POPSUGAR Fitness Review 2026

POPSUGAR Fitness, now rebranded PS Fit: one of the original and biggest free YouTube workout channels, full of fun, follow-along cardio, dance and HIIT with celebrity trainers · genuinely enjoyable, free and beginner-friendly · but cardio-forward with light strength, dated aesthetic framing in places, and no menopause content. Free and fun, but a supplement, not a midlife plan.

Is POPSUGAR Fitness right for you?

What POPSUGAR Fitness Actually Is

POPSUGAR Fitness is one of the original and largest free workout channels on YouTube, with around 6.7 million subscribers and more than a billion lifetime views built up since 2010. Its content is free, ad-supported follow-along home workouts: cardio, HIIT, dance cardio, barre, kickboxing, yoga, Pilates and some light-weight strength, typically 10 to 45 minutes and mostly no-equipment, often featuring celebrity and well-known trainers. In 2024 the parent brand rebranded from POPSUGAR to PS, and the fitness content now sits under the PS Fit name, though it is the same channel.

Which product this is, and one change to know. This profile covers the free PS Fit, formerly POPSUGAR Fitness, YouTube channel. The brand is now owned by Vox Media, and the channel is still active and posting regularly, though its mix has shifted toward more celebrity and lifestyle content alongside the workouts, so the classic full-length follow-alongs it was loved for increasingly function as a back-catalogue. The separate paid app it once ran, Active by POPSUGAR, has been discontinued, so the reviewable product now is the free channel.

For this audience it helps to be clear about what it is and is not. POPSUGAR Fitness is a genuinely fun, free, varied way to move at home, and that access has real value. What it is not is a menopause or strength programme: the training is cardio and HIIT-forward, high-impact in places, and light on progressive strength, with aesthetic framing and no midlife-specific content. Read it as a free cardio and dance supplement to layer onto a strength-first midlife routine.

Who Is Behind POPSUGAR Fitness? Credibility

POPSUGAR Fitness grew out of the POPSUGAR women’s lifestyle media brand, and its workouts have long featured certified fitness professionals and celebrity trainers, with the long-time host Anna Renderer, who holds a Master’s in clinical exercise physiology, its strongest single credential. The brand is now owned by Vox Media and rebranded as PS, with the fitness content under PS Fit.

How to read that credibility. As general fitness, it is credible: the workouts are well produced, the trainers are qualified, and the follow-along format is beginner-friendly. What it is not is clinically or menopause-credentialed: there is no medical or menopause advisory, no hormone or pelvic-floor expertise, and the brand’s marketing leans on aesthetic, appearance-focused framing that our audience is often trying to move away from. For our readers that means enjoyable, competent free workouts, but not menopause-specific or clinically grounded guidance, and the aesthetic framing is worth holding at arm’s length.

Content and Features

What Equipment Do You Need for POPSUGAR Fitness?

Very little, which is part of the appeal. Most workouts are bodyweight and need only a mat, and some use light dumbbells. For a midlife body, the most useful upgrade is a set of dumbbells you can make heavier over time, because cardio and light weights alone will not provide the progressive loading that protects bone and muscle after 40.

Recommended spec examples. These picks are curated for convenience by specification and feature fit, not personally lab-tested for long-term durability. Prices are examples; verify before buying.

A quick heads-up: some of the buy links above are Amazon affiliate links, so if you grab something through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. The POPSUGAR Fitness workouts are free on YouTube. I only ever point you to kit I would happily use myself.

How We Scored POPSUGAR Fitness: the 4.6 / 10 Breakdown

Scores on our 9 weighted criteria, from our research-based assessment. Women Over 40 is our menopause-fit criterion, and its full 12-capability breakdown follows in the next section.

Is POPSUGAR Fitness Good for Women Over 40?

As a free, fun cardio option, it has a place. Plenty of women over 40 enjoy its dance cardio and follow-along workouts because they are free, varied and easy to start, and there are some genuinely low-impact routines among the library. If you are already active and want an enjoyable free sweat at home, it is a low-barrier, joyful choice.

Who it suits, and what is missing. It suits an already-active woman who likes cardio and dance and will pick the lower-impact options. What is missing is anything midlife-specific: there is no menopause, hormone or pelvic-floor content, the default is high-impact cardio and HIIT that can stress joints and the pelvic floor, the strength is too light to build bone or muscle, and there is no structure or recovery guidance. The aesthetic, appearance-first framing is also a poor fit for training for health rather than looks.

What the wider picture shows. POPSUGAR Fitness is a fun, free, well-produced channel whose real value for our readers is access and enjoyment, not midlife-appropriate design. The best way to use it is as an occasional free cardio or dance boost, chosen for lower-impact options, with your actual training built around progressive strength and, if you want it, a menopause-specific programme.

How POPSUGAR Fitness Fits Perimenopause, Menopause and Beyond

Our capability breakdown of how well POPSUGAR Fitness suits women across perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause. Women Over 40 is our menopause-fit criterion, and this is the full breakdown behind the Women Over 40 row above.

