Cardio Equipment

[soccerchick]

which cardios vid's do you have, MWC? i've been looking at some and don't know which ones will and will not get my heart rate up high enough.

[MWC]

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which cardios vid's do you have, MWC? i've been looking at some and don't know which ones will and will not get my heart rate up high enough.

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Well, most of my videos of VERY OLD and date back to when I first started exercising. I have several older Kathy Smith videos - one is Weight Loss Workout (1990) but it's a good one - floor exercise. I have the Tae Bo Cardio video, but it doesn't get my heart rate up sufficiently. I have a Christi Taylor DVD that I just got last week, which has two floor workouts and two step workouts. I've done both step workouts and they get my heart rate up good and I like her style and music, though they're advanced routines but I like that cuz I won't get tired of them as fast. Unless you're totally new to working out, which I know you're not, I would definitely get advanced or intermediate/advanced workouts, not only for the heart rate factor, but also so you don't get bored as easily.

Quite frankly, I only use the videos for when I can't get to the gym or outside, but I like having them on hand. If you go to Collage Video (www.collagevideo.com), they're one of the better online video places and you can actually see previews of each video/dvd and read reviews.

[soccerchick]

thanks. i was looking at collagevideos.com. i was reading reviews, but its hard to tell whether i'd like them. i want a floor routine for when i can't make it to the gym due to the weather. decisions, decisions...

[litllady]

As far as step dvd's and workouts Cathe Fredreich is the bomb. She incorporates the stability ball in some of her workouts and they are killer. Also she uses a barbell/weights and dumbells. You have to get her dvd's at her website, they are not in stores. Excellent workouts. You can watch them and try them out for free on Fittv if you have that channel.

[Fireproof]

I personally wouldn't buy anything in the $200 range. I would opt for outside running or jogging or exercise tapes that really get your heart rate going.

I certainly haven't tried them all, but the cheaper products (treadmills and elliptical trainers) just don't operate as smoothly as the ones at the gym. And if it doesn't work smoothly, you won't like it. Nevermind about long-term reliability.

I would suggest looking in the $700 and above range if you can make that work. But that's just my opinion, and I realize not everyone has the means to do something like that. You can also buy from a good fitness equipment place that offers financing.

At any rate, I'm a big fan of Precor machines. We bought the Precor EFX elliptical trainer like the have at the gyms and have used it several times a week for the past 3 years and it still feels brand new.

[X-Factor]

It sounds bad...but my bosses wife ordered Billy Blann's Boot Camp, she said it was really good, I think it's like an hour long, i'd assume it would put you in the perfect heart rate zone...and it's only a little bit of money...give it a shot.