I understand that you are curious about a type of workout program that fits in the palm of your hand. Yes, I agree with how you feel about your finances and about your well-being. You must have tried going to the cheapest gym in town, or running and jogging so you could stay close to your house. You must have tried riding your bicycle but that got stolen. Or, worse yet, you already feel robbed after paying for that gym membership where you got nowhere a creaky sweat-laden bicycle, used that elliptical machine where your legs flailed around for an hour, and that stairclimber that had you finding yourself in the same exact step you were an hour ago. You tell yourself that you will never reach for your pocket to enter a gym ever again. You want to step into the world of workout DVD programs.

In my naive days, I had a gym membership. I actually used a gym. As I was done with my last set of rowing at a machine with a look of unhappiness on my face, a bulky-looking trainer walked by and cracked jokes at me. I was not in a good mood, but he asked me a very intriguing question that rocked my workout gloves off me. He asked, “Did you know that 95% of these machines here are useless? They don’t do anything for your body, and the machine you just used was one of them. You could do a ton of cardio movements using NO weights. You could even just use those DVDs and follow that at home and you’d do more for yourself.”

Yeah, he showed me, alright. He showed me a world of pain. I never felt so much pain in the butt before. In all of my years of sitting in the gym, none of that sitting did anything for me. As I broke into a rain of sweat, the trainer continued to make his strange jokes and comments about the world. He was helping me see the light outside of the gym tunnel, but he was annoying me. Everything in the gym was annoying me. The stench, the sweat from other people, everything.

I gave many thanks to the Italian character of a trainer for enlightening me with the world of possibility in fitness and health. When I had spent an arm and a leg on gym memberships, I now only had to spend so little of my budget for a package of workout DVD sets that I could use over and over. I could play them over and over, pause them over and over–I kid. I would not suggest you constantly pause the DVD if you don’t have to. You are here because you are looking for something that will help you be looking physically and mentally great, and you should be able to do it in the comfort of your own home.

There are plenty of different brands that offer a variety of workout DVDs, for cardio, for weight-lifting, for toning, for yoga, and many more. You will hopefully find, like me, that within 60-90 days you will achieve so much more than you ever have in one year. With measurable results that you can see (in pictures, measurement tapes, clothes size), you will be moved further to consistently do these programs and see an continuation of results.

For home workout programs that shape you up, check out Beth Prager’s expertise on workout DVDs.