spreen’s workout videos on Netflix include Cardio-Camp Workout and Kimberly Spreen: Absolute Kick-Boxing in addition to others including some made for Shape magazine. Kimberly starts slow, focusing on warm ups and moves into high-energy exercises that never involve complexity. She keeps it simple so you can keep moving. Most of her videos do not require any additional exercise equipment.

5) “John Hackleman” Videos

Style: Mixed Martial Arts and Intense Resistence-Free Workouts
Difficulty: High to Very High Intensity

There aren’t as many high intensity workout videos on Netflix as there are low intensity ones, but if you’re already in decent shape and are looking for something new to get you motivated, the two videos by John Hackleman — a world renowned MMA trainer and 10th degree black belt — will definitely get your heart pumping. There’s no bags or equipment required in The Pit Workout, which is two discs, though the second workout in The Pit Workout: CrossPit requires resistance bands and a chin-up bar. If you have the resistance bands, you might also look at the SWAT Workout videos with Tom Stroup, which are also pretty intense.

Workout Videos on Netflix to Avoid

There are a few workout videos on Netflix you’ll probably want to steer clear of, which we’re only pointing out because we stumbled across them trying to vet the best ones. Here’s a short list of those we don’t think are worth your time:

Goddess Workout Videos – These are fun and focus on helping you be sexy, but none of them are going to offer a very good workout.

Mind Fitness Workout Videos - The instructor here is probably good, but he’s really into making you say self-affirming things while you work out, which were too silly for us to get past. Saying “I will eat less fat” while we worked out made us feel plain goofy.

Flamenco Workout – While we’re sure there are some great latin dance workout videos on Netflix, Flamenco Workout is not a great quality video, and won’t offer much in the way of exercise. It’s more about the actual dancing, which is fun but not going to get your heart pumping.

What are some of your favorite (or least favorite) workout videos on Netflix? Have any other tips for home workout fans? Share your tips below.