Can someone recommend a good fitness video?

[sashasmama]

I have no time to go to the gym as my husband works pretty long hours and i have no one else to look after dd. but recently i have been doing some simple stretches and situps and she has found it hilarious and joined in, which made me think that perhaps i could try a fitness video at home.. i am so out of touch so any advice will be much appreciated. it's the usual mumsy problem areas - jelly belly, wobbly bum, triceps that carry on wwaving after the hand has stopped!! Something that's a bit cardio and a bit of toning?.... thanks!!

I can't recommend a video but there are a lot of good workouts on youtube, so you can easily chop and change and not get bored with the same routine

Haven't tried it yet myself, but I've heard lots of people recommending the Davina ones.

I've been looking for Pilates dvd's - discovered that my local library have a stock of exercise DVD's so have been trying out some of those

I'm a bit of a fitness DVD junkie - mainly because I get bored quickly!

What sort of thing do you enjoy? Eg, dance, combat, aerobic, toning....? Also, how much time do you have each day? Most DVDs now are divided into shorter workouts than you can link together if you have more time.

Joanna Hall is great for basic aerobics - nice and 'real' looking! She has a separate cooldown section if you should want to bow out of the workout earlier. I've heard good things about Davina but I think her shortest workout is 30 minutes and they're quite intense which you might find too much to start with.

If you fancy a more combat based one, I love Billy Blanks' Tae-bo series but they are seriously knackering (apparently they burn 800 calories an hour ). I've recently bought the 10 minute solution kickbox bootcamp (there are loads in the 10 min series), and I'd recommend trying that before the Tae-bo as she does a lot of the same moves but at a slower pace so you can work on your coordination! She also teaches you the names of the kicks and punches so you get the addest bonus of learning a bit of self defence (I'm all for killing two birds with one stone, me!).

Good luck!

I have a bit of a space issue - small terraced house - Pilates is just about OK but how much room do you need for the higher impact stuff ? jogging on the spot I could do, but nothing that requires much movement to either side !

aerobics tends to need some space but the combat and toning stuff is good because a lot of it is on the spot. If you have enough space to do the lying down parts of pilates you should have enough!

Thanks guys!i had not really thought about all the factors you brought up... well space is no constraint. i live in bangkok at the moment and our apartment here is much much larger than my poky little terrace back in UK...

i don't think the combatty stuff is my thing plus i don't think i want dd to start doing punching and kicking moves in playgroup haha!

but i will definitely go and have a look at both joanna hall and davina ones on amazon.

hmm i think dancey ones may also be good fun to do with my 3 yo?... has anyone got any experience of exercising at home with their toddler?

cheers!

oh and thanks for the youtube tip holyguacamole, i will have a look!