Free on YouTube (optional paid plans and app) · No trial needed · YouTube on TV, laptop, phone · Follow-along strength, HIIT and low-impact cardio · You need a mat and a pair or two of dumbbells to get the most from it.
Short answer: Garage Fitness Girl is one of the best free YouTube options for women over 40 who want progressive strength training at home. After four years of using Penny Barnshaw’s workouts on and off, my verdict is that it is excellent for strength, consistency and value, but not a complete menopause platform: there is little menopause education, no nutrition and no pelvic-floor content.
How I tested Garage Fitness Girl. Four years of on-and-off use, returning after breaks for illness, work and family; dozens of individual workouts across strength, HIIT and low-impact sessions; multiple full monthly calendars followed day by day; watched on TV and laptop. Pricing checked against garagefitnessgirl.com in August 2026, with competitor details checked separately.
A note before you start. This is my first-hand review after training with Penny Barnshaw on and off for about four years. It is education, not medical advice. If you are new to loaded strength work, are pregnant or postnatal, or manage a joint or heart condition, check with your clinician first, especially about heavier lifting and HRT.
Penny Barnshaw (Garage Fitness Girl) Review 2026: Quick Answer
Hands-on tested across about four years of repeated use, dozens of workouts and multiple monthly calendars.
Women over 40 who are past the true-beginner stage and want challenging, free, dumbbell-led strength at home.
You want a holistic menopause app with nutrition, education and meditation, or step-by-step coaching for a complete beginner.
30 to 45 minutes for most, with 20-minute and 60-minute options.
A mat and one to two pairs of dumbbells; a kettlebell or barbell for some sessions.
Moderate, with dedicated low-impact and knee-friendly options.
Strong for muscle and bone, thin on menopause education, pelvic floor and nutrition.
No; on-demand follow-along videos.
Any device with YouTube: TV cast, laptop, tablet, phone.
Free on YouTube; printable plans about $17; app about $14.99 per month.
Yes, the whole channel plus free 28-day plans and a free monthly calendar.
Nothing to cancel for the free channel; paid app and plans cancel through their own platforms.
Neutral; she does not position her workouts as a replacement for medical care.
Active; new videos several times a week.
7.1 / 10
Quick Verdict
Worth it for women over 40? Yes, and it is the free channel I keep coming back to for real strength results.
Garage Fitness Girl earns 7.1/10 in my hands-on testing. Over four years I have started, stopped for illness or work, and come back, and Penny’s workouts have put me back to a fit, toned and stronger baseline every time. They are challenging at the right level, they lift my mood, and the free monthly calendar means I never waste half an hour hunting for a video. The gaps are real too: no nutrition, no education, no meditation and no pelvic-floor work, so it is a training channel, not a holistic menopause app. Start here: subscribe on YouTube and join her free email list for the current month’s calendar.
Is Penny Barnshaw (Garage Fitness Girl) right for you?
Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) is strongest for building bone density (8.5 out of 10, against a 5.1 average across the 105 programmes scored) and weakest for starting strength training (4.5 against 6.1).
| Question | Verdict | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it suits a perimenopausal body | |||
| Is Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) good for pelvic floor problems?Based on pelvic floor support and low-impact design | Low, about the same as mostmost score 4.7/10 | 4.0 / 10 | |
| Does Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) include perimenopause and menopause education and programming?Based on programming, education, hormone awareness and credibility | Low, but better than mostmost score 3.2/10 | 4.0 / 10 | |
| Is Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) good for painful joints?Based on low-impact design and recovery provision | Moderate, about the same as mostmost score 6.1/10 | 5.5 / 10 | |
| Is Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) manageable when your energy is low?Based on recovery provision and mind-body support | Low, and worse than mostmost score 5.6/10 | 4.5 / 10 | |
| Is Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) good if you are new to strength training?Based on beginner on-ramp and mind-body support | Low, and worse than mostmost score 6.1/10 | 4.5 / 10 | |
| Is Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) good for building bone density?Based on bone loading and progressive strength | Strong, and better than mostmost score 5.1/10 | 8.5 / 10 | |
| Does Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) help with nutrition?Based on midlife nutrition support | Low, and worse than mostmost score 3.6/10 | 2.0 / 10 | |
| How it performs as a product | |||
| Can you fit Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) into a busy week?Based on time efficiency | Strong, about the same as mostmost score 7.5/10 | 7.5 / 10 | |
| Is Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) worth the money?Based on value for money | Strong, and better than mostmost score 6.9/10 | 9.0 / 10 | |
Jump to Section
What Garage Fitness Girl Is
Who Is Behind It
What Training With Her Is Like
Content and Features
Equipment You Need
Full Scoring
Good for Women Over 40?
