Fitness DVDs

Yoga Fit
Want to increase strength and stamina and tone your body while you lose weight? Right! Who doesn't? Beth Shaw's Power YogaFit, a 38-minute is an excellent introduction to power yoga, which promises to do all that and more. The founder of YogaFit Training Systems and a highly expert trainer, Shaw leads you through a well-paced, flowing chain of movements, offering quiet instruction and gentle encouragement, and keeping you focused on your breath. Also from YogaFit is Flex and Flow, another workout featuring Shaw, which strengthens the muscles using the body's weight as resistance. Other DVDs from YogaFit include the excellent PilatesFit, led by instructor Rose Zahnn, and the newest release, YogaFit for Cyclists, a program designed to reduce muscle pain, strain, and stress. (www.yogafit.com)

Hot Body Cool Mind
Razor Fitness has released the first two DVDs of Jennifer Kries' new series, Hot Body Cool Mind: The Life Force Power Workout. The first DVD, which introduces the series, is Hot Body Cool Mind: The Life Force Power Workout Level 1 (150 minutes). It's composed of the best of Kries' signature Method—yoga, Pilates, cardio-jazz, dance and ballet. The second in the series is Hot Body Cool Mind: Waking Energy.
I confess I found the new age chat and promises of "harnessing the energy of the universe" a bit much for my taste and temperament. But I'm a fan of dancer, choreographer, and Pilates pioneer Kries, so I persisted, and I was rewarded with a unique and very satisfying workout. It's a 130-minute blend of a host of ancient energy systems, including "The 5 Tibetans," once a closely guarded secret of an ancient set of Tibetan monks who appeared to enjoy extraordinary longevity. You can vary your workout and do different sections on different days and energize your body while you calm your mind. (www.razorfitness.com)

Rock Your Body
Want to feel like a rock star? Try Rodale's Rock Your Body. Celebrity director/choreography to stars such as Madonna and Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera leads a raucous workout designed to make you feel as if you're in the shoes of one of these well-toned celebrities. King designed the program to resemble his work with the stars, beginning with a warm-up, and progressing to a rehearsal, a dress rehearsal, a performance, and a cool-down. It's fast, fun, and effective. And if, like me, you have two left feet, King offers bonus "Break it Down" segments that slow the action to give klutzes a change to catch up or catch on. (www.rockyourbodyprogram.com)

The Anti Aging Method
Carol Argo creations a tranquil fusion workout that comprises tai chi, yoga, and dance and Pilates movements. With helpers who demonstrate the movements at different levels, Argo begins with an energizing warm-up, and quickly moves into standing exercises and dance movements, and concludes with floor exercises and a yoga meditation. A bonus segment offers relaxing yoga stretches. (www.antiagingmethod.com)

Go Mom Fitness 15 to Fit: Patrea's Prenatal Fitness for the Entire Body
Fitness trainer Patrea knows her subject well and understands the needs of expecting women and new moms. The mother of two children, she experienced a difficult pregnancy during which she gained 80 pounds. She's an effective advocate for cautious and sensible pre- and post-natal fitness offering six 15-minute workouts that let give you options depending on how well and energetic you may be feeling on a given day (or not). Variations and modifications are provided for all the movements, which blend Pilates, yoga and other forms of gentle stretching and low intensity movements. Bonus material from physicians and a dietitian address important health information concerning pregnancy. (www.razorfitness.com or www.razordigitalent.com)

Crunched for time? Keli Roberts Timesaver Workouts: A.S.A.P. (Abdominals, Spine, and Posture) and Keli Roberts Timesaver Workouts: Flexibility for the Inflexible will put you on the fast track to fitness and flexibility. A.S.A.P., which requires a stability ball and a yoga mat, is composed of three eight-minute workouts, while Flexibility for the Inflexible, which calls for a foam roller, lets you choose from three twelve-minute workouts (www.razorfitness.com)

10-Minute Solution DVDs
Two new DVDs are available from another timesaving series, 10 Minute Solutions, which let you pick and mix a group of ten-minute workouts on each DVD and work out from ten minutes to an hour. 10 Minute Solution Prenatal Pilates, designed by fitness expert and new mom Lizbeth Garcia, coaches expecting women to increase their strength and flexibility. Suzanne Bowen created a bonus postpartum segment, Flat Belly Fast, after the birth of her daughter. 10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones, is a program of five body band workouts (body band provided), designed by fitness expert Amy Bento. It's an allover body shaper, but it targets the most common trouble zones (arms, shoulders, belly, butt, and thighs). The workouts may take only 10 minutes, but they're not a walk in the park. Expect to be challenged. (www.starzhoment.com/fitness)

The Seasons of Fitness
Renowned ballet instructor and choreographer Sue West has created a lovely, tranquil workout that blends Pilates, yoga, ballet, and classical dance organized thematically into seasons and filmed against beautiful backdrops including Canyon Lands, Utah, Yellowstone National Park, Bozeman, Montana, and Lady Bird Johnson's Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. Quiet, with only the sounds of nature, a lilting classical guitar, and West's calm cues and commentary, it's a relaxing workout that leaves you feeling both refreshed and relaxed. (www.synergyvideoseries.com)