Work-Out Videos

[valeriek]

BF and I found our dream apartment yesterday, which is hard to do in Northern Virginia! Everything is perfect, and we will be moving into our first apartment together in July. The only problem is that we chose a place way outside of the city, so we will have to commute in together (HOV highway benefits). That means I can no longer go to the gym after work like I do now (there is no gym close to the new apartment). I love my step aerobics classes and by body pump and body sculpt classes, but the pro's of this new place way outweighed this one con. So, I figured I could turn to aerobics video's I can do at home. Does anybody have any recommendations for a good step aerobics video? I don't like a ton of choreography (I have two left feet), but I want something that will keep me moving and give me a good workout. Also, has anyone ever heard of a body sculpt video? The class I take uses a medicine ball, hand weights, and tubes to promote muscle endurance. I should have paid attention to some of the CL fitness articles, but I figured I would always belong to the gym. Boy was I wrong. The new apartment does have a fitness center - two treadmills, two stationary bikes, a stairmaster, and some weight machines, but I really like the structure of a class (I tend to talk myself into quitting unless I have someone standing over me telling me to keep going). Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

Valerie

[Gilgamesh37]

Well I can give you my suggestions, but you might want to go over to www.videofitness.com, which is entirely devoted to video workouts--tons of reviews, opinions, descriptions, etc. Invaluable.

Personally, I'm a devotee of The Firm--some of their tapes are hard to find right now because they've recently switched distributors--they have extensive choices in sculpting videos and AWT (aerobic combined with weight training). That said, their straight cardio tapes are generally considered to be not as strong, and if you want strictly step aerobics (something I love but have to limit, as I tend to bulk in the lower body) their selection there is very limited. For that I would suggest Cathe--but you have to be careful to start with her earlier tapes since her choreography builds on itself--in other words, in later tapes she'll assume you know some of the basic choreography that shows up in the earlier tapes. Her website is www.cathe.com

Welcome to working out at home! I love it--in fact, in our new house, I'm very excited because I get an actual dedicated workout room!!

[valeriek]

Thanks for the information. I will check out that site - it sounds great. I like the idea of the reviews as well. It's nice to know what other people thought of the workout.

I'm looking forward to working out at home, but I know I'll miss the gym. I would love to have my own dedicated workout room! But, this apartment is the first step in hopefully a long life together with BF (which one day will turn into DH!). Thanks again for the info.

Valerie

[sjs9601]

Valeriek - congrats on finding a new place! The other source that I would suggest is 'collagevideo.com'. They publish a quarterly catalog with all the latest videos as well as favorites. It also includes a rating system, and feedback from users. They are also one of the few places you can find oldie videos (favorites but no longer widely available). Good Luck with your fitness quest! Sandy

[Gilgamesh37]

I always forget about Collage, which is goofy because I've ordered from them. The other nice thing is that if you hvae a fast enough internet connection, Collage sometimes has video clips (especially from new videos) so you can get a sense of the isntructor, the class/setting, etc. Cathe has clips of all her videos on her website too. That helps because sometimes, no matter how good the workout may be, a particular instructor may have a verbal quirk or a voice or something that just rubs you the wrong way.

Which also reminds me--check the public library when you get there. Ours has a fairly wide selection of workout tapes--nice to be able to take them home for free and try them out, then you can buy the ones you want. Also check to see if any of the local video stores--Blockbuster, etc--carry workout tapes, for the same reason--try before you buy.