Our Votes for the Best Fitness DVD’s of the Past Five Years

I’m a home fitness kind of girl. I like to work out in the comfort of my own home. Except, I like it when I have someone there cheering me on, working out beside me. Just not in person. I like to have a person shouting at me, or should I say encouraging me, from my television.

I’m really busy and don’t have the time to be trucking back and forth to a gym.  Fitness DVD’s are a great option for people like me who want to stay in shape but don’t necessarily enjoy gyms and want to make the most of their time instead of riding to and from fitness centers, wasting even more time out of their day.

For some reason, it’s been that way since I started working out at the young age of fifteen years old. I discovered that I felt and looked ten times better when I worked out. Plus I was just discovering boys, and I wanted to look good!  I popped exercise videos (then VHS tapes) in like it was my job.

Back then, I would do Cindy Crawford tapes, some Gilad that I taped from the television, and his sister Ada had a show on back then too that was a military workout theme that I loved.  I pretty much relied on those, Cindy and a little occasional “The Firm” tapes although I found the trainers in these videos to be dry and lifeless and the moves to be robot-like.

Now, some of the best fitness DVD’s are put out by the trainers who are on The Biggest Loser.  They are truly my biggest go-to’s when it comes to working out either after work or trying to get a quick workout in on the weekend when I’m squeezed for time.

My favorite one now which is very time-efficient is Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred series. There are three 25 minute workouts include that absolutely work your heart and your muscles out to the max in the smallest amount of time possible.

It’s not only extremely effective, but it’s also fun. I love the movements she has you go through. There are some very dynamic moves in these workouts that are simple, yet make you feel powerful and indestructible. You also have the benefit of Jillian’s great way of motivating you.

She’s definitely one of the best motivators I’ve ever seen in videos. I don’t feel like I’m looking at some soft-voiced Barbie doll type who has a smile plastered on her face the whole time as if she’s not winded or in a tiny bit of pain.  That’s just annoying, and above all it’s not realistic.

There is another excellent Jillian DVD out there. This one is called Banish Fat and Boost Metabolism. This one is a one-workout DVD.  It is about 50 minutes long in total.  It’s pretty darn hard. I couldn’t even get through the whole thing the first few times. I had to pace myself.

I was sore in places I didn’t even knew I had muscles after this workout. It is a lot of muscle work, but there is some cardio aspect in there as well. It’s all about toning the trouble areas in this workout, and it’s one of the best I’ve ever done for toning and sculpting because you really FEEL it when you’re done – or shall I say the next day.

Bob the trainer is just as good.  I’ve tried out the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga DVD with him in it. It’s not a yoga class that you’ll emerge from without cracking a sweat. This is not just all about stretching the body, but also about getting cardio work in and getting the heart rate up, which I love.

Biggest Loser Power Sculpt is probably my least favorite of all of the ones I’ve tried. I just didn’t feel very motivated and the moves were not all that fun or original. I just felt like I was going through the mechanics. In short, it’s one you might get bored with quickly.

The Biggest Loser original workout with all the trainers was great because it had several different options. You could go easier or a little harder, depending on the mood you were in, how much time you had to work out, and what kind of shape you were in.

I still feel like the best fitness DVD’s allow you to tailor the workout to your own needs. I also believe they should make the best use of the least amount of time in order for people to stick with them.

I’m way more likely to stick with a DVD that I know will be over in a half hour or less than I am one that is going to take an hour or more out of my precious time.  Time is usually even more important to money in most people’s lives, and it’s unfortunately not something you can buy, so you have to take maximum advantage.

One of my favorite butt kicking time crunch workouts is the Jackie Warner Extreme Time Saver. This is a half hour workout (it actually seems a bit longer in total).  It’s VERY hard to get through all the way the first and second time, but once you get through it, you realize how well it has toned your muscles and worked out areas you didn’t even know how to work out previously.

She is very squat-intensive, which is great for those of us that want to tone our thighs and butts.  There’s not much in the way of abs in this DVD in my opinion, so I would always throw some more crunches in at the end. What’s my favorite part of the Extreme Time Saver DVD?  The time saving aspect!

I love that it piles everything in that it can in such a short time span. It doesn’t waste my time, and I feel like I got my butt kicked afterward.  Jackie Warner is not as charismatic as Bob or Jillian as a trainer, but she gets the job done and has some very effective moves. I’ll admit, I don’t do this one as often as the 30 Day Shred with Jillian, simply because I like the moves better on that latter and find Jillian more motivating.