Conference rocks::weight_control

    The Firm are great exercise videos.  I get the best overall results
    with these tapes.  Vol 1 and Vol 2 do not require a step up box, but
    you do need some 3 & 5 pounds weights after you have used the tapes for
    a while.  I have heard some video stores like Blockbusters rent them.
    The number to order is 1-800-The-Firm.
    
    Sasha

    Callanetics.  It's the only exercise video I've ever been able to stick
    at.  It's not aerobic, but the results are really visible/"feelable"
    within a couple of weeks of doing this video twice a week.  Once you
    get sick of listening to Callan Pinckney (and you will!) you can either
    turn the sound off or just do them to music, they are easy to remember. 
    I gave this video to my mother (54) who also enjoys it and she also
    noticed the difference (quite big around the hips) very quickly.
    
    Good luck
    
    Debs.
    

    If it isn't aerobic, what is it?  Stretching?  Toning?  Muscle
    building?
    
    Diana

    ya know, leg lifts,bending from the waist, push ups, basically
    work the muscles and toning. for some reason I can't follow
    aerobic i spend too much time trying to stay in step and not
    really getting the aerobic effect. pls i get frustrated and then
    stop. (not good). 
    

    
    	I have had the same problem with areobic videos.  I tend to be a
    little uncoordinated at times and will actually fall over if I don't be
    carefull.  I have an airgometer bike that gives me a great areobic
    workout.  I also run if I have the time.  I use free weights also.  My
    favorite areobic excersice is dancing.  I go 3 or 4 nights a week and
    dance up a good sweat.
    
    Virginia

    Well, this ais a bit aerobic but Kathy Smiths Fat Burning tape is
    working for me.  I'm losing inches almost every day.
    
    
    dh

    
    
    Who is Kathy Smith??  Where can I find her "Fat Burning" video.  Sounds
    like what I need
    

    Well, any place that sells VHS tapes should have her tapes.  I got mine
    at Blockbuster Video, but any place that sells tapes should have her
    series.  There's a new one just for losing weight that I'm going to
    buy, one for stomachs and thighs, etc etc.  She really works you
    though, so I'm just buying the ones that beginners can do.  Theres at
    least 3 that I know of.  Starting Out, Fat Burning, and the new Weight
    Loss tape. 
    
    I'm very heavy (have 75 pounds on me), but I am able to do these.  I am
    losing inches right now instead of weight.  I'm happy with that,
    although I don't understand it.
    
    
    Donna

Hi,

I have Kathy Smith's step aerobic tape.  I bought it at Target on sale
a couple of weekends ago.  They also had several other Kathy Smith tapes.

I think she used to be a health advisor on Good Morning America and it
says on the tape that she's been a personal fitness trainer for several
celebrities.  

Personally, I liked the tape because they don't whoop and holler all the
time.  Also, while her step aerobics are a bit advanced for me (they use
alot of upper body movements and that really picks up my heart rate), they
are easy to follow.  And you do see results pretty fast.  I've used Jane
Fonda, Cory Everson (gag), Step Reebok tapes and others, but this one
is the best by far.

I viewed the tapes put out by 'THE FIRM' and most of them had high impact
aerobics in them.  I have bad knees and wouldn't put myself through that.
I didn't view volume 4 which is advertised as very low impact, but i
noted that they used a very high step.  This hurts my knees, too.

See if you can rent the video's first.  Blockbuster usually has a large
collection.  That way, you don't end up with someone you'd love to throttle.
Exercising is hard enough without wanting to bean the instructor!

Jan

    re .8
    
    If you are losing inches but not weight, you are doing great!  What you
    are doing is losing fat and replacing it with muscle.  If you lose 5
    lbs of fat and replace it with 5 lbs of muscle you will be "smaller". 
    Why?  Because muscle is denser than fat -- 5 lbs of muscle takes up
    less room than 5 lbs of fat.
    
