Workout Dvd

monkey brain

Hi,

Could anyone recommend a good fitness dvd to do at home? i know there are alot out there but if anyone has come across any ones that are particularly good. Thanks!

Canis Lupus

Yeah it's called "Put on running shoes and go running".

monkey brain

Ha thanks for that..had thought of it but this is option A.

Khannie

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Yeah it's called "Put on running shoes and go running".

The OP asked for fitness DVD's. That's not very helpful tbh.

OP: My mrs has some that she was very fond of. I'll get the names of them and get back to you. One of them was called "Rosemary Conleys 5 day fat burner" or something like that. If you're buying online, play.com are generally worth checking out. They have free delivery to Ireland.

Jimmy Bottlehead

My missus reckoned Davina McCalls were good?

monkey brain

Thanks for your help will check them out.

Ministry of sound dvd's are excellent.
Although they might be a bit offputting if you havent done aerobics before.

Transform

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

My missus reckoned Davina McCalls were good?

agreed! Also youtube

Khannie

Check with the mrs. She says the rosemary conley one is great for a beginner. I'd heard the davina one was good too alright.

figroll

+1 for Davina McCall: Super Body Workout

I'm pretty fit from running/cycling etc but wanted something i could throw in on top a couple of time a week for toning (i tone/build muscle easily) and i love Davina's workouts. There are a couple of different options and you can even get away with 20-30mins for a full body workout so and it definately does what it says on the tin. One of the workouts include dumbells and body weight resistance work which is effective too. Plus Davina and the two people who do it with her are cool enough or not annoying at least.

Khannie

Ok....in the interest of research I just did the Rosemary Conley workout there. It's a maximum an hour long, but I'm a bit short on time today so I just did 30 minutes (it's divided into 10 minute sessions so you can pick your own amount of time).

During the workout I wore a heart rate monitor to see how hard I was working. I also held a tin of beans (420g) in each hand to up the intensity a bit.

When you're looking there are 3 levels of workout on it, easy, medium and hard. They're all on screen at the same time so you follow whichever one you want. I did the hard.

My average heart rate was 128 (aerobic). I didn't stick to it religiously. When they were doing what I perceived to be slightly easier stuff, I did slightly harder stuff.

Overall, I thought it was really good to be honest. I've never done a workout dvd before, or an aerobics class or anything like that, so the novelty factor was there. I worked up a decent sweat and fitted it into a busy morning. I'd definitely consider doing it again and I'd say that it would represent a decent workout for anyone trying to lose weight.

hooplah

If you live in Dublin check out your local library, in mine (The Ilac centre) we have Davina McCall's, one from mel B which also looks decent and a couple others I can't think of right now. You can borrow them for a week at a time and try before you buy

MissRibena

Although I lurk daily, this is one of the very few topics I feel I have any qualification to reply to in this forum.

I like going to gyms but money got tight and I started at fitness DVDs on and off about a year ago as a way of getting some exercise as my job is soooo sedantary. Since June, I've been on a major weight loss burst and as well as calorie counting upped my exercise a lot and have now lost 3st 1lb and gone past my original goal (don't worry - still healthy BMI).

I've taken up running a bit now too but fitness DVDs form the core of my daily exercise regime. I do about an hour most days - more at the weekend and do up a 'program' every few weeks to try and balance it properly like in a gym. So I own a lot of the more popular ones. It should be noted that you need to use your own common sense from a safety point of view; not all the techniques used in DVDs are great. Also I like to get breathless and proper sweaty (without killing myself) when I workout and that's where I'm coming from with these recommendations. So I try to equate my workouts to the level of sweatiness/breathlessness of a gym workout rather than a power-walk. For weighted exercises, I use 4.5KG (built up from 2KG) dumbbells rather than the water bottles that a lot of them recommend.

This is how I categorise my DVDs:

The Tougher Ones: like a reasonable gym workout IMO

I have all Davina McCall's DVDs and hers are excellent. My favourite is her first 'The Power of 3' which gives a proper full body workout in an hour and no matter what others I try, I return to this. Her others that fall into this category are Super Body and High Energy 5. There isn't a huge difference between all three. Basic moves but tough going.

Nell McAndrew does similar workouts which are pretty tough (but a bit more boring for my taste).

The Biggest Loser (UK version): also excellent alround workout.

Ministry of Sound ones are also good but are styled like the Eric Prydz video and sometimes can't make up their minds whether they are trying to turn you on or work you out! (I'm 32, maybe I'm too old for them!). The moves are trickier than the ones above too.