Perimenopause and Menopause Fit
What the Research Says
What Users Report
Devices and App
Pricing 2026
Will You Stick With It?
Pros and Cons
Who Should Choose It
How It Compares
Alternatives
FAQ
Verdict
Why I Keep Coming Back to Penny Barnshaw
I have trained with online programmes for years, and I am fussy now about what earns a place in my week. I first found Penny Barnshaw about four years ago, and hers is the channel I keep returning to. Life gets in the way: an illness here, a busy work stretch there, a family month where training falls off a cliff. Every time I come back, her workouts rebuild me to a fit, strong baseline faster than anything else I use.
She sits on my short list of favourite trainers for a simple reason: the workouts are challenging at the right level, and they deliver. I get more toned, I get stronger, and I feel better for doing them. She is free, which still surprises me given the quality, and the plan she emails each month means I always know what to do. So this is a review of a channel I genuinely live in, across four years, not one I sampled for a week.
What Garage Fitness Girl Actually Is
Garage Fitness Girl is Australian trainer Penny Barnshaw’s home-workout brand for women over 40, built around free YouTube strength and fitness workouts, with optional paid plans and app access.
It is the home-workout brand of Australian trainer Penny Barnshaw. At its heart is a free YouTube channel with more than 900 follow-along workouts, tagged plainly on screen as “Strength & fitness workouts for women over 40”. Around that sit a free monthly workout calendar sent by email, free 28-day plans built as YouTube playlists, low-cost printable plans, a paid YouTube Inner Circle membership through the Join button (ad-free, music-free, member-only workouts), and an app-based subscription on the Playbook platform. If you only use the free videos, as I mostly have, it is easy to miss that the paid tiers exist at all.
The workouts are mostly dumbbell and barbell strength, with metabolic conditioning, low-impact HIIT and the occasional power walk. Sessions run from about 20 to 60 minutes, filmed in a clean home studio with music, an on-screen timer, the exercise name and a suggested load. What you do not get is a class in a gym or a live schedule; this is on-demand training you press play on whenever you like.
One point worth clearing up: the brand name is Garage Fitness Girl, and the creator is Penny Barnshaw (garagefitnessgirl.com). If you search her name you will also find printable plans sold through Buy Me a Coffee and an app on the Playbook platform, all the same person.
Who Is Behind Garage Fitness Girl? Credibility
Penny Barnshaw is based in Queensland, Australia. She describes herself as a certified personal trainer with about 20 years of experience and a background as a former CrossFit competitor. That shows in the programming: the lifting is structured, the compound work is sound, and the progressions make sense.
What to keep in mind: her certification is self-stated on her own channel and site, and no specific awarding body or menopause qualification is named. She is a strong, experienced strength coach, not a menopause clinician, so treat the over-40 and perimenopause framing as smart training for midlife bodies rather than clinical menopause care. Because she is Australian, weights appear in kilograms first (for example 10kg, then 22lb), which is easy to convert on the fly.
What Training With Penny Is Actually Like
After four years of dipping in and out, I have worked through dozens of her individual workouts, several many times over, plus multiple monthly calendars. Here is how the different pieces actually feel to use, and what I reach for on which kind of day.
The free monthly calendar: the feature I value most
When you join her email list, Penny sends a workout calendar for the month ahead: a specific session mapped to each day, with rest days built in, and links out to the videos. If you are short on time, this is the difference between training and not training. On a busy week I do not have half an hour to hunt for the right video and second-guess myself; I open the calendar and press play. It is the single feature that keeps me consistent, and it is the reason I come back after every break rather than drifting.
The strength sessions: dumbbell, barbell and kettlebell
The strength work is the core of the channel and the best of it. A typical week has three to four loaded sessions, using classic patterns: squats, lunges, deadlifts, presses and rows. She programmes real progression, and the on-screen suggested loads (a deadlift flashed up at 10kg or 22lb, for example) help you pitch it right. The sessions I return to most are the no-repeat strength workouts like the 30 minute compound lifts and the 35 minute full-body dumbbell strength, plus her barbell pump sessions when I want heavier loading. Over the years this is what has kept rebuilding my strength and shape after each break.
When my knees or energy need a lighter option
On days my knees are cranky or I want to keep it gentle, her Knee Friendly series is genuinely useful: full sessions with no squats, no lunges and no jumping, so you keep training without the impact. The dedicated Knee Friendly and Strong 28-day plan is there when I want a run of them in a row. These are not throwaway low-impact filler; they are proper strength sessions built around the limitation, which is rarer than it should be.
