Give a Gift of Fitness 2010

By Sophia

Standard disclaimer: If you’re shopping for a gift, make sure the recipient wants a fitness DVD. Otherwise, it’s like saying, “Happy Holidays, Lardass.”

OK, now that we have that out of the way, here are some suggestions from my 2010 favorites. You can also check my suggestions for 2009 and 2008. Some of my oldest DVDs remain in frequent rotation. And you can never have too many, since staving off boredom is key to staying on the program.

Of course, you’ll want to package this gift with my fabulous Suit Up and Show Up T-shirt.

Cardio

I’m all about Dance Off the Inches: Country Line Dance Party these days. It’s just fun and if I really throw myself into it, I feel reasonably worked out by the end.

I should have known all about Billy Blanks, Jr.—inventor of Tae Bo. But I never did Tae Bo and I didn’t know about Blanks until this year, when his Dance With Me Cardio Fit and his Dance With Me: Groove & Burn crossed my desk. Much fun.

Strength

Though it’s aimed at beginners, done with gusto, intermediates will also benefit from Step-by-Step Strength Training with Petra Kolber. One of the many pluses of this DVD is that also provides sensible balance challenges.

Core Fusion Energy Flow Yoga is not for novices in fitness or yoga. It’s athletic, energetic, challenging and effective. Who knew a ten-minute workout could be so hard? (I also recommend Core Fusion Pure Abs and Arms because good upper body workouts are harder to find than lower.)

If you’re already a hardbody, or close enough to aspire to being one Personal Training With Jackie: Xtreme Timesaver Training is 30 challenging minutes of combined strength and cardio.