Any good DVDs from the UK

daisyduke · 03-18-08, 06:35 AM

I'm living in London now, and I'm just wondering if there are any good exercise DVD's that can be purchased here. The Firm, Cathe, etc no one ships to the UK. Are there are any exercise videos made in the UK that I can purchase? Thanks in advance!

Richie · 03-18-08, 07:32 AM

Hi Daisy

I live in the UK. I came to this forum because there is so little home grown product that is any good. The US market IS where it's at!
The pinnacle in terms of popularity over here is either Davina's various workouts (Davina McCall, annoying tv presenter) or Rosemary Conley who has been putting out videos for 25 years. Nothing inspiring at all really. But have a look at www.amazon.co.uk and www.play.com and www.hmv.co.uk as you never know you may find something you like.
People must get results as they keep bringing out new titles but it's all sold on the "personality" more than anything. Every December 26th the market is flooded with a whole batch of new "celebrity" workouts from people most of us have never heard of (footballers' girlfriends, glamour models and the like).
In recent years the most popular have been the Ministry Of Sound: Pump It Up series (again they seem to release one title approx every Dec 26th!). They started after the Eric Prydz music video 'Call on Me' was a massive hit here. The video was a tongue in cheek ironic soft-core version of an 80s aerobic workout class, the real workout dvd used the same girls and setting. By all accounts it and the follow up titles are good aerobic dance workouts but they are made for teenage girls really. I'm sure some teenage boys get a good workout too!

There are a couple of The Firm titles available here (Ultimate Fat Burning and Bootcamp Maximum Calorie Burn) as well as the packaged sets for the Stability Ball, Pilates Band, Sculpting Ball, Resistance Cord. You'll find them in larger Tesco stores and online at amazon uk.

You can order just about anything from The Firm and Cathe and everyone else via the internet from:
www.amazon.com
www.totalfitnessdvds.com
www.dvdpacific.com
www.deepdiscount.com

etc. etc.

Just bare in mind that orders over £18/$34 (approx at the moment) are subject to customs and the Royal Mail's "handling" fees which are extortionate! (£8/$16 a pop)! So keep each online order to $34 or under to be safe, that's what I do where possible. The limit has been higher in recent months due to the exchange rate but it's good to keep $34 as a benchmark.
The UK customs and excise website will tell you what the monthly limit is if you want an exact figure. Click this link Find the current month on the list, scroll down to US $ and x by 18. The exact limit for March is US$34.93 so any order (before shipping costs) that is that amount or under won't be subject to VAT and customs duty when entering the UK. If your order is above that amount then the shipping costs are added to the total and VAT and customs is charged on the whole lot plus you then have the "handling" fees on top of that (very tricky of them huh)! It's a clever way to squeeze a lot more money out of people.
Also of course you'll need to ensure that your dvd player is multi-region! Even The Firm titles that are sold in Tesco are Region 1 (the UK is Region 2). Many cheap supermarket dvd players are easy to set-up to multiregion with a code on the remote control if you need to buy one. For example Tesco sell a Technika DVD1031 for under £20 and all you do is:
Turn on DVD and TV
Open tray on DVD
Type 9736 on DVD remote
Region 2 appears.
type 0 from DVD remote and wait until this disappears.
Then you're all set for any region dvd!

I hope this rambling post helps you some!

daisyduke · 03-18-08, 08:22 AM

Thank you, Richie. Your post has been most helpful! I will check out those websites!

roshnigautam · 03-18-08, 09:55 AM

I would say Davina's Power of 3 is a good toning based circuit workout for intermediate/low advanced...

Also Nell McAndrews Ultimate Challenge is worth checking out..not as intense as Cathe but on par with the Firm...her other ones Peak Energy etc are not as intense as the Ultimate Challenge!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nell-McAndre.../dp/B0006J2A1C

These are the toughest workouts I have been able to find in the UK..

daisyduke · 03-18-08, 02:44 PM

Thanks for those suggestions. I will check those out as well!

EnglishRose · 03-22-08, 11:59 AM

Collage post to the UK although you have to pay customs and the shipping is quite steep. I've ordered Cathe from them before now.

kim77 · 05-25-08, 11:04 AM

Another good website is www.advancedworkoutsdvd.com.
They have free shipping on orders above USD 50 (even on international orders) and their customer service is excellent.

CarlaShanti · 05-25-08, 11:29 AM

I live in the UK, but I only use US workouts. Amazon.co.uk is a good source for a lot of workouts, if you are willing to wait some time after release. You can get workouts on the Marketplace pretty cheap. For example, Jari Love DVDs are usually under a fiver. However, Cathe NEVER turns up there. Be prepared to pay through the nose for hers. (She's worth it though).

