Is Chloe Ting a Robot? And Other Facts About YouTube's Reigning Fitness Queen
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Every generation gets the home workout fitness titans they deserve. The 1950s had Jack LaLanne, ’80s had Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons, and in the 1990s saw an endless number of celebrity workout videos, from Cher’s “A New Attitude” to Heather Locklear’s personal fitness routine. But in 2020, all eyes are on Chloe Ting, a YouTuber who has enraptured Gen Z with her brutal, minimalist workouts that promise everything from curvy booties to six-pack abs. If you’re wondering why your teenage daughter is suddenly embarking on a “two week shred challenge,” or simply wondering who the hell this woman is, let me enlighten you!
Who is Chloe Ting?
Chloe Ting is an exceedingly cheerful 34-year-old Australian fitness YouTuber whose workouts have gone viral in the past few months largely due to their popularity on TikTok. Ting started her YouTube channel in 2011 while she was working as an actuarial analyst. She mostly uploaded influencer-adjacent content like clothing tips and travel diaries of exotic locales. But by 2017 her channel became almost exclusively devoted to fitness and diet videos. Now she’s making teens across the country cry in their bedrooms as she coaches them to rock solid abs from their bedroom.
How popular is she, exactly?
Chloe Ting has 12.1 million subscribers on Youtube. In comparison, Cassie Ho of Blogilates fame, who has been uploading videos since 2009, has 5.25 million subscribers on Youtube. Yoga With Adriene has 7.92 million subscribers and Fitness Blender has 6.34 million followers.
Damn, that’s a lot of followers, but why is she so popular?
TikTok, man. I first came across Ting through the app a few months ago, when I started getting sucked into TikTok’s addicting feed. Users are regularly uploading progress videos doing her workouts, often her “2 Weeks Shred Challenge,” to millions of views. But there are also as many people sharing how easily they quit Ting’s workouts and how much they were struggling during them (especially during the up and down planks.) The Chloe Ting workout struggle has basically become a meme onto itself. “Every girl in quarantine when they hear this song,” reads one video, in which Ting’s EDM soundtrack begins playing and a girl immediately hits the floor to do planks.
Beyond the fact that she gives her videos titles things like “ABS IN 2 WEEKS!” and “DO THIS EVERYDAY TO LOSE WEIGHT,” which isn’t unusual on Youtube, I also suspect Ting’s workouts are going viral right now because she understands most of her audience is working out at home. Yes, most Youtube fitness caters to the gymless, but most of her videos feature jumping accommodations so you won’t wake up your downstair neighbors and she never uses any equipment. That makes Ting’s videos perfect for an audience of teenagers and college students forced to schlep back home looking for a discreet way to work out. Or, to transform themselves into goddesses who emerge from quarantine with big butts, skinny waists, and six-packs, desperately trying to shed their couch potato isolation past.