So you ate all the mince pies and now you want to shed some pounds. We put four celeb workout DVDs through their paces to pick the best of the bunch
Name: Rosemary Conley (UK diet and fitness guru)
Title: Rosemary Conley’s GI Jeans Weight Loss Plan
Price: £17.99
What is promises: Will provide exercises to help you slim and tone up. There are three workouts: a 30-minute aerobic section, which burns calories and fat; 20-minute Salsacise, which aids weight loss and a 15-minute Supertoning section to help give you a flat tummy, slim waist and sleek hips.
What it delivers: Throughout each section, Rosemary gives a full commentary and explains each move. The team who workout alongside her have all been members of her weight loss classes, and work out at different levels: advanced, intermediate and beginners. Each section starts with a warm-up. After the three sections, Rosemary introduces a GI Jeans Weight Loss programme, where she explains what GI means and what the difference is between low and high GI foods and where to find these.
What we think: This DVD is easy to follow as Rosemary explains what she is doing and how she is doing it. It doesn’t matter what level of fitness you have as you can tweak it to your own level and pace so you will always feel comfortable. The weight-loss programme at the end is great as it told me which foods have high GI and which have low GI.
Marks out of five: *****
Name: Kym Ryder (ex-Hear’say singer and current Coronation Street star)
Title: Burn & Firm Workout
Price: £16.99
What it promises: Four weeks to a firmer you. Kim claims: “I lost 12 pounds in four weeks and so can you”. A fun and easy programme, perfectly suited to busy lifestyles, using everyday items, such as tins of beans, bottles of water and your sofa, to keep fit.
What it delivers: In the introduction Kim clearly and simply explains what the DVD is about, and what you should do. It is split down into eight ten to 15- minute sections. So after the warm-up and cool-down sections, which must be done, you can tackle as much or as little as you want, or have time for.
The sections vary from the more energetic Fat Busting Workout, Box and Burn and Aerodance to resistance training of Sofa Tone and Just Abs.
What we think: Most of the moves are basic aerobic-class stuff, so if you’ve been to the gym before it should be a doddle to follow. Everything is explained thoroughly and moves are shown from every angle. Fitness freaks may find it a little easy, but for others this is a great start to a new year fitness regime. The only down side to using a fitness DVD at home is that it lacks the atmosphere of attending a class at the gym – the music isn’t that loud. But it is easy to follow, and because you can do as much or as little as time allows it can fit round your lifestyle. I will definitely continue using it.
Marks out of five: ****
Name: Gaynor Faye (actress and ice-dancing celeb)
Title: Fit Friends Workout
Price: £15.99
What it promises: Contains adaptations of the workout Dan Whiston devised for Gaynor to use in preparation for her winning Dancing On Ice. Five ten minute routines designed to warm up, work out and cool down with sections such as Icebreaker, Pumping With Beans, Skater’s Bum, Dan’s Dynamite Disco and Meltdown.
What it delivers: Gaynor and Dan introduce themselves and what they do. Each section is ten minutes long and concentrates on different areas of the body, for example, the Pumping With Beans sections focuses on toning the arm muscles, while the Skater’s Bum looks at the bum and thighs.
What we think: This DVD is more of a dance workout rather than aerobic one. I found it confusing at times, because it was fast and some of the steps are difficult to follow. Great if you like dancing. You would probably need a reasonable level of fitness.
Marks out of five: ***
Name: Jennifer Ellison (soap star turned West End sensation in Chicago)
Title: Jennifer Ellison’s West End Workout
Price: £17.99
What it promises: A fun workout which will tone the whole body and can be tailored to fit your lifestyle
What it delivers: Three 30-minute workouts including a warm up, high-energy dance sessions, intensive workouts and a cool down, plus a bonus dance routine and DVD extras
What we think: With so many workouts/routines there is plenty to dip in and out of, depending on energy/fitness levels. Besides the dance routines, there are some good floor and chair exercises which can be adapted to ability. I’m no dancer but really enjoyed having a go. If done for the recommended two to four times a week, I can imagine it would have all-over benefits.
Marks out of five: ****
Reviewers: Charlotte Percival, Becky Cheeseman and Lisa Cook
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