Exercise

Say Goodbye to Workouts at the Gym, Say Hello to Workout DVDs at Home

February 3, 2010
By Beth Prager

You must be at your wit’s end with going to the neighborhood gym nowadays. With using cardio machines that sit still and go nowhere while you stare at a TV, weight lifting machines that have been unsalvageable by one too many smelly folks who don’t clean up, and other unfavorable gym nuances, you wonder how you can look and feel your best without dealing with all of this. You also wonder how you can do this for a lower cost, because all of those monthly payments just add up. You’re not into jogging, and your mountain bicycle just got stolen last month. Your expensive one. And you suck at sports, too. So, you wonder how a workout DVD could possibly give you results that would improve your sports skills for a fraction of the cost of a gym membership.

In my ignorant days, I had a gym membership. I actually used a gym. As I completed my last set of rowing at a machine with a look of unhappiness on my face, an Italian-looking trainer walked by and cracked jokes at me. I was not in a good mood, but he asked me a critical question that shocked me. He asked, “Did you know that 85% of these machines here are useless? They don’t do anything for your muscle definition, and the machine you just got off of was one of them. You could do a ton of workout movements using NO weights. You could even just use those DVDs and follow that at home and you’d do more for yourself.”

Yeah, he showed me, alright. He showed me a world of pain. I never felt so much pain in the butt before. In all of my years of sitting in the gym, none of that sitting did anything for me. As I broke into a rain of sweat, the trainer continued to make his slew of strange observations and comments about the world. He was helping me see the light outside of the gym tunnel, but he was annoying me. Everything in the gym was annoying me. The stench, the sweat from other people, everything.

I gave many thanks to the Italian character of a trainer for enlightening me with the world of possibility in fitness and health. When I had spent so much on gym memberships, I now only had to spend so little of my budget for a package of workout DVD sets that I could use over and over. I could play them over and over, pause them over and over–I kid. I would not suggest you constantly pause the DVD if you don’t have to. You are here because you are looking for something that will help you be in fit shape, and you should be able to do it in the comfort of your own home.

I have tried so many different brands of workout DVD sets for different muscle groups, different goals, and different on-screen trainer philosophies. It is safe to say that I have seen so much more measurable results within 90 days for some (even 60 days for others) than I have for 4 years of exercising in the gym. I like to see reasonably fast results so it encourages me to keep committing to what I do. I know that once you try it, you will love it, too.

For home workout programs that shape you up, check out Beth Prager’s reviews on workout DVDs.

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