The HIIT, metabolic and walking sessions
For conditioning I mix in her low-impact HIIT and metabolic circuits, like the Feel Good HIIT and the 30 minute metabolic strength circuits. They are high energy and leave me sweaty without wrecking me. When I want steps rather than intensity, her power-walk sessions (the 3500-step walk is a good one) are an easy way to move on a low day. This is the part of the week that is cardio without being punishing.
Following along: music, a short intro, then visual cues
Every session runs to music, with a brief spoken introduction at the start. After that, you follow the on-screen demonstration, the exercise name, the suggested weight and a countdown timer, rather than a running verbal breakdown of form. As someone who is not a beginner, I follow her easily and like the uncluttered feel. If you are completely new and need constant posture reminders, this is the thing to be aware of: the cueing is visual, not a continuous voiceover walking you through each rep.
Where it is challenging, and where it runs long
Her workouts are challenging in the right way: hard enough to count, not so hard they flatten me, which is exactly why I plan them for days when my energy is high. They are also reliably mood-lifting; I finish feeling better than I started, and that keeps me showing up. My one real gripe is length. Plenty of sessions land at 45 minutes, and I stick far better to shorter ones, so I lean on her 30 minute and no-repeat workouts and would happily take more true 20 minute options than the channel currently offers.
Content and Features
At a glance: a large free on-demand library and structured free plans, with no live classes, no nutrition, no meditation, no menopause education and no symptom tracking. It is a training channel, focused and deep on workouts, deliberately narrow on everything else.
| On-demand workouts | Yes; 900-plus videos, several new each week |
| Live classes | No |
| Structured programmes | Yes; free monthly calendar plus free 28-day plans (Metabolic Reboot, Knee Friendly & Strong) and paid printable plans |
| Meditation / mindfulness | No |
| Menopause education (clinician-led?) | No; occasional blog mentions of sleep, stress and hormones only |
| Nutrition (meal plans / RD?) | No |
| Community | Light; YouTube comments and a Community tab, no dedicated app community I could test |
| Symptom / cycle tracking | No in-video tracking; a separate paid cycle-phase journal exists |
| Modifications: beginner to advanced | Partial; she shows options and says beginner modifications are available, but there is no running form coaching |
| Injury / joint modifications | Yes; a full Knee Friendly & Strong series with no squats or jumping |
What Equipment Do You Need for Garage Fitness Girl?
You can start with almost nothing and add as you go. Most sessions call for a mat and one to two pairs of dumbbells; Penny typically works with a lighter and a heavier pair. A few workouts use a kettlebell or a barbell, and there are true no-equipment low-impact sessions if you have nothing to hand.
Exercise mat
For floor work, glute bridges and cool-downs.~$22
Lighter dumbbells
Your working pair for presses, curls and raises.~$30 to $45
Heavier dumbbells
For deadlifts, rows and squats as you get stronger.~$50 to $80
Adjustable dumbbells
A space-saving way to cover the light-to-heavy range in one set.~$150 to $300
Kettlebell
Used in a handful of conditioning sessions.~$40
Stackable kettlebell
8 to 40 lb in one, grows with you.~$149
Barbell
For her barbell pump and barbell HIIT sessions if you want heavier loading.~$150 to $250
Bottom line on equipment: a mat and two pairs of dumbbells will unlock the vast majority of her library. Add a kettlebell or barbell later only if you want the specific sessions that use them.
Garage Fitness Girl Weighted Scoring: How the 7.1/10 Was Calculated
Scores on our nine weighted criteria, from four years of hands-on use. Confidence is high across the board because these are lived-in, not desk-researched.