Keepfitgirl · 05-25-08, 11:53 AM

Also from the UK! I agree Nell McAndrew's DVD's are probably the toughest over here. I've got her "Peak Energy" one but I have to say I find it pretty boring - a lot of running on the spot variations, if you know what I mean.

I've actually got the first "Pump it up" DVD and I have to say that it's actually a pretty good workout. I think the subsequent ones haven't been as good. I think you probably would enjoy this if you like dance workouts. It gets the heart rate up and I've used some of the sections on my rebounder which was fun. It's not boring like Nell's DVD and the music's good too. Be warned, they do thrust their hips sometimes

.

If you like pilates, Lynn Robinson is pretty good, though her workouts are not as tough as alot of the ones from the US. Geri Halliwell's yoga DVD's aren't bad either but you can find better choice in the USA for yoga.

I agree that Amazon is good place to search for some cheap stuff, especially in the new and used sections. I mainly get my stuff from Amazon, advanced workouts, fitness fly (good postage discounts), Ebay and also direct from the instructor's workouts during the pre-sale. Amy doesn't charge international postage during her free shipping day, which is great.

Hope that helps!

Emma

RubyBlue · 05-25-08, 12:20 PM

Hi Daisy,

From the UK also!

I would definitely recommend the Nell DVDs and the Ministry of Sound ones- I suspect they are your best bets.

Also try the Marketplace seller Caiman on Amazon.co.uk- they are very reliable (5-6 days for delivery) and cheap (although the exchange rate makes it a bit pricey in dollar terms.) As has been said, watch out for Region One DVDs, though (unless you have a multiregion player, of course.)

If you like yoga, try Claire Messingham's yoga DVD- wonderful.

Be very careful with Collage, Cathe.com and amazon.com as you will be stung for customs charges and believe me, it is not cheap. I buy Cathe from Cathe's site and always factor in another £20-£30 for charges , depending on how many I get.

Other places will be better if you're not in a hurry to get them.

Enjoy the UK!

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03-18-08, 06:35 AM
daisyduke Join Date: Jun 2004	Any good DVDs from the UK I'm living in London now, and I'm just wondering if there are any good exercise DVD's that can be purchased here. The Firm, Cathe, etc no one ships to the UK. Are there are any exercise videos made in the UK that I can purchase? Thanks in advance!

03-18-08, 07:32 AM
Richie Join Date: Feb 2008	Hi Daisy I live in the UK. I came to this forum because there is so little home grown product that is any good. The US market IS where it's at! The pinnacle in terms of popularity over here is either Davina's various workouts (Davina McCall, annoying tv presenter) or Rosemary Conley who has been putting out videos for 25 years. Nothing inspiring at all really. But have a look at www.amazon.co.uk and www.play.com and www.hmv.co.uk as you never know you may find something you like. People must get results as they keep bringing out new titles but it's all sold on the "personality" more than anything. Every December 26th the market is flooded with a whole batch of new "celebrity" workouts from people most of us have never heard of (footballers' girlfriends, glamour models and the like). In recent years the most popular have been the Ministry Of Sound: Pump It Up series (again they seem to release one title approx every Dec 26th!). They started after the Eric Prydz music video 'Call on Me' was a massive hit here. The video was a tongue in cheek ironic soft-core version of an 80s aerobic workout class, the real workout dvd used the same girls and setting. By all accounts it and the follow up titles are good aerobic dance workouts but they are made for teenage girls really. I'm sure some teenage boys get a good workout too! There are a couple of The Firm titles available here (Ultimate Fat Burning and Bootcamp Maximum Calorie Burn) as well as the packaged sets for the Stability Ball, Pilates Band, Sculpting Ball, Resistance Cord. You'll find them in larger Tesco stores and online at amazon uk. You can order just about anything from The Firm and Cathe and everyone else via the internet from: www.amazon.com www.totalfitnessdvds.com www.dvdpacific.com www.deepdiscount.com etc. etc. Just bare in mind that orders over £18/$34 (approx at the moment) are subject to customs and the Royal Mail's "handling" fees which are extortionate! (£8/$16 a pop)! So keep each online order to $34 or under to be safe, that's what I do where possible. The limit has been higher in recent months due to the exchange rate but it's good to keep $34 as a benchmark. The UK customs and excise website will tell you what the monthly limit is if you want an exact figure. Click this link Find the current month on the list, scroll down to US $ and x by 18. The exact limit for March is US$34.93 so any order (before shipping costs) that is that amount or under won't be subject to VAT and customs duty when entering the UK. If your order is above that amount then the shipping costs are added to the total and VAT and customs is charged on the whole lot plus you then have the "handling" fees on top of that (very tricky of them huh)! It's a clever way to squeeze a lot more money out of people. Also of course you'll need to ensure that your dvd player is multi-region! Even The Firm titles that are sold in Tesco are Region 1 (the UK is Region 2). Many cheap supermarket dvd players are easy to set-up to multiregion with a code on the remote control if you need to buy one. For example Tesco sell a Technika DVD1031 for under £20 and all you do is: Turn on DVD and TV Open tray on DVD Type 9736 on DVD remote Region 2 appears. type 0 from DVD remote and wait until this disappears. Then you're all set for any region dvd! I hope this rambling post helps you some!

