What is your favorite work-out video?
 

Just curious what people do and what people like to do! :cool:

I have always been on the hunt for new inspiring videos - even though I'm a member at a gym, sometimes its just boring to walk on that treadmill for hours and hours for cardio workout - I much prefer work-out videos at home :) - not to mention that I don't have to make a trip to the gym to do them.

I have not seen very many posts on the different kinds out there so wanted to start a new thread on that. What cardio videos do you own? Which do you do? Why do you like them/not like them? What level of fitness are they for? (It will be good to know the fitness level of your favorite video so that the rest of us can determine if it will work for us)

Of the many series out there what are your opinions on Kathy Smith, The Firm, Buns of Steel, Kathy Ireland, Taebo, Gilad and more...

Anyone? :)
Happy exercising! :roll:

Walk Away the Pounds
 

I exercise to a video named Walk Away the Pounds - 3 miles by Lesslie Sansone. I started out with her 2 mile walk and most days I even do the 3 miles in the morning and the 2 miles when I get home from work. :hyper:

Reebok Core and Step videos ROCK!
 

The Reebok University videos are all great! Really motivational and artfully done without the cheesy music and bad filming usually reserved to fitness videos. Also the CIA series is excellent for those committed to serious aerobic moves (advanced), I used these to learn moves to teach step class on the side years ago.
Very challenging and fun to learn...
Nancy :wave:

Kathy Smith has a really good weightlifting video and a good kickboxing video. I also belong to a gym and go 4 times a week, but I do her videos when I miss a workout. The weightlifting video is good if you are in a time crunch. She separates upper and lower body into two 20-minutes segments. I also have 2 Rodney Yee yoga tapes - strength and flexibility - and they are excellent. He is really easy to follow and the moves are good for beginners to intermediates. I have definitely noticed a difference in my muscle tone since I have been using them. It's fun to change things up a bit and tapes are great for that!! :)

The Firm, TB, and Dennise Austin
 

My fav is the firm, but I also will do TB and Dennis Austin(the ones that come on lifetime in the morn)

I love the firm cause it has the fast and slow cardio and the weights. I do need to start doing it again. I can get so additced to it.

\Well that is all for now, Lynn :D

8 minute abs
 

I recently added 8 minute abs to my LBWO for BFL. Oh my did I feel it. For 4 days I felt it.

Just seems like when you "feel" it, you get more bang for your buck. Ya know??

This is a great thread! We can get first-hand reviews of all the tapes available. Problem is, now I want to go shopping for them and try them all!

Voting for FIRMs
 

Just wanted to add that I originally voted to Taebo and Kathy Smith but have recently been enlightened about the FIRM work-outs. I had tried one of them a very long time ago and could not stick with it because it was an hour long work-out and seemed so difficult. But recently I started taking fitness very seriously and I would now have to say that there are simply no work-outs out there that are as effective and that bring results this quickly!

I loved taebo and I still do because Billy is SO motivating - FIRM instructors just assume that you are already taking the work-out seriously and don't need to be reminded about how great your butt will look when you are done - instead they concentrate on giving exceptional cueing and the work-out is very thorough and well researched - tough but AMAZING results - my body is becoming so strong and toned I cannot believe it!

Pegm, I wanted to suggest to you to try www.collagevideo.com for very detailed fitness video reviews. That way, you will know what you are getting before you spend your money on videos. Also, I personally always try to rent a video first to decide if its for me. Any exercise is better than no exercise of course, but some tapes are better than others. I would suggest taebo for someone who needs a very motivating instructor to keep going - and I would DEFINITELY recommend the FIRM tapes to someone who wants to see results fast - I have done over a 100 different work-outs in my life-time and I don't think any of them showed me results this quickly - the FIRM tapes I do (original series and cross-trainers) are tough and long, but SOOOOO worth it - I would rather spend my work-out time doing them than spending 3 times as much time on other work-outs for similar results. I'm hooked :)

Favorite video, easy....Dorian Yates "Blood & Guts" workout ;)

I stumbled on this thread....glad I did. I get so bored with a "usual" routine...then I quit. YIkes! I'm going to go buy a couple of these tapes...thanks for the great reviews!

hugs...cin

And the winner is........
 

"Blood & Guts Workout" by Dorian Yates, 5 time Mr. Olympia :thup:

I dont use exercise videos often but I stumbled across this review and thought I would post it for those who do!


Cheat Sheet: Fitness Videos

Do home workout videos work out? Some recommendations ...


NEWSWEEK

July 29 issue — Sometimes you can’t make it to the gym. Tip Sheet’s Eric Messinger ranks some chart-topping fitness videos on Amazon.com. (Scale: one to four.) Get ready to sweat.

:08 Minute Abs Nine tummy-trimming exercises done in 45-second intervals. But you won’t see real results unless you find time to work out the rest of you. **

Pilates for Dummies Pilates strength-building mat exercises can be tricky, but in half an hour, this clear video takes you through 18. ****

Living Yoga AM/PM In the morning, the sun rises over a beach as you relax, meditate and pose. Later do more poses and workout stretches while night falls in Death Valley. ***

The Firm: Maximum Body Shaping A high-energy, action-packed 45 minutes of strength training and floor routines. ***

N.Y.C. Ballet Workout Company dancers review their 90-minute warm-up. You’ll never be as graceful as they are, but it’s worth a shot. **

For cardio, I prefer dance videos that are more about dance than about workout. My current faves are bellydance and salsa. I've even seen a sort of hip-hop one that I'd consider. :) For specific muscle groups or toning this or that, I just go to the gym.

