Video Vixen II

Minna: Emergency Workout

Another of my old favorites, "Minna: Emergency Workout" is a great, simple workout routine. It is composed of two workouts: cardio and toning, each about 30 minutes long.  The cardio segment has a great warm-up and actually is fun.  The moves are a combination of traditional aerobics (grapevines, v-steps, etc) and latin dance (salsa, cha-cha, mambas).  Don't worry though... the choreography is simple and easy to follow.  Perhaps the best part of the cardio is Minna's ability to mix up intervals.  She slows down when needed.  As a result, your heart rate stays up, but you never feel like you're going to die.  The time goes really quickly.  The toning segment is a great all-around strength routine.  You need one set of 3 to 5 pound weights.  Minna combines lunges, squats, etc with upper body weights, leading to a very efficient workout.  There is also floor work and abdominal at the end.

I really enjoy Minna Lessig, the former Ms. Fitness America.  She is gorgeous and bubbly... yet she doesn't annoy me.  I find her inspiring and genuine.  I own several of her videos and enjoy them all.  Overall, this video lives up to its name.  "Minna: Emergency Workout" is the perfect video to do in a time crunch for an all-encompassing total body workout.  I highly recommend.

Video Vixen I

Every Wednesday I plan to review a workout video.  To start things off, I've chosen one of my old favorites: The Firm 5-Day Abs.  This is composed of 5 short abdominal routines taken from other Firm videos strung together by an 1980's hottie (quite Zach Morris-esque).  The routine lengths are as follows: 6 minutes-7 minutes-6 minutes-9 minutes-7 minutes.  

I swore by this video when I lost weight in the past.  It is just so incredibly easy to pop the tape in before bed or in the morning.  Everyone can spare 6 or 7 minutes.  The routines are difficult, but not impossible.  And you'll feel abdominal muscles you never knew you had.  Each routine is a good mix of upper, lower, and side work.  No props are necessary.  They do use a "fanny lifter" in some segments, but as long as you have something to prop your feet on, you should be fine.  I own this on VHS and just leave it in the VCR so that I can start on the next routine the next day.  It is now out on DVD, but apparently you cannot skip to different routines, so I recommend getting this on VHS if you can.

All-n-all, this is a MUST have in your workout video collection.

Back in the Game

Just back from the gym.  Thus, I am *officially* back in the exercise game.  It is incredibly sad how horribly out of shape I am, but you have to start somewhere.  I did 20 minutes on the treadmill as follows:

• 2 minutes 3.0 mph
• 2 minutes 5.0 mph
• 2 minutes 3.5 mph
• 2 minutes 5.5 mph
• 3 minutes 3.0 mph
• 2 minutes 5.0 mph
• 2 minutes 3.5 mph
• 1 minute 6.0 mph
• 2 minutes 4.0 mph
• 2 minutes 3.0 mph

My legs feel like jelly, so I know I will be in loads of pain later, especially given that I  stand all day at work.  I feel good though.  I definitely look forward to keeping this up.  

History of a Weight-Loss Junkie

Diets I have tried (in no particular order):

• Nutrisystem
• Low GI
• Weight Watchers
• eDiets
• South Beach
• Atkins
• Lean Cuisine
• Hollywood

Workouts I have tried (in no particular order):

• The Firm
• Pilates
• Step Aerobics
• Tae-Bo
• Running
• Crunch
• Minna

Bottom-line:  There isn't a magic diet or workout that will do the trick.  I have liked aspects of many of these methods.  I plan to combine the best and most effective parts in my new lifestyle.  Look for reviews of these in future posts.