General Comments on Aussie Fit series
I think Aussie Fit is a TV fitness programme in Australia, but I’m not sure about this, as I’m just a pasty-faced Limey. Australian VFers Kate and Kylie probably know more – they introduced me to the series. In any case, they have produced quite a few tapes.
Although the covers say “For all levels of fitness”, the workouts seem to be aimed mainly at intermediate-level exercisers. They can be modified to make them easier for beginners, and modifications are demonstrated in the workouts. They do have a couple of tapes intended specifically for beginners.
The aerobic workouts don’t take up a great deal of room (the ones I have are Fat Burner, Lite Aerobics, New Body and Cross Train). I have a fairly small workout space and sometimes I have to adapt a little (like finishing off a move on the spot to avoid hitting the wall, but this mainly happens to me on diagonal moves). If you have the space to do a grapevine plus a couple of steps, you should be okay.
There are two Aussie Fit teams. One consists of Michelle, John, Kim, Lucy and Manny. The girls are all Australian Aerobic Champions, and the men are professional fitness instructors. John often jokes around a bit and pretends to be out of sync with the rest, no doubt to make us uncoordinated folk feel less awkward (although sometimes I think he really is out of sync!!). The other team consists of professional fitness instructors Kylie, Steve, Jane, Donna and Rebecca. Both teams are good. They are enthusiastic and encouraging without being perky or over-exuberant.
The tape quality is fair, but not always perfect (the colours sometimes seem a bit garish and wobbly, but it’s not too bad. Maybe it even has something to do with playing Australian-made tapes on my European VCR/TV.).
Being Australian made, these tapes are in PAL format. Sooner or later, users of PAL tapes find out how difficult it is to obtain workouts which move past beginner stage: they usually just aren’t available or, when they are, they’re quite expensive. Well, at last, here are some good workouts for PAL VFers! In my opinion they are very good value for money. I paid 9.95 Australian Dollars for each of my tapes (in 1999), which I think is very reasonable – especially considering how much I enjoy them. So, if you’re having trouble finding PAL-format videos, I’d say give Aussie Fit a try. I’ve seen a couple for sale on a UK internet site, but I’ve been getting mine from Vidz of Oz, which has a much larger selection (see the Sources page).
Instructor comments: Glynis van Uden
gvanuden@worldonline.nl
2 March 2000
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