The 10 Best Bodybuilding Channels on YouTube

YouTube is an amazing tool for the modern world. If there’s something you’re passionate about there’s a guarantee that someone else out there is even more passionate about it and has started a YouTube channel about it just for you.

YouTube bodybuilding is no exception, there are tons of bodybuilding channels out there, so it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, so we’ve done the hard work for you. Here are 10 of the best bodybuilding YouTube channels on the internet right now.

1.  ATHLEAN-X

The Athlean-X YouTube channel is an absolute gold mine. It’s the YouTube channel run by physical therapist and strength coach Jeff Cavaliere. It’s a channel full of science, humor, great advice, and videos that we trust when it comes to learning the ins and outs of bodybuilding.

Jeff Cavaliere has the credentials to back it up. He’s not just some dude that worked out a bunch and decided to make a YouTube channel out of it. He’s a Master of Science in Physical Therapy (MSPT) and he’s a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

He’s spent the time with his nose in the books to learn all of the ins and outs of bodybuilding and physical therapy, and he’s decided to use that knowledge to start a YouTube channel, allowing him to spread the word to the masses. His credentials aren’t just in the narrow scope of the workout world.

He has a Masters Degree in physical therapy and a Bachelor of Science in Psychoneurobiology/Pre-Medicine from the University of Connecticut. That’s no easy feat, and he’s kept himself in tip-top physical shape the entire time. This is the kind of YouTube channel that makes you thankful the internet exists.

If you’re not impressed by the amount of education, maybe his past work will get more of a reaction out of you. During the Baseball seasons between 2006 and 2008 he was the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets when they were duking it out in the National League East Championship.

He also got his hands dirty, he wasn’t just the dude that helped them work out. He coached future Hall of Famers Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez. He also had a hand in the explosive success of Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Billy Wagner.

Athlean-X’s YouTube channel is one of the first places you should look when you’re trying to up your bodybuilding game. Anybody world their salt has probably learned a thing or two from Jeff Cavaliere.

2.  Jeff Nippard

Jeff Nippard runs another science-based workout channel. He’s a Canadian natural pro bodybuilder and internationally qualified powerlifter. Currently, he holds a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry, and similar to other bodybuilding YouTube channels in the same vein, he spends his time spreading the good bodybuilding word.

He’s relatively young and inexperienced, at least when compared to channels run by older lifters, but he still has a good deal of experience under his belt. After taking home his biochemistry diploma he’s branched out and done all he could possibly do in a pretty short amount of time.

He was Mr. Junior Canada for Natural Bodybuilding in 2012, the Overall Champion at WNBF Natural Muscle Mayhem in 2014, and then in the Canadian National Powerlifting championships in 2014 he was squatting 502 pounds, he hit an impressive 336 lb bench press, and he deadlifted 518 lbs, netting him a respectable 2nd place.

He’s also been coaching folks professionally for over 10 years now. His coaching experience was in the provincial, national, world, and professional levels for physique and strength sports. His experience isn’t just in placing at competitions for his lifting prowess, he also has some post-college academic achievements.

He lectured at the University of Iowa, Lehman College, and the 2019 Ultimate Evidence-Based Fitness Conference (UEBC). If you’re a fan of the kind of YouTube content you can trust, then Jeff Nippard and his 2 Million subscribers are a community that will greet you with open arms.

3.  scooby1961

This unassuming channel name hides a beautiful corner of the internet. Scooby1961 is run by a man named, unsurprisingly named Scooby. He’s a man that’s passionate about two things: bodybuilding and Travel.

He takes us along for his travels on the road and in the gym, teaching all of his fans about two worlds that seem incompatible on their face, but if you’ve ever been unsure that you could keep your diet and exercise routine up, this guy shows you that it’s more than possible.

He’s entertaining to watch for a number of reasons, the biggest of which has to be his promise to make good on the “travel adventure” claim his channel makes. Every week he’s either dispensing knowledge that every bodybuilder can learn from or taking the camera on the road to incredible corners of the world for new experiences.

