Top 5 at Home Exercise Programs

I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to pay an extra 50 bucks a month to go to the gym, especially in the current state of the economy. So during these times I’ve been doing different at home exercise programs to try to get my “bikini body” (yea right) back in time for this summer. For those of you that love to exercise by running, you are so lucky! That is the cheapest, probably most natural cardio workout program to do, but unfortunately for me, I am not a runner. I am winded after 30 seconds and I can feel every ache and burn in my body. There is not enough going on for me to get distracted from the fact that I hate running and therefore, I usually never last beyond 3 or 4 minutes, which is just about long enough for a warmup. If this sounds like you, read on. I’ve used some affordable, fun, and effective at home exercise programs that could probably work for you too!

Favorite At Home Exercise Programs

1. Turbo Jam

Two thumbs up for a fun, creative, high speed at home exercise program targeting cardio, sculpting, and toning. Creator Charlene Johnson combined her background in martial arts, capoiera, kick boxing and dancing to come up with her own workout routine that is high impact, fast moving, and heart pumping. The whole exercise program is set to some adrenaline rushing music that helps keep you moving the whole way through. On top of that, you’ve got Charlene, who is so incredibly cute and upbeat, that you don’t stop and want to keep going just for her!

I bought this exercise program in 2006 for $60 and received 5 DVD’s:

Learn and Burn – instructional DVD
Turbo Sculpt – 40 minute session of tightening and toning
20 Minute Workout – quick cardio workout for when you’re short on time
Cardio Party – 45 minutes of high impact fun and some serious calorie burning
Ab Jam – 20 minute ab routine using the unique Turbo Jam techniques

The exercise program package also comes with flashcards for memorizing the moves and a step by step guide that includes a weight loss meal plan, an exercise program calendar, and a dining out guide.

The parts of this exercise program I most utilized were the Cardio Jam DVD and the 20 Minute Workout DVD. I stuck to doing either one of those two dvds at least 2x a week while using other methods for toning, sculpting and core strengthening. The step by step guide was also helpful, but everything else I could have done without.

2. Core Rhythms

This exercise dance program was created by two Latin Dance champions who use the 3 core movements essential to Latin dancing to give you drills to exercise your core. It uses some really hot and sexy Latin music throughout to get you going and both Janna and Julia have got great energy. The cool thing about their exercise program dvds is that they give you options of viewing them from the front or the back, and an option to stop the video and break down the steps they are doing to give you a better understanding. I’ve never seen that before in any other workout video so if you are one who has trouble picking up patterns, that is great feature!

I did not buy the program. A friend of mind no longer wanted their Starter Package and Salsa Blast dvds so they gave them to me. The exercise programs in these videos are a lot of fun and a great addition to my workout, but I don’t think using the entire program solely would be as effective for me as some other ones out there. Nonetheless, if you love to dance and want something where the moves are not too difficult, then based on what I’ve used of the package, it is a good exercise program to use.

The entire package includes:

• Core Rhythms Full Workout
• Core Rhythms Quick Workout
• Core Rhythms Latin Dance Made Easy
• Core Rhythms Kick Start
• Core Rhythms Latin Cardio Jam
• Core Rhythms Lower Body Sculpt
• Core Rhythms Secret to Sexy Abs
• Bonus DVD: Core Rhythms Abs in a Hurry
• Meal Guide
• Tape Measurer
• Success Tracker

The entire package costs $59.85 + shipping and handling and comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. If you do go ahead with the entire exercise program, please let me know what you think of it!

3. Abs Diet speed interval workout

My husband purchased the Abs Diet workout DVD and the book on what to eat. I could not even attempt all the advice given in the Abs Diet book as it was too extreme for me. The Abs Diet workout DVD is a well-rounded exercise program with different levels of abdominal and full-body workouts utilizing free weights and exercise balls. There are also separate warm up and cool down segments. One cool feature in this DVD is being able to choose the segments you want to use and then play them all so it gives you one continuous workout that you custom designed.

I personally do not use the strength training segments of this exercise program mainly because I don’t do well in working with weights. I tend to bulk up, yes even though I am a woman, and the look I get as a result of using weights is a little too masculine for me.

The portion of the exercise program that I do like to use is the speed interval training. This is 30 minutes of jump rope, jumping jacks, sprints, knee raises, and jump ups, each segment lasting 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes and intermingled with 30 second to 1.5 minute periods of relaxed jogs in place. The idea of this is to get your heart rate from low levels to high levels intermittently. According to Tom Holland in the video, you burn calories twice as fast if you do your cardio workout this way as opposed to keeping your heart rate at a steady pace for 30 minutes. I like to throw this into my workout 1-2 times per week.