POPSUGAR Fitness is strongest for free, accessible, fun cardio and a beginner-friendly feel; it is weakest on progressive strength, bone loading, recovery and any menopause, hormone or pelvic-floor content, in our menopause and midlife capability assessment.

This is the perimenopause and menopause assessment, and it is separate from the overall score. Twelve things a programme either does for a midlife body or does not, each scored out of 10 with my reasoning next to it. Together they produce a single menopause fit score, and that becomes one of the nine categories in the overall scoring below.

These are evidence-informed suitability ratings, not clinical measurements. They combine exercise science with programme research and multi-source verification, and are approximate. Individual response varies. A starting point, not medical advice. How we score menopause fit.

What the Research Says: POPSUGAR Fitness Checked

The cardio and dance have value, with a midlife caveat. Interval training improves body composition in women, but the effect is weaker after menopause than before,^[1] and dance specifically has good evidence in postmenopausal women for improving cardiorespiratory fitness and sleep, though in one trial it did not change body composition or muscle strength.^[2] Higher fitness is also strongly linked to lower mortality in women, so an enjoyable cardio habit you keep is worth something.^[3]

Home follow-along works, within limits. Unsupervised home-based exercise genuinely improves balance and function in older adults, though it tends not to build much upper-body strength, which fits a cardio-forward, light-resistance channel.^[4] So POPSUGAR Fitness can help you move more and feel fitter, but it is not a strength builder.

Where the real gap lies. For the muscle and bone that menopause erodes most, the strongest stimulus is heavy, progressive resistance training, which improved bone density in postmenopausal women where lighter exercise did not,^[5] against a backdrop of falling muscle and rising fat across the transition.^[6] And exercise is not a proven treatment for hot flushes; the best synthesis found the evidence inconclusive.^[7] So POPSUGAR Fitness maintains fitness and mood, but it should not be sold as menopause treatment, and it needs pairing with heavier strength.

What Users Report: Verified Sentiment

Reach snapshot: POPSUGAR Fitness, now PS Fit, is one of the biggest names in free home fitness, with around 6.7 million YouTube subscribers and over a billion lifetime views, and it is still posting weekly. There is no current app rating to cite, because its old paid app has been discontinued, so the signal is reach, editorial coverage and reviewer sentiment rather than store ratings.

What users praise and criticise. The praise is consistent: the workouts are free, varied and fun, the dance cardio is enjoyable, the trainers are warm and it is very beginner-friendly, which is why it was long seen as the go-to free at-home workout source. The fair criticisms are the dated, appearance-focused framing such as bikini-body and booty-burn titles, a recent drift toward celebrity and lifestyle content that dilutes the workout identity, the sense that the classic follow-along format is now more of an archive, and the discontinuation of the app.

Devices and Access

Because POPSUGAR Fitness lives on YouTube, its workouts play anywhere YouTube does: on a phone, tablet, computer or television, with easy casting and automatic captions. There is no login or tracking, so you simply search and press play, which is part of what makes it so accessible. The separate paid app it once offered, Active by POPSUGAR, has been discontinued and removed from the app stores.

A couple of practical notes. Without an app there is no progress tracking, personalisation or programming, so it is up to you to build a balanced week. And because the default videos are cardio and HIIT with a lot of jumping, it is worth deliberately searching the low-impact and beginner options if your joints or pelvic floor need them, rather than taking whatever autoplay serves up.

POPSUGAR Fitness Cost: What You Actually Pay

Will You Actually Stick With It?

POPSUGAR Fitness is easy to keep coming back to for simple reasons: it is free, fun and varied, the dance cardio is genuinely enjoyable, and the no-equipment format removes every barrier to starting. If you respond to upbeat, follow-along cardio, that combination supports consistency, and the huge library means boredom is unlikely.

The risks to sticking with it, for our audience, are impact, structure and framing. The high-impact default can wear on midlife joints and pelvic floors, there is no plan or progression to guide a balanced week, and the appearance-focused framing can turn a workout into a body-image exercise rather than a health one. If you use it selectively, choosing lower-impact sessions and pairing them with strength, it can be a sustainable free cardio habit; used as a whole plan, it will not serve a midlife body well.

POPSUGAR Fitness Pros and Cons

How POPSUGAR Fitness Compares

Here is how POPSUGAR Fitness stacks up against the alternatives women most often weigh it against, including the strongest menopause-built option as a contrast. Scores come from our own reviews; prices and ratings are approximate, so verify on each platform.

POPSUGAR Fitness vs Grow with Jo: Which Is Better for Women Over 40?

Both are free, but they suit different midlife needs. Grow with Jo is built on low-impact walking and cardio that is gentle on joints and easy to sustain, which fits many perimenopausal bodies well. POPSUGAR Fitness is higher-energy and higher-impact, with dance cardio and HIIT that can be fun and effective for an already-active woman but harder on joints and the pelvic floor, and it comes with more aesthetic framing.

For women over 40 the choice comes down to impact and intent. If you want joint-friendly, sustainable free movement, Grow with Jo is the gentler fit. If you are already active, want a fun free sweat, and will choose the lower-impact options, POPSUGAR Fitness delivers energy and variety. Neither builds strength for bone, so whichever you pick, add progressive weights, and if you want menopause-specific design, a purpose-built option like Pvolve alongside.