The Firm: Maximum Calorie Burn. Good but tricky moves for a beginner.


The Starter Ones: like a light gym workout IMO
Elle McPherson's 'The Body' is very good as it is led by Karen Voigt and is the best starter one for leading into the ones above.

I have all the Rosemary Conleys too, including the one mentioned above (5 Day Fat Burner), which was my first ever 'video' and is a good starting point. Her Fat Attack one includes a circuit training section as an extra which isn't bad and The Ultimate Fat Burner has an extra one for people who can only workout in a chair (wheelchair etc) which I think is a good idea.

Mixer Ones:
For days when I don't have time or can't get out running to supplement my usual mix of aerobics and weights, these are the ones I slot in weekly:

Davina's 'My 3 30-minute workouts' (one is kickboxing, one is yogalates/core stuff and one is traditional aerobics/weights). Absolutely love the kickboxing on this.

Billy Blanks TaeBo - I have a box set and they are all brilliant.

Pilates Weightloss for Dummies (costs about 6 euro and is 35 minutes of a decent workout without jumping about).

Rosemary Conleys Slim and Salsacise - 45 minutes and great for a change.
(The last two are gentler and like going for a good fast walk)


Stuff I have but wouldn't necessarily recommend:
Cindy Crawford; good workouts but you have to keep adjusting for the fact that she uses dodgy 1990's techniques that look dangerous, so only for the more experienced.

10 Minutes Solutions: You see these on amazon and I have a few. It's a bit hit and miss with them and stretching and warmup/down is all a bit questionable.

Soap Star stuff (I only have one so maybe it's a generalisation but instruction seems below par on these)

Yoga/Yogalates: unless you've been to classes it's very hard to know if you are doing this stuff right and I'd wonder about the effectiveness of the workout and the possiblity of injury.

Khannie

Great post!!!

MissRibena wrote: »

Although I lurk daily, this is one of the very few topics I feel I have any qualification to reply to in this forum.

Jump in anyway. You don't need any kind of qualification or anything.

MissRibena wrote: »

Since June, I've been on a major weight loss burst and as well as calorie counting upped my exercise a lot and have now lost 3st 1lb and gone past my original goal (don't worry - still healthy BMI).

Wow! That's very impressive weight loss. Fair play to you!

figroll

Thank you so much MissRibena!

I've a few questions for you since you have such a wealth of knowledge... What one would you recommend for a rigourous workout (like you say, similar to the gym) which uses weights? I like the bit in Davina's Super Body workout that she does with weights/bodyweight.

And what other one would you recommend for a good workout that isn't too - 'dancy' or choreographed? Hate them ones!

Cheers,
Figroll

MissRibena

figroll wrote: »

Thank you so much MissRibena!

I've a few questions for you since you have such a wealth of knowledge... What one would you recommend for a rigourous workout (like you say, similar to the gym) which uses weights? I like the bit in Davina's Super Body workout that she does with weights/bodyweight.

And what other one would you recommend for a good workout that isn't too - 'dancy' or choreographed? Hate them ones!

Cheers,
Figroll

Thanks Figroll and Khannie!

Most DVDs have weights/toning section (cue sharp intake of breath from the proper lifters!)

Davina's 'Power of 3' is like the Super Body (Super Pump) workout but is longer. The main thing I like about this one is that it's an hour and five minutes and you can't shorten it (which could be a downside), the weights are mixed in with aerobic intervals and you get a full workout. However, it might be a bit samey for you if you already have Super Body (amazon do box sets though and this one is mixed in with the 3 30 minute workouts which has a (shorter) weights workout too).

If you want a change from Davina, then Nell McAndrew's Ultimate Challenge is a bit harder. It is lead by an army-type guy, so is a bit 'bootcampy' and Nell is just a participant in the 'class'. There's a weights section at the end. It's definitely not dancy.

The Biggest Loser (UK) has a good weights section. You can put it with the cardio section or do it on its own. There is also a hip hop dance section in this DVD but it can be avoided and I have not yet subjected my cats to the wonders of this section as I don't think I'm 'with-it' enough for this

These are the ones I mentioned above too because I do weights as part of my workout 3 times a week, like I would when I was in the gym. Then I do other workouts on the inbetween days.

I should say that the 'weights' sections in these DVDs are probably the kind of thing to drive most people here nuts. The ones above are the best I've come across but there are still a lot of pink dumbbells and lots of reps and would have a lot of posters throwing their cast iron bells at the telly, so resistance work would be a better description, I suppose.

