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Old 08-05-13, 08:05 PM  
altinker
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Placerville, CA
I think the reason people don't consider dvds for their workout needs is that they don't believe they would be self-motivated enough to do them on their own. The same thing with online school -- most people need to go to a class and have somebody pushing them to do the work.

It really takes discipline to put yourself on a schedule and actually work out, and this is why many folks who get a gym membership still don't even go to the gym.

It's a time issue for me, and I live 20 or 30 miles from my gym and yoga studio. I work 9 or 10 hour days, and I am starving after work. I am not going to come home and eat and then go back to the gym. It would take 45 minutes of a round-trip commute -- when I am only awake about 3.5 or 4 hours after I get off of work. It makes sense to work out from home for me. And, I've gotten good results.

Now, as soon as this Master's degree is done and over with, I can be more consistent.
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Old 08-06-13, 12:11 AM  
Vee
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Kuala Lumpur
I love gym workouts of all kinds - group classes, running on the treadmill, doing resistance training on my own in the weight room, spinning.... The best thing about a gym is group energy. I don't socialise in the gym, but working out hard with other people around you doing the same, is hugely motivating. I love the plethora of equipment too.

I also love at home workouts for the same reasons mentioned up thread - work out in pyjamas, fabulous variety of instructors, no commute.

They can both work well, but I must confess, my most fit periods have been at the gym. I can't pin point exactly why, but a gym habit makes me work harder.

If I had the luxury of time I would want to combine both. Right now, I am doing home workouts for the convenience.
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Old 08-06-13, 01:39 AM  
edensmom
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
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I've not knowingly encountered this attitude. Sometimes people I know casually may ask what I do for fitness and no one has ever said any kind of dismissive comment when I mention dvds. I don't do videos exclusively so I may also say I do elliptical cardio or run outdoors and lift weights, jump rope etc. A lot of people say it is too easy for them to skip their workout at home whereas at the gym, there is really nothing else you could be doing as working out is the express purpose for being there. My sister, for example, tried dvds but found herself distracted by things like household chores. A former co-worker said the same thing, as well as being motivated to push more in a group atmosphere. No judgement about whether or not a home workout could be effective, just "I don't think I could be consistent with making myself do it."

It isn't surprising though because people seem to have a pretty linear view of fitness, as in the road to fitness is X. Running, lifting weights etc., and anything else is a waste of time. My sister's boyfriend discouraged her from lifting weights so as to avoid getting big and manly. She informed him that I lift heavier weights than he does! And I am small. So there.

Another reason could be some people who try a dvd workouts don't follow through and put in the work, then assign blame to the workout itself rather than their own effort. Many people seem to just want that instant gratification vs working hard and being uncomfortable. When it gets hard, they may give up.

Anyway, it works for me, so I don't actually care if other people think dvds are effective or not.
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Old 08-06-13, 05:13 AM  
pcdoctor01
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
So, I wonder what gym folks think about working out in a class at the gym? To me that's the same thing as a workout video. The only difference is the class is live instead of watching a dvd. Let's say the instructor is doing "Turbo Kick" workouts. What would be the difference between that and the "Turbo Fire" DVD?
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Old 08-06-13, 07:29 AM  
bayportsmom
 
Join Date: May 2011
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Originally Posted by pcdoctor01 View Post
So, I wonder what gym folks think about working out in a class at the gym? To me that's the same thing as a workout video. The only difference is the class is live instead of watching a dvd. Let's say the instructor is doing "Turbo Kick" workouts. What would be the difference between that and the "Turbo Fire" DVD?
I know that in the weight lifting crowd at my gym there are many that wouldn't be caught dead in a class or even on a cardio machine for any length of time (DS and DH included). Even my sons girlfriend- I thought she'd like Body Pump but she won't even try it.

A couple of people have said they are worried about choreography & keeping up etc., but I know a few also that think any " class" setting (DVD included) must be easy and silly.

