DVDs - can they really work?

It's about how much effort you put into it

If you have Sky TV, there is a fitness channel. I sky+ some of the exercise routines so I don't always do the same fitness regime. I also mix between Natalie Cassidy and Davina MacCall's fitness DVDs. Together with walking about 3-4 miles a day they work for me. I have lost 34lb in 5 months.

I agree, the gym is overrated and overpriced. I use to be forever at the gym before I had children, just not able to do it anymore.

Heck ya DVDs can work....the hard part is finding one that inspires you to actually pop it in the DVD player and do it. LOL :laugh:

Seriously tho, I know a lot of people love 30 Day Shred so I went out and got it. I apparently am not one of the people who loves this video, LMAO! Nor do I love all the other videos I have........

Except for my latest addition, for which I need to thank MFP for exposing me to. That would be beachbody's ChaLEAN Extreme. I think the reason I love this DVD series so much is that it's not an aerobic workout. It's 99% strength training. On top of that, the chick who runs the video is just awesome. She's fun, motivational, peppy....not in the usual, annoying way that most women present themselves in these videos. She's just an all around awesome chick who I'd probably enjoy knowing in real life.

The DVD series stretches across several disks and comes with a three month schedule, instructing you to do certain workouts on certain days. I kid you not, I was seeing differences in my body after the very first workout. Now I'm a week in, and I have noticed muscles I've never seen before. This will be odd sounding, but I noticed last night when I was having a coughing fit (thanks, seasonal allergies), that the muscles on my stomach don't seem to come up as one big muscle anymore....I could feel tiered muscles instead....you know, like what you see when people have 6-pack abs?? Granted, I've got a blubber layer masking those muscles, but it was very exciting to be able to feel those specific muscles underneath the chub for the first time in my life, and I'll take any small signs of progress, I'm not picky, LMAO!



The moves in these dvds are simple. I am by no means a dancer, so many (ok, all) of the aerobic videos I've done left me standing there trying to figure out what the hell these people are doing with their bodies, rather than being able to follow along. That's not the case with Chalean Extreme, and probably another reason why I love these videos so much.

The set is kind of pricey, but it's well worth it in my opinion, because I'm actually LOVING the series, and I'm DOING the videos. I've easily got triple the amount of money I spent on this set wasted on other, cheaper videos, sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

i lost 30lbs doing ONLY dvd workouts - ranging from 20-mins to 60-mins roughly 6 days a week - the weight came off in less than 6 months, losing 1-2lbs a week (as recommended) and i NEVER got bored and TRUST me when i say there was a SIGNIFICANT amount of sweat pouring off my body as well as a serious increase in heart rate

the only workouts i have ever really REALLY loved, look forward to, and stuck with for years, are Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, and Chalene Extreme. Turbo Jam is a combination of martial arts, kickboxing, and hip hop/ dance moves - it's freaking awesome :happy: Turbo Jam is the program i used to lose the 30lbs, that's all i did until roughly a year and a half later when i "upgraded" to Turbo Fire, which uses the same fundamentals as Turbo Jam but with a major kick in intensity and tempo (and therefore, calorie burn and heart rate haha). both the Turbo programs come with strength training, but it's not the main focus, they are more cardio based programs. i got Chalene Extreme (CLX) because it's intense strength training with the same trainer from the Turbo workouts (Chalene Johnson, who i ADORE ). now i still workout 6 days a week, still from 20-60mins, doing Turbo Fire for cardio and CLX for strength and i have kept off the 30lbs as well as gotten stronger and way more toned!

sooooooo..... long story short (hehe :laugh: ) dvd workouts are the bomb digitiy if you ask me! i'd recommend NOTHING else in fact! what's better than rolling out of bed at 6:00 am to enter your own personal gym (i.e., living room, guest bedroom haha) with no worries about what you're wearing, who else is there, if you have to wait for a machine, etc - and all you have to do is PUSH PLAY! :happy:

I have been using Davina McCall's Power of 3 and Body Buff and I am pleased with them plus I sweat like a pig whilst doing the DVD so feel like I have worked out hard, In 4 months I have lost 19lb but for 2 of those months I could not excercise because of Foot Tendonitis but for the last week have been getting back into excercise. Did by the 30 Day shred but I found that the next day I could hardly move so will give that DVD a miss for a while until the body feels it can cope with it.

go run some hills!
30 day shred dvd will get you huffing and puffing

I'm only doing the 30 Day Shred 2x a week (I run other days) and I am already seeing muscle tone and definition. It's short but sweaty, and I can never say "oh I don't have the time" since it's only 20-ish minutes and I take longer than that in the morning to decide what to wear!!! Also, Self Magazine (prob. most of the workout magazines) have workouts that show you step-by-step (plus video sometimes) if you need to mix it up.