9 weird and wonderful workout DVDs

Working out at home is a lot easier and more fun with the right video. We've rated some of the most interesting ones to land on our desks this year. Be sure and check with your GP before starting a new workout

Editor's picks


The best of the rest

Editor's Pick
CD UK Dance Workout, £7.97
Who will like it: Dancers, club kids and Adidas shareholders
Who won't: People without rhythm

If you want to fit in with the CD UK girls and boys on this workout, break out your best chav wear - trackie bottoms, trendy t-shirts and splashy trainers. This workout is all about cool moves but the instructor on the video, Andy Instone, keeps it from succumbing to a too-cool-for-school attitude. By the end of the workout, 'you'll have learned some wicked dance moves that are off the hook and you'll get fit at the same time,' Andy promises.

There's one workout with two dance routines in it - one beginner, the other intermediate. With each you learn a combination of dance moves, which are then put together in a performance section. Usually dance workouts are just the same old exercises with some wiggle thrown in, but these moves fit together like a real dance routine and were challenging and fun. OK, I found it hard to keep up once the music was speeded up - and that was just in the warm-up. But that's normal, says Andy, and I choose to believe him. 'As time progresses you'll be able to do more and more,' he says. 'Remember we are professional dancers.'

You'll be moving your body in ways that you don't in a standard aerobics class and therefore working your muscles in new ways. I was surprised to find the next day my back and shoulders were pleasantly sore from all that funky arm-waving. This is the kind of DVD that you could do all year, perfecting the moves each time. Plus it's a snip compared with the cost of other DVDs. However, fogies - young or old - might find the sudden moves could aggravate joint or back complaints. - Jennifer Howze

Editor's Pick
David Kirsch's Sound Mind Sound Body Ultimate Fitness Boot Camp, £10.49
Who will like it: People in fairly good shape who want new moves to tighten up
Who won't: Pacifists and conscientious objectors

Sylvia Plath may not be right that every woman adores a Fascist, but when it comes to personal trainers, I like a boot in the face from time to time. I think I fell in love with one gym instructor who ran a boot camp class like a real drill sergeant. He barked orders. He made us do push-ups for small infractions. He pushed us to sprint faster, jump higher, work harder. And when we left - bathed in sweat and rubbery-legged - we felt fighting fit.

David Kirsch, the owner of the Madison Square Club gym in New York City, has trained celebs like Heidi Klum, Rachel Weisz and Sophie Dahl. His approach is less military, more mantra, as he talks about incorporating the mind into your workout. 'You're amazing', he says encouragingly. 'You deserve this stretch' (Thanks, David!). But there's nothing cushy about this 45-minute workout, which goes beyond ho-hum crunches to intense but fun moves like squat thrusts, mountain climbers (in the push-up position, bringing alternate feet up between your hands), frog leaps (looks like it sounds) and sumos (think, big forward leg swing that lands with a thud). It only requires a light set of hand weights (he recommends two to three pounds) and a bit of space to move about. You can work at a level matching your fitness level; I found myself panting after the first few exercises.

Kirsch's client Heidi Klum makes an appearance and gives her endorsement as well as her take on exercise, which is that everyone starts to sag as they get older. 'I have my body because I work on my body,' she says. And David's approach is good because it makes you stronger. 'It's not just about being skinny.' Thanks for that, Heidi. Now drop and give me 20. - Jennifer Howze

Editor's Pick
Jayne Middlemiss - Love Yoga, £11.99
Who will like it: Meditative Leonard Cohen fans
Who won't: People who live in Spandex

The most annoying thing about loads of workout DVDs is that they're populated with ultra hardbody aerobicizers and their minions who never could have gotten that way with the exercises they're demonstrating. Which is why, if you can get past the corny name of this DVD, Love Yoga with 'Celebrity Love Island' escapee Jayne Middlemiss was one of my favourites.

