Top Workout DVDs

by Robin Fiedler

Need a workout partner? A personal trainer? Motivation from a celebrity or fitness guru? If you work out at home, finding a workout DVD that does all of those things is not easy. jeanette-jenkins

Workout DVDs come and go. Each year a few new ones become the next exercise fad and then fade away. You may already have a half-dozen workout videos collecting dust at home right now. As 18.5 million Americans work out at home, 11 million exercise using a DVD video, according to Scott Gammon in his "Working Out Workouts" study. Here's some of the best workout DVDs suggested by experts and fellow home workout members.

For women, one of the top-rated workout DVDs on Your Exercise DVDs is Women's Health: The Wedding Workout. The title says it all. Every bride wants to fit into a wedding dress that's two sizes smaller. Because the DVD is programmable, workouts can be customized, but the downside is the warm-ups and cool downs are the same.

Fitness Magazine tested workout DVDs and came up with a list of top 10 workout DVDs. Number 1 on its list is Poise Fitness Core Training, but it's not recommended very highly by 'real' users. Scoring much higher in reviews was number 2 Jeanette Jenkins:21 Day Total Body Circuit Workout. Fitness Magazine even lists more calories burned, 350 compared to Poise Fitness' 180.

For men, Askmen.com recommends Aerospace NYC Savage & Serene as the top men's workout DVD. Based on a NYC workout center program by the same name, it's the hot new fitness craze that doesn't require workout equipment and was created by an ex-champion boxer Michael Olajide, Jr. and ballet dancer Leila Fazel. Number 2 on the list is The Pit Workout and Number 3 is Men's Health:15 Minute Workout.

The John Hopkins Weight Management Center's Ryan Andrews, a personal trainer and dietician, has his clients use The Biggest Loser workout DVDs--with a caveat. "'Such an intense workout just isn't possible for most people,' Andrews says. 'Sure, you'll lose it fast, but you're not going to keep it off.' And keeping it off, as anyone with a weight problem knows, is the hardest part." He recommends some of the Biggest Loser's diet plans in combination with exercise.

For those looking for a combined home and online exercise program, Beachbody has multiple exercise programs, such as P90X, Slimin6, 10-Minute Trainer, Shaun T's Insanity and Hip Hop Abs, and Turbo Jam, that come with workout DVDs focusing on different needs for men and women, and even someone who has Type 2 Diabetes. The website has a thorough chart comparing the focus of each from Cardio, yoga, beginners, extreme workouts to just plain weight loss. The selling point is the online community and support that comes along with Beachbody Team membership bringing the community, and competitiveness, of the gym into the home.

Whichever workout DVD ends up in the DVD player next, while working up the motivation to press the play button, remember you paid for a personal trainer. Hopefully, you found the right one.

Sources

"Compare Fitness Programs." Beachbody. 28 Dec. 2009.

Gammon, Scott. "Working Out Workouts: Home or Gym." New York University. 4 Aug. 2009.

Minkove, Jusy. "Biggest Loser? Get Moving!" Dome. Feb. 2007. The Johns Hopkins University
and Johns Hopkins Health System.

"The Top 10 Workout DVDs." Fitness Magazine.

"Top7 Workout DVDs" Askmen.com 15 Jan. 2009.