10 Great YouTube Channels for Flexibility Anatomy Education
10 Great YouTube Channels for Flexibility Anatomy Education
Last week I posted about some of my favorite Instagram accounts to follow for flexibility education - to keep that same theme going, I also want to share some of my favorite YouTube channels. Like I mentioned in my last post, I’ve never taken an actual anatomy class, so all of my anatomy training has been through taking workshops, and teaching myself with whatever content I can find.
Luckily there are some fabulous content creators on YouTube that make this SO easy (and fascinating!) for folks who want to learn more about their anatomy, and how to start applying this knowledge to flexibility training.
I’ve grouped these channels into two categories, both of which are equally important:
Anatomy-focused channels - for the purposes of my own training, I found it the most helpful to focus on learning the bones (including bony landmarks), muscles (including their origins, insertions, and actions, and ligaments (at least on a cursory level)
Flexibility/Yoga/Movement/Body-focused channels - these are all channels that do a great job at tackling flexibility-specific topics and looking at them through an anatomy/kinesiology/biomechanics lens
First Things First: Learn Your Anatomy Basics
1. Sam Webster
I flipping love Sam Webster’s channel. When he’s not teaching anatomy and embryology at Swansea University in Wales, he is making super helpful 10-30 minute videos using the lab’s various life-sized anatomy models. The 3D anatomy models are a great way to see what our bones and muscles actually look like (short of using an actual cadaver - for that you should check out the Institute of Human Anatomy!), which I personally found a lot more helpful than trying to “imagine” the muscles from diagrams and 2D drawings.
Most videos are around 20 minutes long, which is enough to include as much detail as someone who is really interested in learning the names, origins, insertions, and actions of the muscles - but not so long that I get bored or overwhelmed.
Plus, he has a delightful accent (in my opinion XD).
Great Example Videos:
2. AnatomyZone
AnatomyZone is a pretty straightforward “here’s a video that talks about the bone and boney landmarks of X” or “here’s an overview of the origin, insertion, and innervation of MUSCLE Y.” Helpful 3D-rendered visuals mean you can see the muscle/model rotated from different angles, which helps better see what’s connected to what.
Great Example Videos:
3. Rebel Massage
So I actually first found Rebel Massage when I was trying to find some follow-along massage videos, but they actually have a whole neat section of videos where they teach muscle anatomy by painting it on a body. So for folks who are visual learners, this is a fun spin on the “here’s another 3D diagram of a skeleton with some muscles on it” way to learn.
4. Corporis
Corporis is a good channel for helping learn & remember the names of all the muscles (which is more helpful if you’re already familiarizing yourself with what they do). He’s also got some great educational videos on other helpful topics like How Do Muscles Contract? Sliding Filament Theory.
Great Example Videos:
5. Muscle & Motion
Muscle & Motion has a whoooooole ton of videos (all pulled from their online anatomy course software), including a bunch of helpful ones that cleverly illustrate muscle origins, attachments, and actions. And, as their name suggests, they have many other videos focus on the actions of groups of muscles, including what muscles are being used in various movements like How to Squat Properly: Anatomical Analysis, or (one I often share with students) The Proper Technique for the Seated Hamstring Stretch: 3D Animation of Muscles in Motion (SO GOOD!)
Great Example Videos:
Then: Learn How to Apply Anatomy & Body Mechanics to Flexibility Concepts
6. Jenni Rawlings Yoga & Movement Science
Jenni Rawlings Yoga & Movement Science has a collection of videos for yogis, movers, and anatomy nerds alike. There are longer-form (1hr+) videos from her Yoga Meets Movement Science podcast recordings (which is fab, I’ll be doing another post at some point about my favorite flexibility podcasts!), as well as shorter videos that tackle different flexibility or yoga topics. My favorite videos are ones where she dives into different cues/assumptions/myths common in yoga and flexibility training.
Great Example Videos:
7. Jason Crandell Yoga
Jason Crandell Yoga is another YouTube channel I found by way of his podcast. While Jason is of course super focused on yoga training specifically, these videos are still super applicable to understanding anatomical considerations for flexibility training at large.
Great Example Videos:
8. Shapeshift Wellness
I found Shapeshift Wellness when trying to find a good visual of sciatic nerve tension, and to date I think he has one of the best videos that breaks this down (Stop Stretching Your Sciatic Nerve!). If you can sift past all the clickbait-y back pain videos (I get it, that’s how you get found on YouTube…), there are a bunch of great videos covering various yoga, strength training, and flexibility topics.
Great Example Videos:
9. Fit & Bendy
Fit & Bendy is a great example of a very anatomy-informed stretching channel (and flexy “school” for that matter). I loved all the handful of online flexibility classes I took t through Fit&Bendy during COVID, and I’m thrilled to see that Kristina is still continuing to make some free educational flexy training content.
Great Example Videos:
10. The Institute of Human Anatomy
The Institute of Human Anatomy actually “scared me off” when their videos popped up as recommended earlier in my flexy training days because their main differentiator is they use real cadavers to help show different concepts. But somewhere along the line I stopped being squeamish about the prospect of looking at actual cadavers and instead became fascinated by seeing what things actually look like in “real life.”
Bodies are wild!
Great Example Videos:
What YT Channels do YOU Like to Learn From?
Think I’m missing someone from this list? What channels have helped you learn more about how flexibility training works? Let folks know in the comments!