    Many nutritionists believe that most of us got fat by the opposite
    process -- we replaced muscle with fat through being inactive.  And
    this sneaks up on you because at first you don't gain weight, you just
    gain fat.  YOu may find that your clothes are a bit tight, but your
    scale still says you weight the same.  So you get the idea that you 
    can eat all those hot fudge sundaes and not gain.  But you are in
    trouble, because not only do you have a lot of fat, but fat leads to
    more fat because fat burns fewer calories than muscle.
    
    Keep active!

    re: Kathy Smith Fat Burning tape....I didn't like that tape at all
    (MHO!).  If you have a room the size of a dance studio then I guess it's 
    ok, but I have a small apartment and can't do all those side-stepping 
    things that she does that make you end up about 10 feet across the room.
    I am not uncoordinated at all, I can follow my other aerobic tapes, but 
    she added too many dance steps I found, and I ended up tripping over 
    myself and getting frustrated as well.
    
    I haven't done ANY aerobic activity in 3 months and can't get up the 
    energy to start either, so I really shouldn't talk about tapes I don't
    use :^) !!! ....but that's another story! 
    
    K.

    sounds very much like "convenient store" aerobics is a matter of
    personal taste.  one of the reasons i've been renting.  it occured to
    me, while staring at my minions of other videos and just how often i
    watch them, that i had two alternatives
    
    1) buy and get bored
    2) rent and get a variety
    3) tape the ones one tv (and there are good ones)
    4) copy 
                                             
    (ooops more than two) and i'm sure some of you creative types have other
    suggestions.  for me, it has to be variety, a mix of music and style,
    anything to work out to inside and not have to go out into the cold to
    get there 
    
    Pdt
    

    I would like some info. about the BUNS OF STEAL video tapes.  A friend
    has extra copies for sale but I want to how good or bad these tapes
    are.
    
    
    
    Thanks,
    
    Virginia

    in aerobics they have a note dedicated to this video.  
    
    P&S  whose buns are you trying to "steal" ;-}
    

Does anyone know of any exercise classes that are 
shown on TV?  Maybe something that can be taped and 
used later???

Thanks.

kath

>
>Does anyone know of any exercise classes that are 
>shown on TV?  Maybe something that can be taped and 
>used later???

there are some morning stretch type shows shown on TV.  Local station
channel 38 (out of Boston?) has one such on at something like 5:30am.
It is called morning stretch :-).  TV guide might be a good source.

    ESPN has a number of shows from around 10:30am til 1:00pm (I'm
    not sure of the exact times).  There are three of four at that
    time.

    Definitely try the ESPN shows, they run between 8am and 12 noon.
    
    Bodies in Motion is with Gilard Janklowicz(sp?) is excellent, so is
    the one with Denise somebody.

	There's a good show on at 11:00 on ESPN - don't know the name,
	I caught about 5 minutes of it one day, and it looked great.

	My sister said it gets a bit funky, so can be more difficult
	to follow than a basic class, but if you want a new challenge,
	give it a try.

	What I don't like:

	VH1 workout (on at 12).  They play videos while a group works out.
	Rachel Hunter takes the class, which is supposed to make you watch
	it...  What's the problem ?  The instructor is off to the side, and
	they only show him once every 5 minutes, for about 10 seconds.  The
	rest of the time, they show you Rachel, the other people working out
	(who are modifying all the moves into their own thing) and videos.
	
	Also, I don't much care for Denise Austin (don't even know what
	channel she's on, but I cringe when I see the show...)

	Karen

    re: .18
    
    I would like to second Mike's recommendation of Bodies in Motion
    with Gilad Janklowicz(sp?).  Here in Colorado there is another
    show called Basic Training that is hosted by Ada Janklowicz(sp?)
    (not sure if she's Gilad's sister or wife, but they are connected in
    some way).  It comes on here on ESPN at 7:00 or 7:30, so it would be 
    9:00 or 9:30 in Mass.    
    
    Bodies in Motion tends to have a lot of high-impact aerobics, but does
    good body toning work.  Does ab work every workout.  I recorded this
    for a few months and use it when I don't have time for a longer
    workout.  If you fast-forward through the commercials, you really get
    about 24 minutes of work-out.  I sometimes back up the aerobics and do
    it twice, that way I get about 12 minutes of aerobics.
    