| Category | Weight | Score | Reasoning (confidence) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women Over 40 Specificity | 10% | 5 | Genuinely built for midlife strength, but no menopause education, pelvic-floor or hormone-phase programming, which caps this composite (confidence: high) |
| Time Efficiency | 15% | 7.5 | Press play and go, no filler, though many sessions run 35 to 48 minutes and true 20-minute options are limited (confidence: high) |
| Muscle Potential | 18% | 8.5 | Progressive dumbbell, barbell and kettlebell work with real compound lifts; in my testing, among the best free options for building strength over 40 (confidence: high) |
| Joint Friendliness | 12% | 7.5 | A dedicated no-squat, no-jump Knee Friendly series and shown modifications, but standard sessions do include squats and lunges (confidence: high) |
| Recovery Compatibility | 10% | 6.5 | Rest days are built into the calendars, but the style is high energy with little formal deload or mobility content (confidence: high) |
| Programme Structure | 12% | 8 | The free monthly calendar and free 28-day plans give real structure without paying a penny (confidence: high) |
| Value for Money | 8% | 9 | Structured, progressive training available entirely free; hard to beat on value (confidence: high) |
| UX and Design | 8% | 7.5 | Clean production with on-screen load and timer, easy to cast to a TV; minus points for YouTube ads and having to find videos without the calendar (confidence: high) |
| Nutrition Integration | 7% | 2 | No nutrition guidance at all (confidence: high) |
| Total | 7.1 / 10 |
Scoring notes: Muscle Potential (8.5) and Value for Money (9.0) are the standouts, reflecting genuinely progressive strength delivered for free. Programme Structure (8.0) rewards the free monthly calendar and 28-day plans. Joint Friendliness (7.5) and Time Efficiency (7.5) are strong but not top marks, held back by squats and lunges in standard sessions and by a shortage of true 20 minute options. Women Over 40 Specificity (5.0) is the composite of the 12-capability menopause assessment: excellent midlife training, but no menopause education, pelvic-floor or hormone-phase content. Nutrition Integration (2.0) reflects that there is none.
Is Garage Fitness Girl Good for Women Over 40?
Short answer: Yes for building and keeping strength in your 40s and 50s. It is not a complete menopause platform, so add education, nutrition or pelvic-floor work elsewhere if you need them.
Women Over 40 fit: 5 / 10. This is the Women Over 40 criterion from the scoring above; the capability breakdown in the next section is what produces it.
For building and keeping strength in your 40s and 50s, this is one of the best free options I have used. The programming leans on the things that matter most for a midlife body: progressive resistance, compound lifts and enough load to actually challenge you. Over four years it has reliably made me stronger, more toned and fitter, and it is the channel I default back to after any break.
Who it suits, and what is missing: it fits women who are past the true-beginner stage and want to be pushed. Because Penny gives a short spoken introduction and then relies on the on-screen demo, with no running form coaching during the work intervals, a complete beginner who needs posture reminders may find it hard to follow safely. There is also no nutrition, no meditation, no menopause education and no pelvic-floor work, so the whole-woman side of midlife is not addressed here.
The wider picture: if you want strength that delivers, this belongs on your shortlist, and the price makes it an easy one to try. If you want a single app that also handles menopause education, symptoms and food, you will be pairing this with something else or choosing a purpose-built platform instead.
What I found using it. My take after four years: Penny’s sessions are challenging at the right level, not punishing, and they genuinely lift my mood, so I schedule them for days when my energy is high and I want to feel good. My one real gripe is length; some sessions hit 45 minutes and I stick better to shorter ones, so I lean on her 30-minute and no-repeat workouts. I have worked through dozens of her individual classes, several more than once, and I would happily take more true 20-minute options. The free monthly calendar is the feature I value most: on a busy week it tells me exactly what to do each day instead of leaving me scrolling.
How Garage Fitness Girl Fits Perimenopause, Menopause and Beyond
Short answer: It is strong training for a midlife body, not menopause-specific programming. There is no menopause education, no hormone-phase structure and no pelvic-floor work.
Strongest for progressive strength and bone loading; weakest for pelvic floor, menopause education and nutrition.
At a glance (each out of 10): Right training for a midlife body 7.0 · Built for menopause 3.6 · Whole-woman support 3.7. Composite Menopause and Midlife Fit: 5 / 10.
| Group | Score | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Right training for a midlife body | 7.0 / 10 | Strong progressive strength and bone loading; lighter on low-impact-only options and formal recovery |
| Built for menopause | 3.6 / 10 | Perimenopause-labelled workouts, but no structured menopause programme, pelvic floor or education |
| Whole-woman support | 3.7 / 10 | Encouraging and mood-lifting, but no nutrition, mindfulness or beginner hand-holding |
The full 12-capability breakdown, with the reasoning behind each rating, is below.
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.
How Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) Fits Perimenopause, Menopause & Beyond
Women Over 40 is our most important criterion, and here's the full breakdown behind it.
Garage Fitness Girl (YouTube) is strongest for progressive strength and bone loading, and weakest for pelvic floor, midlife nutrition, menopause education, menopause programming, hormone awareness and mind-body support, in our menopause and midlife capability assessment for women over 40.