03-18-08, 08:22 AM
daisyduke Join Date: Jun 2004	Thank you, Richie. Your post has been most helpful! I will check out those websites!

03-18-08, 09:55 AM
roshnigautam Join Date: Oct 2007	Nell McAndrews ... I would say Davina's Power of 3 is a good toning based circuit workout for intermediate/low advanced... Also Nell McAndrews Ultimate Challenge is worth checking out..not as intense as Cathe but on par with the Firm...her other ones Peak Energy etc are not as intense as the Ultimate Challenge!! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nell-McAndre.../dp/B0006J2A1C These are the toughest workouts I have been able to find in the UK..

03-18-08, 02:44 PM
daisyduke Join Date: Jun 2004	Thanks for those suggestions. I will check those out as well!

03-22-08, 11:59 AM
EnglishRose Join Date: May 2005 Location: Yorkshire, England	Collage post to the UK although you have to pay customs and the shipping is quite steep. I've ordered Cathe from them before now.

05-25-08, 11:04 AM
kim77 Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Belgium	Another good website is www.advancedworkoutsdvd.com. They have free shipping on orders above USD 50 (even on international orders) and their customer service is excellent.

05-25-08, 11:29 AM
CarlaShanti Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: United Kingdom	I live in the UK, but I only use US workouts. Amazon.co.uk is a good source for a lot of workouts, if you are willing to wait some time after release. You can get workouts on the Marketplace pretty cheap. For example, Jari Love DVDs are usually under a fiver. However, Cathe NEVER turns up there. Be prepared to pay through the nose for hers. (She's worth it though).

05-25-08, 11:53 AM
Keepfitgirl Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: S Coast of England, not far from Brighton.	Also from the UK! I agree Nell McAndrew's DVD's are probably the toughest over here. I've got her "Peak Energy" one but I have to say I find it pretty boring - a lot of running on the spot variations, if you know what I mean. I've actually got the first "Pump it up" DVD and I have to say that it's actually a pretty good workout. I think the subsequent ones haven't been as good. I think you probably would enjoy this if you like dance workouts. It gets the heart rate up and I've used some of the sections on my rebounder which was fun. It's not boring like Nell's DVD and the music's good too. Be warned, they do thrust their hips sometimes . If you like pilates, Lynn Robinson is pretty good, though her workouts are not as tough as alot of the ones from the US. Geri Halliwell's yoga DVD's aren't bad either but you can find better choice in the USA for yoga. I agree that Amazon is good place to search for some cheap stuff, especially in the new and used sections. I mainly get my stuff from Amazon, advanced workouts, fitness fly (good postage discounts), Ebay and also direct from the instructor's workouts during the pre-sale. Amy doesn't charge international postage during her free shipping day, which is great. Hope that helps! Emma

05-25-08, 12:20 PM
RubyBlue Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: London, UK	Hi Daisy, From the UK also! I would definitely recommend the Nell DVDs and the Ministry of Sound ones- I suspect they are your best bets. Also try the Marketplace seller Caiman on Amazon.co.uk- they are very reliable (5-6 days for delivery) and cheap (although the exchange rate makes it a bit pricey in dollar terms.) As has been said, watch out for Region One DVDs, though (unless you have a multiregion player, of course.) If you like yoga, try Claire Messingham's yoga DVD- wonderful. Be very careful with Collage, Cathe.com and amazon.com as you will be stung for customs charges and believe me, it is not cheap. I buy Cathe from Cathe's site and always factor in another £20-£30 for charges , depending on how many I get. Other places will be better if you're not in a hurry to get them. Enjoy the UK!