    Basic Training is low impact and does some toning work with small
    dumbells.  She does ab work every time and is not too "cutesy" or
    overly enthusiastic.
    
    As far as Denise Austin goes, IMHO she is too cute for her own good
    ;-).  She is a bit too much for me.
    
    However, I have to go back to a reply (I think it is .1) and agree most
    whole-heartedly that the FIRM work-out videos are the absolute BEST out
    there and I have tried nearly all of them (including Fonda, Kathy
    Smith, Denise Austin, Cory Everson, Cher, Raquel Welch).  They do
    require some equipment (weights, steps, etc.), but I believe they are
    well worth the cost.  If you have bad knees (I do) try doing the
    exercises without the steps.  Just trace the same patterns on the
    floor.   FIRM 1 and FIRM 2 don't use steps at all, but are high
    impact, I just use low impact moves instead.  FIRM 3 uses a high
    step (14" to 17" - instead you could just do lunges or squats) and 
    is high impact.  FIRM 4 uses a low step (8" or shorter) and is only 
    a 42 minute work-out (it is intense and sometimes hard to follow - it 
    is my least favorite).  FIRM 5 is also a short low-impact work-out 
    and uses a low step and a high step.  FIRM 6 is the GREATEST!  It is
    called the baby-boomer work-out and has several "older" folks in the
    work-out group.  It also includes interviews with some older women in
    the information section.  It is low impact and uses a low step (or
    box as it's called in FIRM lingo) and a high step.  It also has
    exercises for the pelvic floor muscles - which I think are probably
    very beneficial for most women who have given birth.  I know that they
    have helped me a lot.  All of the videos work the entire body but use
    many different exercises to do it, so they're not boring.  The
    production quality is excellent and the leaders are very good (Janet
    Jones-Gretsky is on Volume II and Sandahl Bergman is on Volume III).
    
    Well, I think I've probably ranted and rambled enough here.  The local
    BlockBuster Video rents these tapes, so you can check them out before
    you decide to buy them (they are from $40 to $50 apiece).
    
    Hope this is helpful information.   
    
    Jonnie Nottingham
    DTN: 592-5127
    Colorado Springs

    I think I posed this question before, but can you purchase the steps
    while ordering FIRM tapes, or do you have to buy/make your own
    elsewhere?  I know the weights and steps are not included in the
    purchase of the tapes but would at least like to know if I could buy
    the step through THE FIRM.  (I have my own weights at home.)
    
    Also, how many sets of weights do you need?  3 lb., 4lb. 5lb.?? 
    Higher??
    

    You can get the steps from the FIRM.  If you know someone who is handy
    with wood, they are easily built.  My neighbor's husband made her steps
    and my steps for nothing.  He just used scraps of plywood that he had
    laying around.
    
    If you are a beginner, you won't need weights at all at first. 
    Sometimes it's a struggle to just make it through the tapes at first. 
    However, if you are pretty good shape already, you will probably need
    1-1/2#, 3#, 5#, 7 or 8#, 10#, 12# and 15# dumbells.  All the videos 
    except #6 use ankle weights.  I bought the FIRM's ankle weights because 
    they are adjustable from 1/2# to 5# (and when I need 1-1/2# weights 
    for FIRM Volume 1, I just use three of the 1/2# plates that go in the 
    ankle weights :-)).  If you are going to do Volume 6, you will probably 
    want to have a light barbell handy (I have mine set up at about 15#).  
    You can use dumbells, but it is better to use a barbell if you have 
    one.  It's easier to maintain balance with a barbell over your
    shoulders when you step up on the tall box than it is with two
    dumbells.
    
    Did I answer all your questions?
    
    Jonnie 

    Thanks Jonnie, that was perfect!
    
    I am in good shape already, and work out 5 to 6 times per week. 
    However, I need to put some variety into my workouts and these tapes
    might be the perfect solution.
    
    Thanks for the info!
    
    -Roberta