At a glance
What the app teaches about perimenopause and/or menopause, not whether the training suits a midlife body.
| Capability | Score | Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right training for a midlife body | |||
| Low-impact | 6/10 | Some | Dedicated knee-friendly and low-impact series exist, but the core brand is high energy with squats, lunges and some impact. |
| Progressive strength | 9/10 | Best-in-class | Genuine progressive strength with dumbbells, barbell and kettlebell, including compound lifts and heavier loads. |
| Bone loading | 8/10 | Strong | Loaded strength and impact intervals give a real bone-loading stimulus for midlife women. |
| Recovery & deload | 5/10 | Some | Monthly calendars include rest days, but there is little formal deload, mobility or restorative programming. |
| Menopause education and programming* | |||
| Menopause programming | 4/10 | Minimal | Perimenopause-labelled workouts and an over-40 focus, but no structured, phased menopause programme. |
| Pelvic floor | 2/10 | None | No dedicated pelvic-floor training or core-and-floor content. |
| Hormone awareness | 4/10 | Minimal | Some cycle and hormone awareness via a cycle-phase journal and blog posts, not phase-based programming. |
| Menopause education | 3/10 | Minimal | Occasional blog mentions of sleep, stress and hormones, but no structured menopause education. |
| Expert credibility | 5/10 | Some | Self-reported personal trainer with about 20 years of experience and a CrossFit background, no named menopause qualification. |
| Whole-woman support | |||
| Mind-body support | 4/10 | Minimal | Encouraging, mood-lifting coaching tone, but no meditation, breathwork or stress content. |
| Beginner on-ramp | 5/10 | Some | Modifications are shown and levels vary, but there is no continuous verbal form coaching for true beginners. |
| Midlife nutrition | 2/10 | None | No nutrition guidance or meal support. |
ScaleBest-in-classStrongSomeMinimalNone
What the sources say: Scored from four years of hands-on use plus review of her published library and plans.
* What the app teaches and programmes around menopause, not whether the training suits a midlife body. Many programmes that score low here are still a good fit, they simply never use the word. A high score is not proof either: a few menopause videos added to a general library lifts this score without changing the training.
These are evidence-informed suitability ratings, not clinical measurements. They combine exercise science with product-specific research and, where indicated, hands-on testing, alongside multi-source verification, and are approximate. Individual response varies. A starting point, not medical advice. How we score menopause fit
What the testing shows: label aside, a “perimenopause” circuit here is a well-made strength or conditioning workout, not clinical menopause programming. That is a compliment to the training and a fair limit on the menopause claims. For dedicated menopause education, pelvic-floor work or hormone-phase structure, pair it with a purpose-built option like Menovation or Pvolve.
High energy, your pelvic floor and cortisol: what the research says
Penny’s style is high energy, and two of her gaps, no pelvic-floor training and no calming or breathwork content, matter more for some midlife women than others. Here is what the evidence says, so you can adjust her workouts rather than avoid them.
Pelvic floor and impact: jumping and other high-impact moves raise intra-abdominal pressure, a known trigger for stress leaking.[7] That risk tends to be higher after menopause, when a lower-oestrogen pelvic floor is often weaker, and common clinical guidance is to be cautious with repeated high-impact activity and heavy lifting if you are prone to pelvic-floor symptoms. Penny offers no pelvic-floor training, but she does hand you the lever to manage this: her Knee Friendly and low-impact, no-jump sessions keep the strength stimulus while cutting the impact. If you leak or feel heaviness, choose those, add dedicated pelvic-floor exercises, and build load gradually.
High intensity and cortisol: the worry that intense workouts spike cortisol and harm menopausal women is largely overstated. The acute rise in cortisol during exercise is a normal adaptive signal that settles afterwards, and structured high-intensity training has been shown to improve cardiovascular health in postmenopausal women.[8] The real risk is chronic under-recovery, not intensity itself, so use her built-in rest days, avoid stacking hard sessions back to back, and train hard on the days you feel good, which is how I use it. What she does not offer is the down-regulating side, so if you want calming yoga, breathwork or meditation, pair her with a lower-cortisol, restorative option.
What the Research Says About Training Like This Over 40
Penny’s core promise, that progressive strength training helps women over 40 get stronger, leaner and feel better, is well supported by the evidence, with a couple of the marketing phrases worth putting in context.
Strength and body composition: supported. Resistance training reliably builds strength and improves body composition in women in midlife, and progressive overload is the key driver of strength gains.[1][2] This matches exactly what I have felt returning to her programming after breaks.
