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could you reccomend some workout DVDs?

julia4
0 Recommendations

I have really gotten in to working out at home lately, doing cardio and sculpting with dvd's that I am renting from the local library. Every few weeks I go and pick out a couple of new ones. But I'm starting to run out of new choices. I would like to purchase some, but I'm nervous about what to get.

What workout dvd's have you found to be helpful?

The things I find too challenging are cardio routines that they go through so fast you can hardly learn the moves before they start the next move. And I have 80 lbs to lose, therefore some high intensity workouts are too high intensity. :) So DVD's that are easier to follow would be great.

I like cardio, sculpting, weight training (strenght), yoga (flexibility), and kickboxing.

Also, does anyone else make tae bo videos besides billy blanks?

Thanks,

Julia

16 replies

Lil_Lexis

Something I have found enjoyable and surprisingly effective are bellydancing DVD's. You don't need to be an expert dancer - and even better, unlike most Western dances, this was a type of dance where a person's body shape was not held to one narrow standard.

I personally recommend anything by Veena and Neena (they have a series called Discover Bellydance and another; I'm afraid I don't recall the title). They usually are a half hour routine with warm-up and cool-down, though I believe one or two are 45 minutes. Many of the routines work all the muscles at once (there's a lot of movement), but there are some that focus on specific zones (e.g. "Arms and Abs" and "Hips, Buns, and Thighs"). Other people like "The Goddess Workout" but I didn't find it helpful - it seemed more like the instructor was showing off her various outfits and expecting us to catch on to the moves in a heartbeat.

I hope this helps!

MHMom

I like the "Walk Away the Pounds" DVDs. It's low impact but you can actually work up a sweat. In the series there's a 1 mile, 2 mile & 3 mile & believe some other bonus ones.

I've also used the Slim in 6 by Debbie Siebers. It starts off slow & as you master one you can move up.

The Debbie Siebers is brought by Beachbody. I believe you can go to Beachbody.com. And you should be able to do a search on Walk Away the Pounds & find out about purchasing those.

The Bellydancing dvd's sounds interesting. I think I might try that.

Good luck!!

PoohBear1

Hi Julia,
I really like working out at home also. I've belonged to many gyms and it always seems to work out best for me and my schedule to do my work out at home.

The set of DVD's I love are the Core Secrets with Gunner Peterson. You have many to choose from if you get the whole set and let me tell you, you really do see results quickly. The main thing of course is consistency. The Core does the work with the fitness ball and weights, which I really like (for those of us close to the big 50 - I don't know your age, but this is good for any age).

I have also tried the Debbie Siebers, Slim in 6, and yes, that does start out at a minimum level, but goes at a fast pace. It is definitely a good cardio, but remember tyou can always go at your own pace!

So, good luck and keep on going!!!

Kim

elixir

Hi Julia -
What workouts did you try from the library and which ones did you really like? I'd also like to apologize in advance for the length of my post, I have quite a few workout DVDs!

I really enjoy the Firm, you get the whole package of cardio, cardio + sculpting, and sculpting workouts. Plus they are big into form, also they each have a warm up, a good cool down, and stretch at the end. They can be pretty intense, though, and, except for their newest system, you'd need to buy the basic kit with the step. I have their first and fourth system---the fourth is called the TransFIRMer---and they are very good. The TransFIRMer is incredible. Their newest sytem, called TransFIRMation, does not require a step. I just got it recently and haven't tried it yet. There are other DVDs that you can get separately without a step, too. Check out their website at www.FirmDirect.com, you can see what they offer and pieces of their latest informercial are at http://www.getfirmtoday.com/. Like I said, they can be intense.

Leisa Hart is one of my favorite instructors. (She's been around for a while---she used to be a Buns of Steel instructor.) Recently, I've built a schedule for myself around her "Fit to the Core" workouts. Burn is a cardio/sculpting workout and Chisel is a pure sculpting workout. Chisel has great lowerbody sculpting but is a little light on the upper body. Both are approximately 30 minutes and while she uses her "Core Bar" I use dumbells, which one of the background exercisers does. I also enjoy her "Gym in a Box" which contains a 30 minute cardio workout plus 10 minute sections on upper body sculpt, lower body sculpt, abs, pilates, and yoga. I have her "sexy..." series for sculpting (sexy buns, legs, abs, and arms) but I haven't used them yet. Arms and Buns seem to be the best of the bunch and I've fit them into my schedule so I'd have to follow up on those. I find her to be a warm, friendly, and accessible instructor. It may take one or two times through to get the hang of the workouts, but almost every workout DVD has a learning curve.

Minna Lessig has put out a very good sculpting DVD called Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, and Boy Shorts Bottom (and has a book by the same title). Straight up sculpting, tried-and-true plus some new and innovative moves, and an easy to follow routine makes this one of the better sculpting DVDs I've tried.

As for kickboxing, my hands down favorite is Turbo Jam. You can get all the workouts in packages through Beachbody.com. I have used Tae Bo in the past and while I liked it (the first workouts from the infomercial years ago), Turbo Jam seems different somehow. Chalene, the instructor/creator, is so upbeat and positive that it's infectious and makes the workout so much fun. The music really helps keep you going too.

That's all I have for now, if you let me know what workouts from the library you liked and didn't like, I may be able to help more. Also, check out www.collagevideo.com for a fantastic selection of workout DVDs plus 60-second clips of almost all of their catalog to preview. It may help you figure out what to get. Also, aside from collage video, who I've heard wonderful things about, if you order online check out www.dvdpricesearch.com to find the best deals.