Jayne is in good shape, and you can definitely get a good workout from this video. But thankfully neither Jayne nor her instructor/narrarator Ryan Spielman look like they've pledged their lives to yoga trousers and om chants. Within the first 15 minutes of the beginning workout - through sun salutation and warrior poses - I could feel myself working and stretching. Instructor Ryan talks you through each of the poses slowly - the novice can easily keep up; the more seasoned practicer can take the time to intensify the positions. This DVD features two workouts: one for beginners, the other for intermediates. Both emphasize getting into the proper mindset for your session - with time devoted to focusing the mind and breathing correctly. Best of all, Ryan's voice, which has a low and sonorous timbre, is vaguely reminiscent of cult singer Leonard Cohen's. Jayne leaves the talking to Ryan in the DVD and that's just the way we like it. - Jennifer Howze

Claire Sweeney - Perfect Fit with Weight Watchers, £17.99
Who will like it: Weight Watchers devotees easing into a workout plan
Who won't: Fitness freaks looking to sweat

Perfect Fit, featuring the affable, smiling Claire Sweeney, is designed for busy women looking to fit a workout snugly into their hectic, day-to-day lives. And it promises that along with a Weight Watchers diet plan and the exercise routines, you can lose a stone in just a few weeks. I'm a little sceptical, and having tried it, I doubt you'll last even a week.

Your workout is broken down into sections such as 'the total body tummy trimmer,' 'the burner,' 'leg 'n tone,' leg and arm shaper.' with a warm-up and cool down fitted in either side. They're very easy to follow and are only 5 minutes in length and you can choose to group them together in bursts of 10 to 60 minutes at a time - which is very convenient.

However, this DVD is not for your hardcore exercise enthusiast. It's perfect if you want to exercise without breaking a sweat: just as you start to get your heart-rate up, you're swiftly moved on to the next section - which makes your workout disjointed and overall, disappointing. Watch out though for Claire Sweeney's hilarious Baywatch babe impression as she tries to enliven the 'jogging on the spot' move by exerting herself to the max, nearly forcing her boobs out of her over-burdened top. Maybe that's what I was doing wrong. - Jennifer McBride

Complete Country Workout, £19.99
Who will like it: Cowgirls and cowgirl wannabes
Who won't: Urban city folk with fancy-pants ways

When I was a girl growing up in Texas the latest fitness craze was aerobics, where you wore leg warmers and leotards and jumped around a lot. Now they have line dancing, in which you wear cowboy boots and fringed shorts and boot-scoot a lot.

This three-DVD set includes nine workouts, 30 to 45 minutes long, all using a variety of popular country dancing moves. There is also a country line dancing for kids workout. The instructor, Diane Horner has a mumsy haircut and an enthusiastic and encouraging (if a bit exacting) manner. Even those with two left feet will be able to follow along as Diane runs through the steps and there's plenty of practise over and over and over and over until you get it. Perhaps one of the most helpful aspects of this video is that Diane first teaches the steps by turning her back to the camera, so your view is the same that it would be in an aerobics class, copying her exactly. It's a very effective teaching technique and surprisingly rare with workout videos.

The best bit is the line dancing segment. This is a kind of country dancing where you dance in lines, without a partner. All the dances featured - like the Electric Slide and Cotton Eyed Joe - are ones you'd see from Amarillo to Austin and they are the most fun segments in the collection. (Please note that the culturally correct exclamation on the kicks in the Cotton Eyed Joe is 'bullshit!'.)

The intriguing Hip Hop Country Workout is what you'd expect from a mature woman dressed in jean shorts and a fringed top doing moves cribbed from inner city youths: beyond square. Still, there's an earnestness about this DVD that makes it appealing for devotees of low-impact workouts. For all the benefits however, I found the workouts too repetitive and low-energy to really get my blood pumping. This video would best for someone with low mobility, flexibility and fitness levels. - Jennifer Howze

Isabella Power Work-out, £17.99
Who will like it: Fitness enthusiasts looking for a challenge
Who won't: Anyone expecting bags of charisma from Lady Isabella

Lady Isabella Hervey opens her fitness DVD with a little introduction to tell us, very modestly, that the fabulous figure we ogled on 'Celebrity Love Island' is not in fact natural (as we all apparently thought), but that she has to work very hard at it. Beware though - she warns - we will be aching the next day with her circuit training style work-out.

Truer words have never been spoken. In this lunge-heavy work-out Lady Isabella and her personal trainer take you through 45 minutes of hell to ensure that even two days later you can barely walk downstairs without the aid of a banister.

This is a high-impact routine, working on the stomach, upper body and legs, with a particular emphasis on the latter. It might do well to have fewer lunges and more exercises involving the arms and stomach (judging by how well the respective muscles were functioning the next day).