Fat loss and the “metabolic” framing: mixed to supported, with a caveat. Exercise reduces fat mass and waist measurements in postmenopausal women, though the effect is modest and stronger alongside a sensible diet.[3] The defensible version of “boost your metabolism” is that strength training builds lean muscle, and more muscle supports your resting metabolic rate; it is muscle preservation, not a furnace switch.[4]
Mood and feeling good: supported. A meta-analysis of randomised trials found exercise significantly reduced depressive symptoms in menopausal women.[5] The lift I get from her sessions is a real and well-documented effect, better framed as a mood benefit than as an “endorphin” claim.
Bone health: supported and relevant to her heavier lifting. Resistance and impact loading improve bone mineral density in postmenopausal women, which is one of the strongest reasons to load up as you age.[6]
What Users Report
Rating snapshot: as a YouTube-first creator, Garage Fitness Girl has no App Store or Trustpilot profile to average. The public signal is her channel: about 238,000 subscribers, more than 900 videos, and individual workouts routinely in the tens of thousands to low hundreds of thousands of views, with several years of consistent uploads.
Consistently praised
- Workouts that feel challenging but doable for women over 40
- Real strength and toning results with consistency
- Clear on-screen timer and suggested loads
- The free monthly calendar taking the guesswork out of the week
- A motivating, mood-lifting tone
Consistently raised as drawbacks
- Some sessions run long for busy schedules
- Visual-only cueing can be tricky for complete beginners
- YouTube ads interrupt free workouts
- No nutrition, education or mindfulness
Source and credibility note: because the main feedback lives in YouTube comments rather than a moderated review platform, there is no verifiable star rating and comment sections skew positive. I have leaned on my own four years of use for the judgement here and flagged where third-party data is thin rather than inventing a number.
Devices, Platforms, App and Everyday UX
Because the core product is YouTube, it plays on anything YouTube runs on: cast or the YouTube app on a smart TV, a laptop, a tablet or a phone. I mostly train with it on the TV or my laptop, which suits longer strength sessions where you want to see the demo clearly. The paid app lives on the Playbook platform, on both iOS and Android, if you want an ad-free, plan-structured version, and the free 28-day plans are simply YouTube playlists you can follow on any device.
The day-to-day experience is as good or as fiddly as YouTube itself. Two things shape it. First, ads: on the free channel they interrupt your workout unless you pay for the YouTube Inner Circle membership, which strips them out and gives you music-free, timer-only versions. Second, finding the right session: if you use the monthly calendar you never have to think, but if you go it alone you are scrolling the video list to pick, which eats a few minutes. There is no in-app progress tracking on the free side, so consistency is on you, and auto-captions are available if you train without sound. On a TV in particular, the clean on-screen timer and load make it easy to follow from across the room.
Penny Barnshaw (Garage Fitness Girl) specifications
- Still maintained
- Actively publishing new YouTube workouts weekly (Aug 2026)
- What is included
- On-demand classes: yesLive classes: noRecovery content: partlyMenopause education: partlyStructured programmes: yesMeditation: noNutrition guidance: no
- Women over 40
- Pelvic floor work: noMenopause clinician involved: noInjury modifications: partlyBone-health focus: yesModified progressions: partlyCycle syncing: partlyPrenatal options: no
- Devices and access
- Offline downloads: noCasting to TV: yesSubtitles: partlyWearable sync: no
- Support
- Clinical advisory board: noCommunity: partlySupplement upsell: no
- Last verified
- 13 August 2026
Garage Fitness Girl Price 2026: What You Actually Pay
| Plan | Cost | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube channel | Free | 900-plus workouts, free 28-day plans, free monthly calendar by email |
| YouTube Inner Circle membership | Paid tier via the Join button | Early access plus ad-free, music-free (timer-only) and member-only workouts |
| Printable plans | About $17 each | Downloadable 28-day plans and journals via Buy Me a Coffee |
| App and group coaching (Playbook) | About $14.99 per month (confirm at checkout) | App-based subscription with 80-plus structured workouts and a free trial |
Cancellation and billing
There is nothing to cancel for the free channel or email list; unsubscribe any time. The printable plans are one-off purchases. The app is billed through the Playbook platform, so start, pause or cancel it there, and note that the app’s subscriber count on her page is out of date, not a pricing signal. Prices were checked in August 2026 and the creator app price should be confirmed at checkout, as platform pricing can change.
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Will You Actually Stick With It?
More than 900 videos and several new each week; you will not run out.
The free monthly calendar tells you what to do each day, which is the single biggest reason I keep going back.
No live classes or app community to hold you accountable; the mood lift and results do a lot of the work instead.
Longer sessions can be a barrier on busy days; leaning on her 30-minute and no-repeat workouts fixes this.
