Who is Jane Fonda

When I worked out for lunch in the breakroom today, a new coworker came in to heat up her meal and started doing grapevines with me. "Can I join you tomorrow?" she asked. "This is so fun!" Yep, I was doing _Complete Workout_.

I have relied on VHS and DVD workouts to keep me in shape for over ten years, but long before I got my first VCR, I had read Jane Fonda's workout book and was doing her workout from a cassette with my friends. Jane was pretty revolutionary back then, telling us that it was OK to be strong and healthy and that not everyone was going to fit into some cookie-cutter mold. Good advice today, too, if you ask me.

These two workout programs are two of my favourites! _The Complete Workout_ gives you an arm workout with weights, then about half an hour of lively and varied aerobics. There are different instructors to show different levels of impact/effort. The last section gives you a good leg workout. There is nothing weird or hard here, just simple fun with a certain amount of effort involved. Jame shows lots of variations and she gives useful tips for effectiveness and safety in the arm and leg toning sections. I have been doing this program off and on for years.

The _Stress Reduction Program_ gives you about 20 minutes of super-simple aerobics. This is the one I go for when I say, "I'm too tired. I don't feel like working out today." I tell myself I'll just do the first song. But I have never not finished the 20 minutes. After the aerobics, there's a stretching section that lasts 15 to 20 minutes. It is very relaxing and Jane gives very detailed instruction about what the stretch is supposed to do and how it is supposed to feel. She provides modifications, too. I personally never use the last session, in which Jane does a guided relaxation exercise, although the techniques presented therein I have found useful.

Back when I first began working out, I didn't particularly care about Jane's past or her personal opinions, except as they were related to health and fitness, nor do I now. I am glad the videos are being turned into DVD's. It makes it a lot more convenient and easy to work out with Jane! -- Good Brother Cadfael (Virginia)