Help me shape up!

January 5, 2010 10:50 AM

I'm looking for a workout DVD that takes about 30 minutes and conforms to some specific criteria - your recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I am in my late 20s, and I'm in relatively good shape, but the winter is putting a bit of a damper on my regular exercise. When the weather was less snowy, I was biking every morning for 30 minutes (fairly hard), as well as biking to and from work (only 10 minutes each way). On days when I didn't feel like biking, I was swimming for 30 minutes. I'm now walking to work (30 minutes each way, at a decent pace), and I'm about to get back into swimming a couple of times a week. I also take one spinning class a week to stay in good bike shape for the summer.

All that to say that I would like to find an exercise DVD that I can do at home in the morning before I go to work. Ideally I'd like something that takes no more than, say, 45 minutes, with 30 minutes as my ideal time frame. As I said, I'm in fairly good shape, though I'm asthmatic so I have to be a bit careful with heavy cardio. I have a yoga mat and a set of 5 lb weights. I would be willing to buy a moderate amount of "stuff" (i.e. an exercise ball, some heavier weights) but I'm on a fairly tight budget and have limited storage space.

I'm pretty well-coordinated, and would be open to something dance-inspired, or really anything else. My "problem" areas are my butt and thighs, though I'm happy to work on core strength too to help with back pain, and building some more arm muscles wouldn't be too bad!

I hope this isn't all way too vague - and I know it's a lot of info, but there are SO many options out there that I don't even know where to start! If it matters in terms of ordering things, I'm in Canada.

Thanks for any recommendations!

posted by sabotagerabbit to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

You might enjoy Budokon. It's a blend of yoga- and martial arts-inspired exercises. The workout begins with a series of yoga asanas and then moves into a series of martial arts style punches and kicks. It's pretty fun, the beginners' DVD has multiple versions of the workout where the longer ones involve more explanation and practice of each move and the shortest "maintenance" workout is thirty minutes without a lot of extraneous babble.

I'm also pretty crazy about the Lotte Berk Method, which is another workout with roots in yoga and also Pilates matwork-type movement. It looks simple but it has a real intensity to it.

You need no additional special equipment for either of these workouts, and the DVDs are pretty cheap through Amazon.
posted by padraigin at 11:09 AM on January 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

Do you have Netflix by any chance? There are quite a few exercise vidoes available to watch instantly, including cardio, pilates, workouts with handweights, etc. It lets you to try a few things to see what you like, and the variety keeps things interesting.
posted by messica at 11:09 AM on January 5, 2010

If budget is the main concern, I would start in the library. Check out tapes and try them before you make a decision to buy.

Does your TV have a DVR? Record some shows to play back at your specified time. Or use youtube or other online video sources to find some that you like.

I don't have any specific suggestions - I find that doing the same tape over and over again makes me less likely to continue. So I like to just mix it up.
posted by CathyG at 11:10 AM on January 5, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions so far. I don't have Netflix or a DVR unfortunately, but I will definitely check if the library has anything worthwile (my branch isn't the most awesome ever).

Keep the suggestions coming!
posted by sabotagerabbit at 11:14 AM on January 5, 2010

If you have a video game system, you might want to look into Yourself Fitness (known as My Fitness Coach on the Wii). You can select your general goal, daily workout type, length, and what fitness equipment (if any) you'd like to incorporate (including a heart rate monitor, step, balance ball, and hand weights). During the workout, you can increase or decrease the difficulty level, or watch a video of how to do a certain excercise if you're having trouble. After each workout, the game will ask you how you felt during the workout, and the option that you pick influences the intensity level of your next workout. It's more like a workout dvd than something that's supposed to be fun like Wii Fit or a dance game, but it's a good workout and it's something that changes every day, so you won't get as bored as you would if you were watching the same dvd every day.
posted by amarynth at 11:20 AM on January 5, 2010

Best answer: Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred workouts are absolutely killer. I can run 6 miles with no problem but I can hardly make it through one of her 30 minute workouts, and I'm definitely feeling it the next day. Very intense, with cardio and strength training (5 lb weights are perfect) and abs.

I'm not sure what the cable TV setup is like in Canada, but these workouts are available OnDemand at no cost through my cable provider here in the States.
posted by something something at 11:33 AM on January 5, 2010

Best answer: Seconding 30 Day Shred. You'll definitely get a workout and won't need additional equipment.
posted by BlooPen at 12:03 PM on January 5, 2010

Best answer: Yes, Jillian Michaels is great! 30 Day Shred is a butt-kicker, for sure. Another option that's slightly easier, but will still give you great workouts would be to get her 5 DVD set. It's pretty cheap and will give you variety so you're not doing the same workout over and over. They're all 30 minutes and I personally use the Cardio Kickbox workout a lot just cause it's so much fun.

Another idea would be to get a bike trainer to set up in your home. There are videos and podcasts with workouts specifically meant for riding your bike. I don't have much experience with those, but it'd be something to look into. Bike trainers are pretty expensive, but I've seen them on craigslist for cheap.

A good resource for workout videos is Video Fitness. It's been super helpful to me to browse through their reviews and even check out their message boards for help in deciding what videos would work for me.
posted by evilbeck at 12:48 PM on January 5, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks folks! I'll definitely look into the Jillian Michaels DVDs, and check out some of the links. These are all great suggestions, so I won't mark favourites :)

And I am looking to get a bike trainer next year, once I am the proud owner of a road bike (yeah, I know I said financially strapped, but I've been saving for this one!). My hybrid is currently occasionally dripping slush and thus forced to live in the basement storage!
posted by sabotagerabbit at 1:28 PM on January 5, 2010

A great place to look for DVDs when you have certain requirements (length of DVD, etc.) is Collage Video. Great customer service, too! They have tons of stuff and most of it has user reviews on the site. They ship to Canada, too. (No, I do not work for Collage Video!)
posted by trillian at 2:34 PM on January 5, 2010