DH has seen me workout downstairs and has admitted many times he'd never be able to do my workouts, and when I walk out of turbo kick I'm usually a LOT more sweaty than anyone I may talk to on the way out.

I think ANY workout you will do, and will be able to challenge yourself with is a great workout. I still have plans to join the weight lifting crowd and really try a super heavy lifting rotation someday...... I just enjoy the dvd's and classes too much.
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Old 08-06-13, 01:32 PM  
Rivercat
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Originally Posted by edensmom View Post
My sister, for example, tried dvds but found herself distracted by things like household chores.
This is a big problem for many people. A friend of mine borrowed several videos years ago, but her kids and dogs wouldn't leave her alone long enough to get through a workout (when she closed the door, they just yelled and pounded on it... ), so heading to the gym became a nice break from the rest of her day.

She saw the results I got and didn't dispute that the workouts were useless, they just didn't work well for her particular situation.
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Old 10-12-14, 09:06 AM  
TinierTina
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: New York City
Motivation and Self-Acceptance

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Originally Posted by Eibhinn View Post
Lots of people buy videos and never use them. When that is the case, obviously people are right that "videos" don't work.

Also, for the most part fitness videos aren't as "cool" as going to the gym, nor as visible. If you are someone who gets fit going to the gym, it's more likely people will see you going to the gym and possibly you will invite other people to go with you or talk about it with people who go to the same gym, etc. If you use videos and run, people will likely only see you running and assume that's the only way you keep fit. Most successful video fitness people are sort-of invisible.

On the other hand, while successful video use is mostly invisible, unsuccessful video use is more visible than unsuccessful gym use: people can see the equipment and videos gathering dust in a person's house a little more easily than the gym membership card in their wallet that has only been used once.

Finally, in North America our fitness beliefs are still heavily influenced by body building culture. Most people don't have a lot of equipment at home so that sort of heavy lifting approach is less available to most home exercisers. Given the assumption that body building is the only valid/successful form of fitness, home fitness videos are assumed to be useless. P90X has helped reduce this belief, but again the large number of people who buy P90X and never use it reinforce the idea that home fitness videos never get used. And some extroverted people really do need a social aspect to their fitness, or to work out in public for motivation. It's just not true that everyone does, obviously.
One word describes this phenomenon: redevelopment.

And here I am not talking bodies. I'm talking about both gentrification and zillionaire incursions into neighborhoods that were formerly middle class and retirees only.

Of course, it looks both "upscale" AND "cool" to be seen carrying a yoga mat (even though yoga is on its way out in the neighborhoods these millionaires were priced out of, here in the big city) and wearing all kinds of yoga clothes, and wearing exposing/form-fitting yoga clothes ...

Do you know, just on the cusp of the zillionaires moving into the neighborhood I'd gotten priced out of; in that vast shoulder season, at a studio that thinks of itself as being "down to earth", btw ... as just a yoga student, I had felt like an interloper in a class taught only to other 200 RYTs (not even those just in training)?!?

In addition, these days--4 years later--I just don't see as many people with yoga mats parading around like I used to. I see plenty of "yoga butts" though on people who don't look like they are expected ethnic group for this phenomenon. This is the age of Jen Selter ... and there are no corporate megayogachurches in my neighborhood that store your mats for free...

All right. It doesn't seem to be quite as much of a thing--but I actually don't see the parade of the mats much anymore ... and the ones I see look thicker, like traditional pilates mats ... which leads me to believe they are newbies to [especially the tricky stuff in] yoga or really pilates ...

I am the pilates lover even though mine is at home ...

I do understand there is a way you can do X-training videos that mimic Cross-Fit at home. The neighborhood I am talking about, is too upscale to house a Cross-Fit "Box", but they do have a Title Boxing Studio there ... okay ... sparring partner - I'll give them THAT.

However!

I'd LIVED underneath someone who obviously chose to do kickboxing (with a sparring partner) all through the night - no video - definitely at home, in the wee hours of the night ... many complaints from me to management. Thankfully, he and his cronies have moved out ...