Thanks for this post, it made me look up Leisa Hart on amazon.com and I see she's got two new workouts coming out! :)

Good luck!
Elissa

dscands

I bought the Taibo Fat Blaster a while ago and do it regularly still. It has an option to add some strength training if you want to and it has really helped me get back in shape. You may have a hard time the first few times but if you make it a regular thing then you know what is coming up and will get better at it. Billy is still good at working you out hard so I can recommend this one. I hope that you can find a workout that you enjoy and that whips you into shape. There is no better feeling than when you get through a dvd that made you sweat and get out of breath at first and then later you can just sweat through (you never want to lose that). Keep up your hard work!

elixir

I LOVE bellydancing! I have all the Neena and Veena DVDs and they are by far my favorite. I'll copy a post I made elsewhere regarding bellydancing, maybe it will help...? It's another long one, which makes me feel like a windbag on these boards, LOL! :o)

"When folks say "find an exercise you like and it will not feel like such a chore," for me, that's bellydance. I use it when I feel like I'm in an exercise rut, when I'm unmotivated, or when I need to do something fun for myself on my weight-loss journey.

I started with Veena and Neena (aka, The Bellytwins, http://www.bellytwins.com/) and their Bellydance Fitness for Beginners DVDs.
-Basic Moves/Fat Burning: Basic Moves teaches you the foundation of all the exercises and movements in the other workouts. I find it fairly relaxing and I feel "stretched out" afterwards. I didn't like Fat Burning because it had too much jumping around for me.
-Arms and Abs/Hips, Buns and Thighs: I enjoy both of these, they're toning workouts for the specified areas.
-Slim Down: combines the other workouts into one---there's a warm up, a cardio portion, some toning, and a cool down. My favorite of all of them.

I have their Discover Bellydance series which is more dance focused, but they are still shrink wrapped.

I've tried Dolphina's Goddess Workout, the first one which I don't recall the name, but I wasn't very impressed with it as a workout. It sits on my shelf collecting dust. It was okay, I just preferred Neena and Veena.

I took an 8-week class at a bellydance studio and that was incredible. I was fortunate that many of the moves I learned the basics of with Veena and Neena workouts. It was fun and invigorating.

I've somewhat recently discovered tribal bellydance and am exploring that with some DVDs of isolations and drills. Tribal style appears to highly condone yoga as a method of conditioning and several of the DVDs include yoga workouts along with bellydance drills.

For my birthday, my hubby took me to see Belly Dance Super Stars at a local venue. It was so inspiring to see these dances performed live.

My final plug as an upside of bellydance: I really do feel more feminine and sensual when I do these workouts and DVDs. It's surprisingly empowering (but probably shouldn't be surprising).

Good luck!"

Elissa

Lil_Lexis

The dance DVD's are great, though personally I am still working on Basic Dance as far as my skill level goes =)

Can you recommend any specific tribal bellydance DVD's? I've never heard of it before now, but it sounds like fun.

Thanks!

elixir

I only have one called Tribal Fusion Bellydance with Sharon Kihara...for now. ; )

I don't think my explanation will do it justice, but I'll try. American tribal style and tribal fusion is a modern style of dance blending the traditional bellydance. Their costuming is much more contemporary, too---very ornate, from jewelry and hair to their bodies. Rachel Brice is one of the best known in tribal fusion. If you go to You Tube you can see some of her work, also her dance troupe's web site at www.theindigo.net.

Check out the bellydance superstars website (bellydancesuperstars.com), I think you'd be safe with most of their titles (although you can find them cheaper elsewhere). And you can see if they're coming anywhere near your area, it was a stunningly beautiful show.

I've watched the intro for Contemporary Bellydance and Yoga Conditioning with Ariellah several times (also on You Tube) and am considering that or one of Rachel Brice's DVDs, depening on how things go with Sharon Kihara's. If you watch the into for Ariellah's, she explains the correlation between yoga and bellydance.

I would so love to dance like they do! :) :)

pente2004

I believe there is someone else that does tae-bo other than Billy. You have to buy it at beachbody.com. It's like a combo of taebo and dancing.

sammygirl87

Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease is the absolute most fun I have ever had exercising. Its sounds completely stupid but it is actually a great work out. It gets your heart rate up and it stretches you like crazy! I highly recommend it!!!

kit10

Julia,
My personal favorites are ones by Densie Austin and 10 Minute Solutions. As a busy mother of 3 I don't have a huge amount of time to workout - so I tend to get express workouts. Just got 2 new ones (Denise Austin) for the holiday's and they were 10 five minute target toners and Boot Camp. I really like the 5 minute segmets because you can pick and choose what to target on a specific day and it has a couple of "pre-set" workouts as well. I really felt the strength workout on the Bootcamp one the next day. You might also try www.collagevideo.com, they post reviews of all of the videos that they sell and you can check out previews of them too.
Good luck and I hope this helps.

go4par

I think that the Beach Body / slim in 6 dvds are the best workout videos out there.

schmeee

i am about to start my fifth dvd of the transFIRMation set of five. so far i love it, even when i was sore! it definitely feels like i'm getting a good, complete workout. the instructors are pretty easy to follow and they have someone doing each session at the beginner level. i also like the 10 minute pilates, abs dvd as well. i can touch my toes now!

autumn29

Denise Austin Shrink Your Female Fat Zones is a good one, in my opinion. And under $10

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2299272

autumn29

Belly Dancing is great, i have a dvd by Kathy Smith that I do every day. But have found that some others get my heart racing too fast and I just cant breathe, the one by Kathy Smith, luckily, is broken down in a "slow & sensual" and a "heat it up" workout, I had to do the slow one for a month before i could move forward.

htomlin412

I just bought the power sculpt and cardio biggest loser dvd's....I have only tried the power sculpt one time, and it was a really good work out...I will be trying the cardio dvd tomorrow...has anyone else tried these?

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