I know from reading here that proper heavy weights for less reps is probably a more efficient way of getting results but not being a gym member, I am scared I'll hurt myself without proper instruction. And anyway, maybe it's just I'm doing it a long time but I do have really nice muscle definition in my arms, shoulders, back and chest now, so the DVD method can work also.

My Christmas list has P90X on it, which is a set of 13 DVDs from the States and gets great reviews on some of the US websites but isn't cheap. From what I can make out, this has proper gym type weights routines.

Transform

still thing youtube is free and there are lots of decent programs given away for free

Khannie

Yep, but it's not always convenient to work out in front of an internet connection.

Macha

I hear Melanie B (aka Scary Spice) has a new DVD out and it's good.

She looks great so she must be doing something right. Plus I think she discusses nutrition and recipies, which is unusual.

Website: http://www.totallyfit.com/

corkcomp

Khannie wrote: »

Yep, but it's not always convenient to work out in front of an internet connection.

LOL, the lack of air conditioning and copious ammounts of sweat could be a problem!

MissRibena

Transform wrote: »

still thing youtube is free and there are lots of decent programs given away for free

There are some good ones on youtube alright but there's also a lot of rubbish with comments that make them sound like they are great. Also the production is pretty rubbish on a lot of them, which doesn't help if you are trying to make it part of a routine. It's very hard to sort the wheat from the chaff IMHO. Do you use any on youtube that you could recommend?

With the likes of the DVDs I've listed, you have half-decent music (at least with Davina), you can turn off the commentary on most of them and mix and match sections on some; all helps keep it interesting and keep you at it. They are charging for it so they have to make some effort to do the exercises right (unlike a freebie, at least that's my logic! ).

figroll

Thanks guys, i didn't even think of youtube, i kindof have in the back of my mind that stuff i find on there might be too 'american-ized' (you know, 7-second abs ) and also, any clips i ever see are all short ones. But i might take a more in-depth look now.

MissRibena: Again, thanks so much for taking the time to review these for me, i've been meaning to get some more but any random dvd's i've bought i haven't been that happy with so its good to get this feedback.

Defo going to add that P90x to my crimbo list too! thanks for the tip!

The gift that keeps on giving!

Cheers,
Figroll

sunflower1200

Hi
Ive tried a good few of them and I love Billy Blanks tae-bo. They really get you sweating and are not too hard. Its great theres even an eight minute workout, for when your feeling a little lazy.
I did them very regularly two years ago and really toned up and lost weight. I got the ultimate collection on amazon. Would definitely recommend him.

Pebbles82

For the people recommending Davina, I'm so confused
I'm above my bmi, slight muffin top and want to get fit but time/cant afford the gym is my issue and very unfit..(like to walk but need more) which of Davinas' DVD would you recommend sorry if this trend is old but like davina and Amazon reviews are confusing me. target areas are thighs and tum and need help:o
Any help is gratefully welcome

SPS1

Pebbles82 wrote: »

For the people recommending Davina, I'm so confused
I'm above my bmi, slight muffin top and want to get fit but time/cant afford the gym is my issue and very unfit..(like to walk but need more) which of Davinas' DVD would you recommend sorry if this trend is old but like davina and Amazon reviews are confusing me. target areas are thighs and tum and need help:o
Any help is gratefully welcome

Make time, easier said than done I know. But anybody who has been keeping fit in whatever form for years, has adapted their workouts to their daily life schedules which change. Obviously a gym is much handier due to the varying weather conditions here. Any amount of intense half hour exercise that gets your heart rate up, is beneficial in more ways to your health than just losing weight.

Personally, I don't see any fun in staring at your tv mimicking a dvd movement in your living room by yourself.

Also serious bump on this thread. :pac:

CarMe

Pebbles, I have Davina intense and fit in 15.
Intense will really have you sweating but seems to take ages. I absolutely love fit in 15 though, I do one in the mornings when my toddler is eating her breakfast and maybe twice in the evenings or once and something else.

It has sections for Arms, Legs, Core, Cardio and Warm up Cool down.

The fact it only takes 15 minutes makes it so much easier to pop on because you know you won't be slogging away for ages. I do love the Intense one too but I really think I need to up my fitness a bit before I can really reap the benefits.
Believe it or not Vicki Pattison from Geordie Shores dvd is supposed to be very good too. It's a six week plan that gradually gets more difficult and it's only 10 minutes!