4. Malibu Pilates(R)

I love pilates and I find it to be the best toning and sculpting exercise program for me. It consists of a number of strengthening and stretching exercises that gives you long, lean muscles (not bulky ones!) and also gives you great body awareness. You’ll come to learn what parts of the body and muscles you are using during everyday life, ie: sitting in a chair, carrying groceries, and how to adjust to make sure you are using the appropriate muscles and more importantly, your core.

Unfortunately, an exercise program revolving around pilates lessons can get very expensive and doing only mat based pilates, while great at focusing on the core, is not as effective at toning and sculpting as using the popular pilates machines. So Carroll Krieff did the next best thing. She made a pilates machine affordable and available for people to use in their very own homes by creating the Malibu Pilates Chair. The chair utilizes adjustable springs for resistance along with single and dual pedal options to allow you to work arms and legs individually or together for added resistance. All in all, you’ll get a great cardio workout while sculpting and toning all those problem areas.

The exercise program includes the following:

– Malibu Pilates Chair
– DVDs providing workouts to tone and sculpt
– Basic Breakdown – a guide to teach you the core moves used in the workouts
– 20 Minute Malibu Pilates Workout – for times when there is no time and you cannot fit in a full workout
– Total Dream Body Sculpting Workout – 45 minutes of calorie burning and strengthening
– Malibu Makeover Manual & Eating Right Guide – daily meal plans along with an exercise program calendar

Special Bonuses include:
– Mari’s Dynamic Sequencing Workout DVD – created by legendary Pilates instructor Mari Winsor demonstrating her dynamic sequencing technique that you can use to sculpt and burn in just 30 minutes
– Malibu 10 Wall Chart – a visual aid for assistance in remembering all those new pilates moves you learned

When purchased from the Guthy-Renker online store, you can purchase the Malibu Pilates exercise program for a 30 day trial period for $14.95 plus shipping and handling of $29.95. If after 30 days you decide this exercise program is not for you, you can return it for a refund less shipping and handling. If you do decide to keep it, you will be billed six additional monthly payments of $49.95, bringing the grand total to $344.60.

I used to be on a pilates exercise program with a personal instructor for $75 an hour. I was going 3x a week to get ready for my wedding and I absolutely loved what pilates did for my body. Not only did I look great (so toned with lean muscles) but I felt stronger and better than I ever did in my life. Unfortunately, exercising for $75 an hour got to be way too expensive for me and I had to stop. I’ve tried going to mat based pilates exercise classes at my local 24 hour fitness gym but it’s not quite the same as the machines you use to tone your extremities.

So when I first saw the Malibu Pilates Chair infomercial I was ecstatic. At the time, I could not afford even the total $344. 60 so I did my research and managed to buy it on eBay for just $130.00 including shipping and handling! The package came unopened and included everything listed above. My goodness has this baby been worth it. I’ve been using it 4 times a week and alternate between the Total Body Sculpting Workout and the Mari’s Dynamic Sequencing Workout. My only dislike is that there aren’t even more workouts with varying exercises and advanced moves for when you outgrow the exercise programs provided. I love this chair though and what it has done for me. I bought it just before the new year, and in a couple of months I was starting to get the toned lean look that I love.

5. Gaiam Pilates Beginning Mat Workout DVD

This dvd is a fantastic introduction to the mat based pilates exercise program. I highly recommend this for complete beginners and those with little experience in pilates. The exercises presented in this dvd focus on strengthening the core and are designed to lengthen your spine and improve posture. Ana Caban, certified pilates instructor, does a brilliant job in explaining all the pilates moves clearly without dropping the pace of the exercise program.

The DVD consists of a 10 minute instructional segment, a full 20 minute pilates workout, a 12 minute energy booster workout, plus an interview with Ana Caban herself. The best news is that you can purchase this exercise DVD online at Amazon for less than $20.

I’ve listed a number of different exercise program options here. You can try them individually or mix them all into your workout routine. The downside to purchasing an at home exercise program is that you can get used to the moves really fast. Without having much room for variety, your routine can grow stagnant and the overall effectiveness can decrease. That’s why I like to do a number of different exercise programs. By keeping things fresh, I can be working my body differently, but at the end of the day am still burning calories, or am strengthening and toning. That’s the only thing I can think of to make at home exercise programs worthwhile for an extended period of time. If you have any other ideas please pass them my way because I’d love to know!

Source: Personal experience with products