My real-world adherence tells the story better than any feature list. I have stopped and restarted many times over four years, and this is the channel that gets me back on track, because it is free, structured through the calendar, and the workouts leave me feeling good rather than wrecked. If you are the same, the low friction is the point.
Garage Fitness Girl Pros and Cons
Pros
- Genuinely free, including structured 28-day plans and a monthly calendar
- Progressive, properly loaded strength for women over 40
- Delivers real strength and toning results with consistency
- Mood-lifting, high-energy sessions
- A dedicated Knee Friendly, no-squat, no-jump series
- On-screen timer and suggested loads make it easy to follow
- Plays on TV, laptop, tablet or phone through YouTube
- Very active, with new workouts several times a week
- Optional cheap plans and an ad-free app if you want them
Cons
- No nutrition guidance
- No menopause education or hormone-phase programming
- No pelvic-floor content
- No meditation or mindfulness
- Visual-only cueing is hard for complete beginners
- Some sessions run long for busy schedules
- YouTube ads interrupt the free videos
- Certification is self-stated, with no named menopause qualification
Who Should Choose Garage Fitness Girl?
Choose Garage Fitness Girl if:
- You want free, progressive strength workouts aimed at women over 40.
- You are comfortable with basic lifting movements and do not need continuous form coaching.
- You prefer follow-along video you can cast to a TV or laptop.
- You want a monthly plan handed to you so you always know what to do.
- You train at home with dumbbells and a mat.
Choose something else if:
- You are a complete beginner who needs step-by-step form cues.
- You want menopause education or hormone-phase programming.
- You need pelvic-floor training.
- You want nutrition guidance or meal plans.
- You want a fully low-impact library rather than high-energy strength.
How Garage Fitness Girl Compares
| Garage Fitness Girl | Caroline Girvan | Pvolve | Evlo | Menovation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our score | 7.1 / 10 | 7.6 / 10 | 8.3 / 10 | 8.0 / 10 | 7.7 / 10 |
| Monthly price | Free (paid tiers from ~$14.99) | Free (app extra) | ~$24.99 | ~$19.99 | ~$15 |
| Free trial | No trial needed (free) | Free on YouTube | 14 days | 7 days | 7 days |
| Best for | Free progressive strength over 40 | Free structured strength | Low-impact menopause programming | Doctor-led low-impact strength | Menopause-specific programme |
| Equipment required | Dumbbells (optional barbell, kettlebell) | Dumbbells | Bands and dumbbells (bundle for full library) | Dumbbells and bands | Minimal, some dumbbells |
| Session length | 20 to 60 min | 30 to 45 min | 5 to 60-plus min | 20 to 40 min | 20 to 40 min |
| Injury modifications | Dedicated Knee Friendly series | Limited | Dedicated injury series (knees, back, hips) | Yes, joint-safe by design | Some |
| Perimenopause content | Labelled workouts, no structured programme | No | Best in class (Menopause Strong, pelvic floor) | Peri-aware, doctor-led | Dedicated menopause programme |
| Coaching style | Short intro then visual cues | Minimal cueing | Verbal throughout, demos alongside | Verbal, doctor-led | Verbal |
| Nutrition included | No | No | Not in streaming | Partial | Partial |
| Community | Light (YouTube comments, Inner Circle) | YouTube comments | Included | Included | Included |
| App Store rating | Not listed (YouTube-first) | Not listed (YouTube-first) | Verify on platform | Verify on platform | Verify on platform |
| Best suited to | Women 40-plus, past beginner, want strength | Women wanting strict free programmes | 35 to 55, perimenopause, joint issues | 40-plus, joint-sensitive, low-impact strength | Peri and menopause, education-led |
Garage Fitness Girl vs Caroline Girvan: which is better for women over 40?
These are the two free strength channels I recommend most, and they suit different temperaments. Caroline Girvan runs longer, more intense, gym-style structured programmes with little chat and heavier barbell work, which is brilliant if you want a strict block to follow and you already lift. Penny is warmer and more approachable, with more low-impact and knee-friendly options, an over-40 lens on every playlist, and that monthly calendar that removes the decision.
If you want maximum training stimulus and a rigid programme, Caroline edges it. If you want challenging strength that still feels doable, more joint-friendly choices, and a plan handed to you each month, Penny is the better fit for most women over 40.
How to choose: pick Garage Fitness Girl for free, approachable, progressive strength over 40; pick Pvolve or Menovation if menopause programming, pelvic floor and education matter more than lifting; pick Evlo for doctor-led low-impact strength.
If Garage Fitness Girl Is Not Right for You: Best Alternatives
- Best for menopause programming: Menovation, built specifically for perimenopause and menopause with education alongside the workouts.
