Home Workouts Reviews - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I'm heading into the weekend here in Australia and I've got the usual planned. Cross training in the park for an hour in the morning, an hour of gentle Yin yoga at lunch time and two hours of tennis later in the afternoon.

It's no wonder I sleep well on Saturday nights!

What exercise are you up to this weekend? Tell us!

Actress Jane Fonda released her first home workouts videos in 1982 and 17 million copies were sold. Three decades later she is set to release a brand new exercise DVD Jane Fonda Prime Time: Trim, Tone & Flex for babyboomers on 6 December 2011. Who would have thought a 73 year old would be up to it! Good on you Jane for shining the light for older women.

Jane isn't the only star who's rocked in the exercise world though. She has stiff competition from Jillian Michaels who has created a really successful home workouts package that includes DVDs, online support, merchandise - the works. The Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred reviews show just how incredibly popular this particular DVD has become as its pretty much the mainstay for Jillian Michaels empire.

It will be interesting to see if the babyboomers remain as loyal to Jane as they were in 1982. The whole exercise landscape has changed so much now that what worked in 1982, may not cut the mustard in 2012.

But whatever the outcome with the DVDs, it's great to see someone over the age of 70 get up there and rock it with the best. As Jane reports: The MacArthur Foundation's Study of Successful Aging, concluded: physical activity is "perhaps the single most important thing an older person can do to remain healthy and is the crux of successful aging, regardless of other factors."

To pre-order your copy of Jane Fonda's new DVD click here for Jane Fonda Prime Time: Trim, Tone & Flex. It will be released on 6 December 2011, just in time for Christmas gifts.

Winter can be a tough time to stay motivated to do home workouts although exercising is really more important than ever when the body is feeling sluggish and dormant.

One of the ways to cope with the cold is to exercise at home infront of the tv. I don't mean sitting there watching tv! I mean getting up, putting on Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD and going for it. By the end of a few videos, you'll be warmed up, pumping and sweating!

I recently did a bunch of reviews of home workouts and the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred reviews really came up tops and seem to be totally ideal for training over the cold, tough winter months. The Jillian Michaels.com website has a heap of DVDs to keep you burning calories. While the 30 Day Shred is exceptionally popular, it's worth checking out Jillian Michaels Fat Burner reviews and the Jillian Michaels Cleanse and Burn reviews - just for variety.

Checking out forum comments on the web shows that heaps of people are really enjoying these DVDs and the famous Jillian Michaels straight-talking approach. I looked for any reviews that panned this program, but seriously it was really hard to find people who didn't give glowing Jillian's home workouts reviews.

While Halle Berry has not taken to the 10 Minute Trainer home workouts program, she apparently is a fan of a particular program that breaks up an hour-long training sessions into 10 minute segments.

So obviously the style of 10 minute trainer results obviously work for her! Within the hour she manages three cardio workouts, two weights and one core workout. Not bad going and pretty intensive.

Check out this 10 minute trainer review for insight into what people think of the 10 Minute Trainer. Maybe you too can look like Halle Berry, using just 10 minutes segments to get the body moving.

(Note: It's a bit of a toss up on what program works best! Do you like the look of Halle Berry or Jillian Michaels or Jane Fonda??)

I was reading recently an article in Time Union newspaper that talked about how people generally exercise just to lose weight. But for most people, it takes a LOT of exercising to lose weight. The problem is that exercising, for example with home workouts or gym programs, can increase the appetite so there's a tendency to eat more. And there's nothing more demotivating than seeing the scales go up when you've been working out like a demon.

Of course it's really important to remember that exercise benefits the body more than just in the weight area. Exercise helps to maintain lean tissue mass, which is commonly known as muscle. As muscle uses more calories than fat, if you maintain exercise on a consistent basis (and don't eat extra food), you should start to lose some fat.

The article also talks about motivation to exercise and as it is often linked to what, and how much, we eat, when we fall off the diet wagon, we also tend to lose motivation to exercise.

Finding the right sort of exercise for each individual is truly important to motivation. If going to the gym is a turn off, then try looking at working out infront of the tv with a energetic DVD program. The one that seems to rate the best is featured in many Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred reviews. But check out the heaps of home workouts reviews to find a program that won't break the bank.

Unfortunately for many people who hate exercising, for lasting benefit it does need to be a way of life so it becomes so entrenched in your daily routine. A bit like making the bed or having a shower/bath every day or walking the dog - just an every day thing that you don't necessarily have to especially think about or plan for.

That when the benefits of diet, home workouts and consistency start to pay off with weight loss and all the other well-reported well-being benefits.