My Favorite Workout DVDs

When I'm on the road, I don't have a ton of flexibility in terms of my workouts. Limited space, time, and energy all leave me looking for the most efficient and effective workout to counter balance all of the restaurant and airport food I have to survive on when I'm traveling for business.

I bring a tennis ball with me so that I can massage my own back. There's very little room in this bag for exercise gear.

To make matters even more complicated, I have some self-imposed rules and personal predispositions that contribute to the tricky business of calorie burn on the road.

1) I don't run outside alone when I travel. Safety thing.
2) Hotel gyms are always crowded when I want to work out, since I'm on the same working stiff schedule as everyone else.
3) I hate the treadmill.
4) Travel/time zone changes make me sleepy in the mornings when I like to work out.
5) My compulsion to be social and eat dinner with the group almost always eliminates the option to work out after work.

So what's a girl to do? Bring DVDs!

Workout videos make it really easy to get a workout in with little to no conscious effort (other than bringing said DVD with you). I've even resorted to high-tech solutions of recording DVDs onto my iPad so I don't even have to bring a DVD with me.
 

This is a highly-specialized feat of engineering, as you can probably tell.

So here's a list of my favorite DVDs to bring with me on the road! Most are about 30 minutes, and you can do all of them without lugging handweights with you! Let's get listing!

1) Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown

Yoga Meltdown is my favorite yoga DVD to recommend to people who say to me, "I want to try yoga, but ________". I think the people are weird, I don't want anyone to tell me to chant, I'm not flexible, I don't want to stand in a 100 degree room for an hour.

These are all valid points. Jillian's workouts (Level 1 and Level 2), are 30 minutes long and require nothing but your own body weight and a mat if you're on a hard surface. It also introduces you to yoga poses, but instead of taking you through a "traditional" flow, she takes you into a pose and then directs you to "rep it out", creating the cardio burn you rarely get from a regular yoga class, while still practicing the poses.

This is the yoga DVD I recommended to my brother. If you're sensitive to the "yoga-ness" of yoga, this DVD is for you.


2) Tony Horton 10-Minute Trainer

You've most likely seen infomercials for these DVDs if you've ever been watching tv between the hours of 2am and 6am. And personally, I think a ten minute workout is a joke. But the two DVDs that come with the 10-Minute trainer include 5 workouts, so i like to do two or three at a time and count it as a solid effort.

All of the moves in these workouts require either a resistance band or your own body weight. There's no dawdling around with water breaks, so you're working out every stinking second.It takes my mind off of how many emails are flooding my inbox at that moment, so I'm a fan!

3) Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30

This DVD was born out of her other 30-Day DVD 30 Day Shred, and it's just as awesome. Each of the 4 30 minute workouts is comprised of three circuits, each circuit with 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs.

These workouts will kick your butt, but you do need a set of handweights to do some of the strength moves. However, you can improvise with a resistance band or two full bottles of water since it's darn-right silly to travel with handweights in your carry-on.

4) Bob Harper's Yoga for the Warrior

If you find youself with a little more than thirty minutes and in need of a solid power flow yoga class, DO THIS DVD. Hands down best respresentation of a real yoga class that has ever been recorded on DVD. Bob gives really clear instructions, the sequence of poses is challenging, and it gets your heart rate up. A solid choice.

5) Jillian Michaels Banish Fat Boost Metabolism

Wait, another Jillian DVD? Yes, she's awesome and she makes a great travel workout. Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism is a cardio-based workout that incorporates strength and ab moves too. Again, you don't need anything but your own body weight and your hotel room. It's amazing how much of a workout you get in these 45 minutes with traditional calisthenics and kickboxing moves.

If you don't have 45 minutes, shut it off after 30. You'll have plenty of sweat to show for it.

6) Shiva Rea Fluid Power Vinyasa Flow Yoga

This pick is kind of my wildcard, so I'll recommend it to those who are looking for a yoga DVD in particular. Her voice and delivery is very much in the "yogi" tradition - she is soft spoken, talks about melting your heart to the earth, and really likes a bongo and steel drum soundtrack.

Aesthetic elements aside, the DVD itself rocks. The preconfigured workouts are great (despite being on the long side), but this DVD also gives you the option to choose segments of each workout individually to create your own custom workout.

So if you know you have 35 minutes to work out, you can choose any of the 3 to15 minute long segments that will then play back to back without having to fast forward through parts you don't want to do. A la carte yoga if you will.

Alright, what are you waiting for? Definitely not the hotel gym treadmill! Get movin'!