Guys and Dolls

It's been said before and I'll say it again: I love exercising with DVD's.  So much so that I'm having total anxiety in my decision to not take any with me on vacation next week (because after vacation we're going to Utah for a few weeks and my mom's fitness dvd collection makes mine look pathetic, so she has everything I'd need...and it will be good for me to let go for a week...maybe). Yes, there are lots of benefits to attending a class and having an instructor.  But the convenience of squeezing it in at home is hard to beat:

• You usually don't need tons of equipment.  A couple weights usually do the trick (I do plan on having my own fully outfitted home gym someday, though, with definitely more than a couple of weights).
• I can pause if a child needs to be boosted out of a crib, rewind if I missed something, and fast forward through the mindless chatter (aka stalling) of the trainer on the DVD
• I can do my own cool down if I feel so inclined (or *gasp* skip it and count walking to the park with my kids as an excellent cool down).
• I love that my kids will come and participate in their own sweet little way: E's burpees are so, SO darling.  She is darling, so how could her burpees not be??  S's squats are perfect, and baby B really adds a certain something to my pushups by hanging on me.  
• DVD's help me balance a little better.  Left to my own devices (and access to the right equipment), I could spend an inordinate amount of time in a weight room doing exercise after fabulous exercise.  Not only do they provide a set program to follow, a DVD is a specified amount of time.  I complete the workout and it's over.  If I feel I want to do more exercise I have to commit to another entire DVD which, yes, sometimes I do just that (as part of my training plan), but most of the time I can almost grasp the concept of spending too much time working out.  Almost.  For the record, that doesn't usually happen till I consider popping in that 3rd DVD.  In my defense, I can generally cut a workout by at least a third, if not in half, by fast forwarding through the rest/water breaks and idle chit chat (exception: Jillian Michaels DVD's.  She doesn't give you breaks, and her idle egotistical chit chat occurs while she's torturing her minions.  At least she's not wasting my time - I do try and stick to my 90 minute cap).

Anyway, I've sort of settled into a method for my DVD regime.  Though I'm really obsessed with P90X2, I also love ChaLean Extreme, various Jillian Michaels DVD's and Bob Harper Kettlebells, etc.  So, I separate my weeks into essentially 'guys and dolls,' if you will.  One week I'll do an X2 week and pair it with any of my other DVD's of choice by any male trainer, and the next week I'll focus more on Chalene, Jillian and other female trainers.  I don't know why, but things just seem to flow really well together this way for now.

Now, let's be honest here in that I'm only really talking about my STRENGTH training.  Though I do consider some of these DVD's to be cardio training and count them as such on occasion, I also try and run three times a week and pair my yoga days with a swim.  Sometimes I'll do a shorter run after my cycling express as previously discussed.  But enough of that.

Home fitness.  I'm a fan.