Cheers,

Friday

I do my cardio up hills, with the dogs, and my weights at the gym, but I thought I might like yoga or Pilates for flexibility etc and those long, lean muscles the people in the books are covered in.
But when I try learning them from the books I get to page three, do the (upside down) move, can't read the next instructions upside down, lose my place and fall over, get a fit of the giggles and there's my good intentions gone west again!
So maybe a video is a better way to learn - I could watch, then try it - fewer things to concentrate on, I might manage that. :rolleyes: I shall have to check one of two of Fern's list out.

karen voight
 

No one mentioned Karen Voight! I really recommend her Great Weighted Workout (90 minutes) or her Cardio Strength. Good stuff! :cool:

I just started 'walk away the pounds for abs' by Lesslie Sansone and so far I like it a lot, but I do want some others cause I know I will get bored with the same tape over and over again. I do jazzercise 4 times a week, but Iwanted something in the morning before work to ge the maximum benefit. And there is no way I will get up early enough to get to the gym in the morning :).

POWER YOGA VIDEOS - best ever!
 

http://www.markblanchardspoweryoga.com/videos.html

get these! toning, strengthening, stretching, heartpumping, it does everything!

this is the guy actors in LA swear by to get in camera ready shape!

I just dug my videos out of storage and was so happy to find them...start slow, by the end of the session you feel like you have had a workout and an all over body massage, like you have been totally wrung out of all stress!

Cheers!

I bought a used version of Richard Simmons Sewatin to the Oldies a couple weeks ago. At first I thought it was silly and I felt ridicolous but the more times I do it the more I realize I'm really getting a workout and it's fun!!!!! It goes by really quickly and I don't even realize I'm sweatin and my legs have turned to jelly until all of a sudden he's doing the cool down. It beats my treadmill anyday and when it's over I def. think I've gotten a better workout.

I get bored doing the same routines, so I have about 40 tapes that give me lots of variety. I like Kathy Smith, especially the kickboxing, Karen Voight's strong and smoothmoves, and have just started using some of the Method series for yoga and Pilates. Lately I have only been using tapes in the summer when I can't go to the gym. That way my children can play, while I exercise.

NYC Ballet Workout
 

I dig the NYC Ballet Workout.

Great LBWO with abs. You move your body in ways that you don't normally move, which I think is good for both balance and variety. Plus, you learn basic ballet dance exercises to wonderful classical music. Yoga videos are good for contorting into new stretches too! :)

Mainly I dig it because there aren't any perky blondes telling me to "Push it" or saying "Isn't this fun??" every two minutes.

I also like Kathy Smith's Latin Sizzle. But she is perky blonde, and says "Push it!" alot. But they have a live Latin jazz band, and you get to do the meringue.

Cha cha cha!

for fun I like belly dance videos, and for fitness I like T-tapp videos. I just got several and they are incredible. If one is interested in total body health eg: body alignment, balance, core strength these videos are wonderful. I'd recommend them to anyone for fitness, or for correcting poor posture and back/neck/knee pain. Like pilates, with t-tapp the stronger and more flexible you get, the harder and more comprehensive the moves get.

Meg

I do t-tapp tapes :)
 

and I love them! I posted on the t-tapp thread but these are the best and I have done tapes from practically every category in your poll!! Just my humble opinion...

Arnold's "Pumping Iron"
Yate's "Blood and Guts"

If I do the video my favorite :wiggle: would be sweating to the oldies with Richard Simmons it is a fun workout

I like Arnold's Pumping Iron from the 70's.
I think that is the name?

What is your favorite work-out video
 

I love The Firm. I don't like going to gym's and even my friends who do say The Firm gives them the best workout in the least amount of time. There are lots of Firm video's now, which range in length from 70 minutes to 30 minutes, and also vary with intensity. I just heard about a Firm/Yoga series but I lost the link.

Pobo

I've been doing videos since 1985. My current collection is over 140 so I've tried a lot of them. My favorites include many of The Firms, Karen Voight Great Weighted Work Out, Karen Voight Energy Sprint, Step Reebok, Step Reebok Intense Moves, the Cher Step tape (don't remember the title), Cathe Friedrich Cardio Kicks, Tai Fit, Tae Bo Get Ripped Advanced Volume 1, Kathy Smith's Fat Burning Workout, Kathy Smith's Aerobox, and Cathe Friedrich Maximum Intensity Strength. You can see examples of Kathy Friedrich's videos at her website (do a search) and you can review all kinds of videos at www.videofitness.com.

Don't Be Tempted To Buy This
 

Tai Box Kick to Fit by Zak Lee appears on retail shelves everywhere. It has an obnoxious female making rude comments to the instructor through the entire video. Also, it's broken up into segments with long dialogue in between and one segment is you watching the experts do martial arts in the desert.

I love the firm tapes too, but they can be hard particularily for cardio work. I prefer to concentrate on the weight work with them and then I do Leslie Sansone walk away the pounds for extra aerobic work. Seems to work well that way together.
Tanya

yoga for beginners
 

I had taken alot of yoga classes before using a book or video, and even then it is challenging. Videos are definitely easier than books for beginners, but I would STRONGLY recommend investing in at least a few classes before trying any yoga on your own. Many people think that one cannot get injured doing yoga, because it has the image of being "gentle" and "relaxing" (which it definitely can be, though it can also be very active and energizing at the same time)--but there is alot of potential for injury if you do the exercises with improper alignment.
If you are doing it on your own, it is best to practice in front of a mirror for awhile, until you get the feel of what the correct alignment is.
John Friend has very good yoga videos, btw.