Kicking off with a ten-minute warm-up followed by 45 minutes of the high-impact stuff, the routine is pretty easy to follow and the personal trainer does a good job of injecting personality where Lady Isabella fails. It is true to say that she is not the most charismatic creature on our screens, but her primary purpose is to look good, and in that respect she does the job perfectly. - Peggy Nuttall

Chillates, by Ministry of Sound, £19.99
Who will like it: Yoga bugs with hip music taste
Who won't: Absolute beginners just starting out

I associate Ministry of Sound with packed clubs full of sweaty dancers, but this exercise DVD is a departure from type. Calm and sedate, Chillates is influenced by yoga, pilates, Alexander technique and dance, and promises to tone your body and your mind.

I'm a complete novice when it comes to these disciplines, although I'm addicted to the idea of long and lean muscles (standing at just five feet tall, I need all the help I can get). And although the DVD offers three levels of workout, with beginner, intermediate and advanced, it does assume that you know the movements and how to do them properly. The Tips and Techniques section shows you how to assume some postures, and tells you what not to do, but I found it too much to take in, and it doesn't explain everything. Glancing down to check that my hips were aligned, or that I wasn't arching my back, I found the exercisers on screen had moved on and I'd missed some vital part of the routine. And as for the sun salutation, well, they've got to be kidding!

With its 12-track soundtrack, Chillates boasts better music than many exercise DVDs. But I found choreographer Litza Bixler's voice annoying after a short while, as she calmly calls for double time when you're still wondering which foot you should be standing on. She promises that if you persevere, you will get a fitter, leaner body, and I do believe her. But I think I need to go to a few classes and learn the techniques before tackling the DVD again. - Belinda Weber

Pump It Up Hi-Energy by Ministry of Sound, £14.99
Who will like it: Radio 1 listeners who fancy a jig
Who won't: People annoyed by girls with washboard stomachs saying 'This works the love handles'

I loved Ministry of Sound's 2005 Pump it Up - Beach Body workout. The instructor Fiona Fagan kept yelling out instructions like 'Run your hands down your body - sexxxxyy!' This one has the same combination of throbbing music and girls in teeny-tiny costumes, and there are plenty of opportunities to wiggle your hips and act all sexy. As a plus, this DVD includes a bit of hairobics; 'Rolling and flicking your head looks great,' says Fiona in the introduction. Just be sure you don't strain your neck in the process.

After the warm-up, a 20-minute section of dance aerobics is followed by a bonus 20-minute dance section (put together by Sean G. Huston, the chorographer behind the 'Call On Me' video, in case you're wondering), then some exercises to tone that evil triad - tums, bums and thighs - before a cooldown. It's good for an overall workout and the music is loads better than the usual bland beats on so many workout DVDs. But the moves aren't described very well as you move through the routines. There's not much notice of what's coming next; you'll need to do the workout a few times before you can anticipate the changes. Note to self: next time wear satin shorts and bikini top, to fit in with the other girls. Sexxxxyyy! - Jennifer Howze

10 Best Fitness, £19.99
Who will like it: Women who love vintage
Who won't: Trend-spotters gagging for the latest fitness fad

Eleven hours' worth of exercise for the price of one DVD is pretty good, and this just about covers everything fitness-orientated you could possibly imagine: exercises specifically for the back, a workout for the older generation and 'Yogacise' to name a few of the more unconventional offerings, along with the usual cardio-vascular and fat-burning offerings.

Jerry Hall's 'Yogacise' headlines this work-out bumper pack, with the standard Hatha Yoga postures concentrating on breathing and relaxation. There is nothing new here and the title is quite misleading as it's far from a work-out - the dulcet tones of the instructor could be somewhat sleep-inducing. OK, I did fall asleep at one point, but I probably did well to doze through some of Jerry's more garish leotard-leggings ensembles. It was also mildly upsetting that her hair kept getting the way during certain postures.

Another DVD in the set called 'More Alive' is for the older exerciser, and includes gentle stretches and body strengthening exercises. This is presented by various Florida pensioners in their front rooms with carriage clocks and pictures of their grandchildren in the background. In between each section they treat us to a motivational rhyming couplet such as 'is your posture stooping as you age? Try More Alive, it's the rage'. The work-out is worth pursuing just for this - there's nothing like laughter to make you feel 'More Alive'.

With 5 DVDs, 10 fitness routines, and almost a whole days' worth of exercise all for the bargain-basement price of £19.99, this set gives you plenty for your money. The catch - as you may be wondering - is that the videos were made about, oh, 15 years ago (funny how Jerry Hall looks almost exactly the same). Overall, the routines are dated and far from state-of-the-art. On the bright side, the fashion choices and hairstyles are a pure delight to see. - Peggy Nuttall