Check Out These Three Awesome Exercise DVD's!

I have learned the hard way that when it comes to choosing exercise DVD's it is best to ask for recommendations from friends, family or co-workers.  I've bought a few that I wish I had not purchased but these three are the absolute best that I've come across!  I wanted to share them with you.  I'm going to break down why I like them and why I still use one or two of them on a daily basis.  I ordered all of them from Amazon.com at the following link:  http://www.amazon.com/

Winsor Pilates - Basic 3 DVD Workout Set was the very first exercise DVD I purchased close to two years ago when I first made major lifestyle changes in my eating and exercising patterns.  It is absolutely awesome for several reasons.

• Mari Winsor is a top instructor and has been in the business for over two decades.  She is highly professional and knows her stuff.  She has worked with many movie and TV stars.   She has three DVD's in this set.  One is a 20 minute overall body routine.  This 20 minute routine is great to start off with when you're getting back into conditioning after a layoff or when you simply want a great, short overall workout.  I started off with this 20 minute version because it allowed me to slowly build up strength.  It took me a month or so to get down the moves and I became stronger over time.  This 20 minute version of Pilates was my main DVD that I used for months and I used it almost daily. There is also an instructional DVD that breaks down the moves and there is an awesome accelerated 50 minute version of Pilates that I now use once or twice a week.  It is awesome!

I love this DVD by Denise Austin.  It was recommended to me by a young woman who loved her workouts.  It is awesome for the following reasons:

• It is divided into 10 minute mini routines that focus on the core, abs, hip, thighs and buns individually.
• There are different levels of intensity you can choose from and you can start out low and work your way up.
• You can put together your own custom routine.  My favorite routine on this one is the abs & waist, hips and buns.  I do this one at least two days a week.

Of course, you can switch this workout any way you like and you can make the workout as long or as short as you like.  I go for 30 minutes on this one as I've stated and I hit the abs & waist, hips and buns sections.  It is awesome!  I love the tropical scenery.  She is motivating!

Denise Austin's Personal Training System is off the charts!  It was recommended to me by the same young woman.  I use this one 3-4 times a week because it works your body in a totally different way than Pilates.  It is more like strength training that you can do in your own home. 

• This DVD centers on your upper and lower body areas.  She provides three different intensity levels which are low, medium and high.  It is awesome! 
• The mini individual workouts are each only 10 minutes long. 
• There is an upper body dumbbell routine.   I gradually built up to using five pounds and eight pounds weights for this routine and I mostly stick with the low intensity area because the medium and high level incorporate pushups.  This is awesome for people who like pushups but I stay with the low intensity in the upper body area on this one.  Believe me, it gets results and it is challenging.
• The lower body workout is incredible.  I started at the medium intensity on this one and I now stick to the high intensity.  It is so great because it has built up the areas that surround my knees.  I had problems in my knee areas when I first started walking briskly consistently.  Do you know once I added on this workout with all the squats and lunges I no longer have any sort of knee pain?  I am amazed.  I look at this DVD as a big bonus because it's sort of like a weight routine for me where I don't have to go to a gym.

I also love Exercise TV and during the week on the days where I am doing the dumbbell/squat routine, I do 20 minutes of Nicole Stewart or Elizabeth Garcia's Pilates.  They are awesome and it's good to mix things up.

I am always looking to add in great DVD's as I go along but these are the main great ones that I love and they provide great results if used consistently.  This may sound like an awful lot of exericising but it's not.  I only do 20 minutes of Pilates on the day I do my squat/dumbell routine which is also 20 minutes.  On the days that I don't do the squat/dumbell routine I do 30 minutes of Pilates.  I do my cardio of walking/running for 30 minutes six days a week.  So, I'm basically working out around an hour a day and at my convenience from my own home and surrounding area.  I've learned the hard way about finally making myself a priority. 

I wanted to share this information with you, so that you know these DVD's come highly recommended. 

Have a great day!