Conclusion: Somes just got the motivation (and the self-acceptance), and somes do not ...
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Old 10-12-14, 09:31 AM  
Kyra
 
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Location: South Jersey
As I see it: There is a LOT wrong with videos. For the uninitiated - there is no one there to correct form, so people can do things incorrectly and potentially injure themselves, with the best of intentions. I also think they are completely stupid in that very few allow for progression in terms of strength training. In fact, what they seem to focus on is endurance training, not strength training, all advertising aside. 3 sets of 10 with no rest = 1 set of 30. Totally different animal. And, they seem to focus on aesthetics, at the expense of functional strength. NOBODY cares how much you can biceps curl, but can you lift your kid/dog/cat/bag of groceries? I bet you care about that.

All that said - and if you followed my Sunday morning condensed mind there, kudos! - I think any exercise program you can do regularly is a good one. If that means videos for you, do videos. End of story!
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Old 10-12-14, 09:35 AM  
eam531
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I kind of don't get this all or nothing mentality. I like the gym AND videos.

The best cardio workouts I ever did, bar none, were at the faculty-staff exercise classes at UT-Austin in the early 1980s. Great music, lots of camaraderie, NO MIRRORS, no competition, and an instructor who was a dynamo working on her Ph.D. in exercise physiology. I loved them so much I went twice a day. After I left Austin, I belonged to several gyms and enjoyed the group cardio classes. I'm retiring on Dec. 31 and I'll be joining a gym for the group classes. I can hardly wait to take spinning, Body Pump, stretching, and other classes. It gets me out of the house and doing fun things with other people.

My husband lives to work out, and the idea of working out at home is a non-starter. He can see that videos are effective (he lives with me, after all!) but likes the array of equipment at the gym. He uses the gym at his workplace and on weekends does cardio workouts on his own (long bike rides, usually). When he retires, he's definitely joining a gym.

I've used videos at home for over 15 years. I like them very much, but not for cardio. For me videos offer sheer convenience--I have a demanding job and simply don't have time to go to a gym, take a class, and go home. Videos have been a godsend. But I also like the energy of live classes and look forward to the gym when I retire ... and I'll still use my videos.

I don't tell many people that I work out to videos. I don't bring it up unless directly asked. (Same goes with my dietary and other lifestyle choices.) My feeling is that most people don't care all that much about other people's hobbies. If some know-nothing disses videos, who cares? As long as you like them and benefit from them, that's all that matters.
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Last edited by eam531; 10-12-14 at 09:36 AM. Reason: typo
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Old 10-12-14, 09:40 AM  
TinierTina
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: New York City
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Originally Posted by Judy W. View Post
Interestingly, I just rediscovered Richard! And guess what -- it's a pretty darn good workout for a 64 year old non-Cath-lete! Know why it's good? Because I DO it with all my heart. Gets my heartrate up and my endorphins singing. I also love The Firm, Ellen, Kathy Smith, Denise Austin, Christi Taylor and many many others.

I once weighed over 300 pounds. Today I weigh around 110 or so. Long story how I got there, but part of the way I've maintained it is by faithfully doing exercise videos for the last 11 years! I take no medications whatsoever and am in excellent health, other than a grumpy knee which resents all the years it had to carry the extra weight.

When I hear people run down dvds, I just smile at them. Do exercise videos work? I stand as living proof that they do!
Richard Simmons is not just for the "overweight" or the "out of shape". His non-Silver Foxes (i.e., the "regular" Sweatin' to the Oldies) is now in my rotation after just over a decade of never doing him.

Denise Austin, the old-school Judi Sheppard Missett (Jazzercise) - Ditto!! Age 60, and a cardio drama queen here!

I find I have to and do use slightly heavier hand weights than is initially recommended for their respective toning sections with added resistance, though; and I'm good-to-go ....
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