He’ll bike on narrow levies, he’s tucking himself into sleep in bamboo huts, and cresting peaks in the Swiss Alps. It’s a channel for fans of the world and folks that want to bring the most out of their bodies. His focus on travel doesn’t ever once detract from his passion for bodybuilding. He often says “exercise is a huge part of my travel adventure.

Not only as a method of locomotion but as a way to really get a feel for the country.” He’s the kind of guy that loves seeking out the local gym everywhere he travels to get a feel for the people in the area and the local flavor. For him, fitness is about connecting with the world around him.

4.  Abhinav Mahajan

This is an Indian-born lifestyle entrepreneur, model, and fitness buff that took a very different road into the world of bodybuilding YouTube. He’s taken his unique set of skills and life experiences and turned them into a YouTube channel all about inspiring other bodybuilders empowering folks that are ready to start their own fitness journey.

Abhinav Mahajan started out in the modeling world, which is surprisingly similar to the bodybuilding world. That mental proximity is actually what kick-started his bodybuilding journey. He decided he enjoyed sculpting his body a bit more than just maintaining a picture-perfect physique for others.

His experience in the modeling circles, however, never fully left him, so he married the two and directed his efforts towards curating a lifestyle brand built around bodybuilding while vegan and living your best life.

He didn’t just stumble into this, he learned a lot from personal trainers and maintaining a cut physique while modeling. He also specializes in digital marketing, brand awareness, and lifestyle coaching, which have all come together to create a channel that’s engaging and educational.

5.  BroScienceLife

BroScience Life is a little different from the other channels here. It’s still science-based, but it’s way more casual than these other guys. If you’re tired of stuffy dudes telling you what to do, then getting in on this channel might be for you. It’s a parody YouTube channel that was conceived by Mike Tornabene and Gian Hunjan.

It takes a jab at obnoxious gym dudes and prioritizes entertainment while making knowledge a close second. It’s the kind of YouTube channel you throw on after a long day. The character Dom Mazzetti gets into all kinds of trouble while keeping himself abreast of all of the best news coming out of the bodybuilding scene.

He’s a breath of fresh air, the community that’s popped up around the project is great, and it’s just plain fun to watch if you’re tired of dudes getting in your face at the gym.

6.  Kali Muscle

Chuck "Kali Muscle" Kirkendall is an actor, author, entertainer, and survivor. He’s led a hard life that bodybuilding, writing, and acting seems to have saved him from. His YouTube channel Kai Muscle is about building muscle, spreading positivity, and challenging the worst parts of masculinity.

You can’t look at Kali Muscle and say that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. This is a man that clearly knows how to build a powerful body with impressive-looking muscles, but he hasn’t forsaken his sensitive side or his compassion for others.

He’s seen the sorts of ways that the world can chew people up and spit them out, and he uses his platform to show people that there’s an alternative if we can just take the time to improve ourselves and extend compassion to other people.

He came from Oakland, California and his childhood was a crash course in the school of hard knocks, but he pushed through and made it through school on a football scholarship, which is arguably the beginning of his bodybuilding trajectory.

After making it through Fresno State he moved to LA to pursue acting and bodybuilding in earnest. He’s recycled that knowledge and success into a tool on the internet that other folks can easily access and get their lives on track as well.

7.  Bodybuilding.com

What Bodybuilding.com lacks in personality it more than makes up for with quality and quantity of information. It’s one of those YouTube channels that always pops up when you take to Google for a quick answer and a short video. It’s one of those sites that seems to have popped out of nowhere and they’re happy to provide all of the information you might need in exchange for a couple of page views.

The YouTube channel they run can be a little dry at times, it’s definitely not the kind of channel you pull up when you’re bored and you want a little bit of entertainment, but they’re always on top of the latest trends and they have a lot of great people behind the scenes hitting the pavement and learning everything they can so they can turn it into easily digestible information for you.