- Best for low impact: Pvolve, a low-impact resistance method with a dedicated menopause programme and pelvic-floor content.
- Best doctor-led strength: Evlo, physician-designed low-impact strength that is gentle on joints.
- Best free alternative for strict programming: Caroline Girvan, free structured strength for those who want a rigid block to follow.
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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.
Garage Fitness Girl FAQ
Yes. The full YouTube channel is free, including structured 28-day plans built as playlists and a free monthly workout calendar sent by email. There are optional extras: printable plans for about $17 and an ad-free app on the Playbook platform for about $14.99 per month, but you can follow her programming for years without paying anything.
It is better for people past the true-beginner stage. Penny gives a short spoken introduction and then relies on the on-screen demo, with no running form coaching during the work intervals. If you already know the basic moves you will follow along easily, but a complete beginner who needs posture reminders may want to start with a programme that cues form continuously.
A mat and one to two pairs of dumbbells cover most of the library, ideally a lighter and a heavier pair. A few workouts use a kettlebell or a barbell, and there are true no-equipment low-impact sessions if you have nothing to hand.
It is excellent for the training side of midlife: progressive strength, compound lifts and bone loading, plus knee-friendly options. It is not a menopause platform, though. There is no menopause education, no pelvic-floor work, no hormone-phase programming and no nutrition, so pair it with a purpose-built option like Menovation or Pvolve if you want those.
Most run 30 to 45 minutes, with some 20-minute sessions and occasional 60-minute ones. If time is tight, her 30-minute and no-repeat workouts are the easiest to fit in.
For free, progressive strength training aimed at women over 40, yes. In four years of on-and-off use it has reliably rebuilt my strength and fitness and it lifts my mood. The main reasons to look elsewhere are if you need a holistic menopause app with nutrition and education, or continuous beginner coaching.
With adjustments, yes. Her high-impact moves such as jumping raise intra-abdominal pressure, which can trigger stress leaking, and that risk is higher after menopause. She has no pelvic-floor training, but her Knee Friendly and low-impact, no-jump sessions let you keep the strength work while cutting the impact. If you leak or feel heaviness, choose those, add dedicated pelvic-floor exercises, and increase load gradually.
Final Verdict
Score: 7.1 / 10 · Based on four years of hands-on use
Garage Fitness Girl is the free channel I keep coming back to, and it has earned that place by delivering: stronger, more toned, fitter, every time I return. The strength programming is genuinely good, the value is unbeatable, and the monthly calendar solves the real-life problem of not knowing what to do. It is held back only by what it deliberately leaves out.
Garage Fitness Girl is for women over 40 who are past the beginner stage and want challenging, free, progressive strength at home. It is not for anyone who wants a single holistic menopause app with nutrition, education and mindfulness, in which case a purpose-built platform like Menovation or Pvolve will serve you better.
Sources and Further Reading
- Isenmann, E. et al. (2023). Resistance training alters body composition in middle-aged women depending on menopause: a 20-week control trial. BMC Women’s Health. Available at: bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com. Resistance training improved body composition in midlife women.
- Lopez, P. et al. (2021). Resistance training load and muscular strength adaptations. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Progressive overload drives strength gains.
- Liu, Y. et al. (2023). Exercise and body composition in postmenopausal women. Frontiers in Endocrinology. Available at: frontiersin.org. Exercise reduces fat mass and waist size, with modest effects improved by diet.
- Aristizabal, J.C. et al. (2015). Effect of resistance training on resting metabolic rate. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Added lean mass supports resting metabolic rate.
- Li, S. et al. (2025). Exercise as a therapeutic strategy for depression in menopausal women: a meta-analysis of randomised trials. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Available at: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Exercise significantly reduced depressive symptoms in menopausal women.
- Yu, W. et al. (2025). Effect of different types of exercise on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Scientific Reports. Available at: nature.com. Loading improves bone mineral density after menopause.
- Khowailed, I.A. et al. (2020). Stress Incontinence during Different High-Impact Exercises in Women: A Pilot Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Available at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. High-impact exercise raises intra-abdominal pressure and stress-leaking risk.
- Hoier, B. et al. (2021). Aerobic High-Intensity Exercise Training Improves Cardiovascular Health in Older Post-menopausal Women. Frontiers in Aging. Available at: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. A small training study found high-intensity work improved cardiovascular health after menopause.
This is a hands-on review based on about four years of personal use. Pricing and features were verified in August 2026 and may have changed. Some affiliate links may be present, and this site does not accept payment from the programmes it reviews. Education, not medical advice.
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