If POPSUGAR Fitness Is Not Right for You: Best Alternatives

If you want lower impact, real strength, or menopause-specific design, these published alternatives pair or compare well.

Similar programmes we partner with

Close to POPSUGAR Fitness, if it is not quite right for you

These are not part of this review’s score. Each shares a goal or training style with POPSUGAR Fitness, and each is worth a look if it is closer to what you need.

Data profile

Freeletics

A well-structured AI coach app with genuine strength progression, but a high-impact default that is hard on midlife joints, no menopause programming,…

No monthly plan. Prepaid terms only, from $49.99 for 3 monthsOverall 6.2

Start the free trial

Fully tested

BODi (Beachbody On Demand)

A huge, well-produced workout and nutrition library with a dedicated hormone programme in Belle Vitale. Strong value, but the mainstream library skews…

$19/monthOverall 8.0

Start the free trial

Fully tested

Glo

Deep, calming yoga, Pilates, meditation and walking with genuine over-40, menopause and pelvic floor content. Joint-friendly and beginner-welcoming, b…

Overall 6.8

Start the free trial

Fully tested

FIIT

A polished UK studio-style HIIT, strength and yoga app with great variety and a motivating community, but HIIT-leaning with weak recovery, a modest be…

Unlimited £19.99/$19.99/mo (Essential £7.99 may be phasing out)Overall 6.2

Start the free trial

Affiliate links, at no extra cost to you. I buy my own subscriptions and a commission never moves a score or a position. Full disclosure.

POPSUGAR Fitness FAQ

Final Verdict

Research Score: 4.6 / 10 · Research-based data profile

POPSUGAR Fitness, now PS Fit, is a pioneering, well-produced free workout channel whose real value is access and enjoyment: millions of women have moved at home because of it, at no cost and with no equipment. For an already-active woman who wants free, fun cardio and dance, that is a genuinely good thing to have.

POPSUGAR Fitness is for active women who want free, enjoyable cardio and dance at home and will choose the lower-impact options. It is not for women who want menopause-specific programming, pelvic-floor or hormone content, progressive strength for bone, or low-impact by default, because the content is cardio-forward, high-impact and aesthetically framed, with no midlife-specific design. The best way to use it is as an occasional free cardio session, chosen for its lower-impact options, with your core training built around progressive strength and, if you want it, a menopause-specific programme. As a research-based profile, this reflects the channel’s public content, reach, reviews and the science, not a hands-on test.

Assessment Status

Sources and Further Reading

1. Dupuit, M. et al. (2020). Effect of high-intensity interval training on body composition in women before and after menopause: a meta-analysis. Experimental Physiology, 105(9), 1470 to 1490. DOI 10.1113/EP088654. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. HIIT reduced body fat in women, with a stronger effect before menopause than after.
2. Bocchi Martins, J.B. et al. (2025). Jazz dancing for improving cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, muscle strength, and sleep quality in postmenopausal women: a randomized clinical trial with 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Menopause, 32(1), 54 to 63. DOI 10.1097/GME.0000000000002455. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Jazz dance improved cardiorespiratory fitness and sleep in postmenopausal women, but did not change body composition or muscle strength.
3. Gulati, M. et al. (2003). Exercise capacity and the risk of death in women: the St James Women Take Heart Project. Circulation, 108(13), 1554 to 1559. DOI 10.1161/01.CIR.0000091080.57509.E9. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Higher exercise capacity independently predicted lower all-cause mortality in women.
4. Mahjur, M. & Norasteh, A.A. (2021). The effect of unsupervised home-based exercise training on physical functioning outcomes in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Biological Research for Nursing, 23(3), 504 to 512. DOI 10.1177/1099800421989439. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Unsupervised home exercise improved balance in older adults, but not upper-body strength.
5. Watson, S.L. et al. (2018). High-Intensity Resistance and Impact Training Improves Bone Mineral Density and Physical Function in Postmenopausal Women With Osteopenia and Osteoporosis: The LIFTMOR Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 33(2), 211 to 220. DOI 10.1002/jbmr.3284. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Heavy, progressive resistance and impact training improved bone density where lighter exercise did not.
6. Greendale, G.A. et al. (2019). Changes in body composition and weight during the menopause transition. JCI Insight, 4(5), e124865 (Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation). DOI 10.1172/jci.insight.124865. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Fat mass rose and lean mass fell across the menopause transition (observational cohort).
7. Daley, A. et al. (2014). Exercise for vasomotor menopausal symptoms. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2014(11), CD006108. DOI 10.1002/14651858.CD006108.pub4. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. The review found insufficient evidence that exercise reduces hot flushes and night sweats.

This is a research-based data profile, not a hands-on test. Information was verified in 2026 and may have changed. Some affiliate links may be present. This site does not accept payment from creators reviewed. Education, not medical advice; check with your clinician before starting a new programme, especially with joint, pelvic-floor or heart concerns. If workout content ever affects your relationship with food or your body, the National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline can help.

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