If there’s ever an exercise you’re unsure of or a workout routine you’re thinking of trying out in your own life, then this YouTube channel is sure to have all of the answers you’re looking for. They’ll always have the info a keystroke or smartphone query away. 

8.  CT Fletcher Motivation

Weightlifting should be something you enjoy, if you’re feeling your motivation flagging or you’re spinning your wheels then the kind of unbridled joy that CT Fletcher brings to the table is what you’re looking for. He’s a man that’s passionate about finding the best in a dark spot, be that when you’re struggling with a set or struggling in your life.

This is a YouTube channel that’s all about community and encouraging lifters to do their best no matter what that looks like. He’s a man that understands that everybody’s built a little differently, but if they apply themselves they can achieve results, no matter what that looks like to them.

He calls himself “THE ORIGINAL IRON ADDICT” and that’s pretty accurate. He’s clearly driven by one-upping himself every week. His life is all about lifting, and he’s worked to build a brand around that passion that resonates with a lot of people on the internet.

9.  ScottHermanFitness

Scott Herman’s channel is about cutting through the crap. His channel is clear-cut and ready to give you the information you need to succeed in the gym. They describe themselves as “NO BRO-SCIENCE, NO DRAMA, NO CLICKBAIT,” and that’s the kind of content we’re looking for when we’re trying to find a good YouTube channel to guide us on the road to getting cut.

The focus on real-life results and honest-to-goodness science is what sets this channel apart from the others. If you’ve got questions, they’ve got answers, and they’re going to be actionable and conscience. You’re not going to be wading through 30 minutes of fluff just to get to the morsel of truth at the center of the video.

They keep them short and sweet, and they’re always full of helpful information you can apply to your own workouts. It also helps that he projects confident and approachable energy that makes his videos a joy to consume between sets at the gym.

10.  Christian Guzman

Christian Guzman doesn’t have the same audience that a channel like Athlean-X does, but that’s because he’s got his fingers in a lot of pies. He doesn’t just spend his time on training and YouTube. He’s running a fitness brand that specializes in building workout plans that are customized for their customers, he’s also running a gym and pushing his Alphalete Athletics fitness brand.

He’s all about helping people transform themselves into the best possible version of themselves. That’s what Alphalete Athletic and Christian Guzman are all about. His YouTube channel is the same way. It’s about getting you hyped for going to the gym to improve yourself.

It’s a channel that gives people the energy they need to psyche themselves up for one more rep in the morning. It’s all about building community in the way that a lot of other YouTube channels are. The training programs aren’t on the YouTube channel, but the channel acts as a great trailer if you’re on the fence about purchasing a program for yourself.

He’s a man that clearly knows what he’s talking about, and they’re willing to work with you to get you exactly the plan you need, so if you find that you love the energy he brings to his channel and the people that appear in his videos, then you’re going to enjoy the training programs as well. 

They’re a great way to change your life without having to drop a mint on a personal trainer. They’ve worked out a few simple questionnaires and they have people manning their site that are professionally minded, so you’re going to get the best possible plans out of them with minimal extra effort on your part.

Our Favorite: ATHLEAN-X

Athlean-X is far and away one of the best bodybuilding YouTube channels out there. It takes more than just raw knowledge and muscle to run a good YouTube channel. You have to have a knack for predicting the sorts of content that people are in the mood for watching, and you need to be entertaining as well.

Jeff Cavaliere has clearly struck a chord, his 11.6 million subscribers is nothing to sneeze at. It’s a massive audience to cater to, especially when you take into account the sorts of things that are popular on YouTube and the relatively narrow niche he’s catering to. Not everyone is into bodybuilding like us, but he makes his material approachable and entertaining for everyone.

The credentials don’t hurt either. It’s good to know that he’s getting his information from reputable sources and years of experience in the field. It opens up specialized information to a lot of people in the world, and that’s the kind of work that everyone on the internet should strive for.

If you want to learn everything you can about lifting weights, eating well, and the mechanics of your body, then you should tune into the Athlean-X YouTube channel.