DVD #8 - Elle MacPherson's The Body

lovefilm seem to be intent on sending me all the old bestsellers first.

Elle's workout is largely considered to be one of the highest grossing fitness videos of all time, and one of the triggers to kickstarting the whole 'fitness vid' industry.

And, quite frankly, you can see why. Who wouldn't want a body like 'The Body'? She stands there, all ten feet of her, with her lovely bronzed skin and beautifully arranged hair, and try as you might, you can't help but hate her a little bit for having 'good genes' as she calls it. I'm not normally a hatefilled person, but the minute she says 'I'll never have a body like my Personal Trainer, and she'll never have one like mine, even if we try as hard as possible' makes you want to give up hope and head to the nearest chippy.

So anyway, Elle splits the workout into three aerobic sections, punctuated by two toning and conditioning sections. It gets harder and harder, BELIEVE ME. The aerobics was fairly ok going, left you a bit breathless, but mixed with the toning section I felt everything. The other half reckoned (from his cosy spot on the sofa) that 'it doesn't look too hard'. And yeah, he's right. Elle makes it look easy. The cow.

By the time we got to the abs section at the end (why do they put abs at the end? Why? It hurts so bad!), I could barely lift my arms over my head. It's now two days later, and I still can't lift my arms over my head, But I can feel the result. My arms feel a lot more toned, probably due to the use of weights that Elle suggests you use during the workout.

She also suggests using a chair or bench but our dining chairs are too high for this workout, and they are normal size, so I reckon that you can do without for some excercises, and use the edge of your sofa for others.

There are no extras with the DVD due to the age of it, although there is a great outtake at the end when Elle and her trainer Karen Voight (who leads the whole thing) get soaked during their cool down excercise.

Made me feel better about the fact that I'll never look like Elle MacPherson. Now, back to the biscuits.

Score: 3.5. If you can deal with the pain for the first couple of weeks, you could get pretty toned. Lost a point due to the cardio being a bit weak, and because Elle occasionally comes out with a comment that makes you want to push through your telly.

DVD #6 - Rosemary Conley's Fat Attack

You will need a pole. Seriously.

Rosemary reckons that the best way to attack fat is through aerobic exercise and muscle toning exercises. Which is fairly obvious to me, though we may have been a more clueless nation in the early 90's.

But this workout: it's hard. There is a countdown clock in each section so you know how much longer you've got left. Tell you what, when I saw almost 12 minutes pop up on screen at the start of the abs section, and 'when you're in love with a beautiful woman' kick in on the stereo, I wanted to kill Rosemary. I had toyed with these feeling during the first toning section when she had cracked out a pole and was squatting around it*.

The sections are tough going but not necessarily fast. I'm used to the Martine McCutcheon abs section which is an awful lot faster than this. Rosemary does explain each stretch or movement very clearly, so you won't get lost.

I did feel that Rosemary wasn't working as hard as her class. Maybe that's just me, but she did look like she was blagging it. There is an easy version demonstrated, as in most fitness DVD's, but Rosemary seemed to be doing something somewhere in between.

Also, she was always pushing. Even in the cool down routine, she was saying 'if you want a better stretch do blah.' Which is normally OK but I'm not sure that in a cool down you want to be pushing it further.

In the first of it's kind, Rosemary has included a circuit for men, but 'its also suitable for women'. She acquires four, probably unwilling, men and one of her ladies. She says all you need is 'a couple bottles of water and a rope', possibly and unwanted insight into Rosemary's almost healthy sex life...

Anyway, the cicuit has the usual warm up which is uncannily familiar to the normal warm up at the beginning, just with a couple more squats and marches.

And the circuit stations were absolutely hilarious. They had jumping jacks, sit ups, press ups, weight lifting, all to the sultry sound of Hot Chocolates 'You Sexy Thing'. Rosemary then explains the use of the rope, or basically, a line across the ground that you have to jump over. And because the guys go at their own pace, I was falling about laughing for most the time and couldn't join in. Especially when David, her chap doing the high impact stuff, obviously thought he wasn't on film and was clearly not working as hard as he should.

Rosemary then suggests 'rewinding' to repeat the circuit, before launching into the cooldown.

In summary: It's pretty decent, but I can't see the men folk taking it seriously.

Score: 3/5 - I suspect you could get pretty fit with this one, but Rosemary needs a new haircut.

*Some of her dancers were of course using chairs, demonstrating that the workout could be done whether or not you had a pole in close proximity.

DVD #3 - Beverly Callard's Real Results

Now this one is an oldie, from way way back in 1995. You can tell this simply by looking at the leotards (yes, LEOTARDS) that Bev and her crew are wearing.

This has got to be one of the original celebrity DVDs. You might recognise Beverley as Liz MacDonald from Coronation Street. Like Martine McCutcheon, I think Liz is fab. Another famous face (at least in Britain and Canada) who comes across as a genuinely decent person.

As is the norm, Beverley introduces her crew, but in a strange twist, she introduces them ten weeks before filming the workout. There is a before and after effect and her crew have seriously shed the pounds. Beverley says that they have done her workout three times a week and you really can tell.

Now I have to say, this DVD is FAB. It's easy for beginners, you can incorporate weights for further progress, there are always three levels of fitness demonstrated - just what you want from a DVD. It has Cardio, Stretching, Toning, and Weight Training. Beverley does everything in either sets of 8, or holds stretches for 8 seconds. You will never fall behind, this DVD is just the right pace. Another thing you'll notice is that there is no Instructor to be seen, Bev presents the whole thing herself. And is thanked by her crew by being chucked in the Country Club Pool.

The music is very early nineties, but it holds the pace well and after a while you don't notice that the fake Eurythmics are squalking away. Unlike the Lucy Benjamin video, you don't need a big space, although a mat will come in handy for the floor stretches.

I honestly think you would get seriously fit with this workout. It's old but it's great, give this one a go. Well done Bev.

She's got several video's out there. I may just well add them to the list...

Score: 4.5 out of 5. Because I have to send it back to Lovefilm.