exercise dvd’s

To: You From: Me

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I didn’t set foot outside the house yesterday.

Wait, that’s not exactly true.

I took about 10 steps out the backdoor to take the trash out.

It was just what a December Sunday of “Rain/Freezing Rain” and a tiny hangover called for.

I changed out of my pj’s twice.  First to host a birthday brunch for my dearest Natasha and second to work out.  (the pj’s most definitely went back on between the two)

A big part of my fully-grown personhood (see Am I Grown Up Yet?) was spent as a gym rat but when I moved to Peru in 2009 I broke the habit and now prefer to get my workout anywhere but the gym (unless it’s for a class).  There are a few days a year though when I am really glad that I work at a gorgeous gym half a mile from my house and thus have a membership.  Yesterday was totally one of those days.  And they closed at 2pm because of the ice storm.

While I was looking forward to the motivational energy of the gym, the reason to leave the house, and most definitely the sauna, I was not deterred from getting moving.  My living room is well-equipped for this scenario; I have a few sets of hand weights, therabands, plenty yoga mats, a foam roller, and lots of exercise dvd’s.

I’ve written before about my fondness for exercise dvd’s, they can be such an awesome motivational tool as well as educational (learning new exercises) and time savers (no commute!).

After my living room workout yesterday, which consisted of some Tabata training, mat Pilates, and stretching, I got to thinking that in the holiday gifting spirit I want to give away a few of my exercise dvd’s to someone who could use the extra help getting moving on these dark winter days.

I’ve been adding to my collection for over a dozen years so I culled the shelves and picked out a few great ones to pass on.  I put together two “packages” to gift. 

Package One

Package Two

(somehow I ended up with two of these)

Here’s the deal, if want to get in the running leave a comment saying why you would like to receive one of these two packages and which one you’d prefer.  If you are chosen you have to promise to pass on any dvd’s that you don’t care for or just don’t end up using (you can donate them to your local library or give them to a friend or family member or stranger!).

I will pick two recipients and send out your workouts on December 21st, so you have until then to comment.

Happy Monday!

(Only open to U.S. residents because I’m scared of international shipping costs)

Get Moving at Home

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I’ve professed my love for exercise videos ’round these parts before.  I will be forever indebted to Kathy Smith for both getting me hooked on yoga and being my personal trainer while living in Peru, her workout dvd’s were a staple in my routine during that year abroad.

Last month at FitBloggin’ a rep from Acacia offered to send me some of their newest exercise dvd’s and a week or two later I got a stack of workouts in the mail.

I was already a 10 Minute Solutions loyal customer so I was excited to see a few of these in the mix.

The 10 Minute Solutions brand has a great formula.  All the dvds include five 10 minute segments, each focusing on a different fitness element such as upper body, abs, lower body, cardio, or stretching.  You can do each segment on its own or pre-program the dvd to play in  whatever order you want.  I usually plan on doing one or two segments but once I get going it feels so good to move and the time flies by that I end up doing 3 or 4.

Acacia added Tighten & Tone and Cardio Hip Hop* to my already ample and well used collection of 10 Minute Solutions.

*This title releases December 2012

One thing that consistently impresses me about these dvds is the quality of the workouts and the quality of the instructors, not a loser in the bunch and this is no exception!

Cardio Hip Hop is fun, challenging, and definitely a good distraction from feeling like you are working out.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE feeling like I am working out and I rarely get bored with it but sometimes I do.  And that’s when it’s awesome to focus on dancing!

The choreography is not the most basic but the repetition is just enough so that I felt like I ‘got it’ before we moved on without getting bored.  If you don’t have any dance/hip hop experience it might take a few times through before you feel like you really get it but that’s the beauty of a dvd, you can repeat as much as you want!

Both SparkPeople’s Total Body Sculpting* and Canyon Ranch’s Strong and Sculpted dvd’s include a 20 minute full body strength routine, which I did on different days.

Both workouts felt like they worked my whole body efficiently and included good progressions to keep me challenged and engaged physically and mentally.   I love 10-20 minute strength workouts so these were right up my alley.

Total Body Sculpting also includes a ~20 minute cardio workout and a ~20 minute barre routine, both of which I look forward to trying!

*This dvd releases November 2012

Strong and Sculpted also includes a 20 minute yoga and a 20 minute core workout as well so you can put it all together for a great hour-long workout or do any segment on it’s own.

Fall and Winter are my favorite times to pop in a workout dvd, especially if it’s dark and dreary outside and I’m lacking motivation to get moving on my own.  I’m excited to have new additions in my arsenal, winter blues don’t stand a chance when I’m sweating in my dining room!