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 Just one of many free workouts! (anytimehealth.com) I really enjoy researching the relatively new series on the blog called Free Workout Fridays. There are so many free workouts available! It seems that as the popularity of infographics and Pinterest has grown, exercise lists have become an art form. Some workouts require no additional equipment. Some require dumbbells, or other at-home equipment. Some are for CrossFit enthusiasts, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT). In addition to workout lists and graphics, there are e-books and videos. Whatever exercise system or terminology you enjoy, there are probably quite a few free workouts out there to try.
With all this free information available, why should you ever pay for a gym membership, or an expensive set of workout DVDs such as P90X or Jillian Michaels Body Revolution? Why even spend $10 or less on a DVD like Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 or Bob Harper’s Inside Out Method series?
What’s missing in the free workouts?
As I said in my review of Free Workouts on Pinterest, you have to be careful when selecting a workout when you don’t know who designed it, and the level of difficulty is not clearly explained. A list of exercises does not demonstrate proper form. Improper exercise form can lead to injury! So the downside of a free workout might be a lack of clear instructions and alternative (safer, easier) exercises.
What do you get for your money?
 DailyHiit (by BodyRock.tv) 
Well-structured and produced videos (or exercise books) are often packaged as a “fitness program” which includes exercises for several weeks, increasing in difficulty, and a progressive diet plan with several phases. Several companies such as Beachbody, or celebrity trainers like Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper, provide even more support through their online communities and tools. (It should be noted that several of the free workout sites, such as BodyRock.tv, offer this as well, to a lesser degree.)
 P90X (Amazon.com) What’s the difference between the inexpensive DVDs (less than $10 for Bob Harper, as an example), and the pricier options like P90X or Jillian Michaels Body Revolution (currently about $120 each)? To be fair, the boxed set “workout systems” usually include 10-12 DVDs, a diet guide, and other goodies like a workout calendar, resistance band, etc. The price per DVD averages about $10 each. These are carefully designed exercise and diet programs (60 or 90 days, for example). Most bargain DVDs and free websites don’t provide all that. One more benefit of purchasing a “workout system” is the shared experience with thousands of people who have completed it, are doing it right now with you in that online community, or will start after you, so you can become their support system.
 Ripped in 30 (Amazon.com) 
On the other hand, some of those low-cost DVDs are a great bargain when you’re looking for a challlenging workout that might not have all the bells and whistles of P90X or Body Revolution (subtitles describing each exercise, countdown timers, separate audio tracks to add/remove music or dialogue). This is the “sweet spot” that provides the visual demonstrations and alternative exercises the free workouts might lack. (I really like Bob Harper’s Inside Out Method series for this reason, even though I have no idea what is “inside out” about it!)
To pay, or not to pay?
As you can see from the blog, I use a variety of workouts, from the free ones all the way up to P90X, Insanity, and Body Revolution. Each one has its time and place in my workout schedule. Free workouts can be handy when traveling without fitness equipment, or even at the office for a quick exercise break. You can even try P90X as a “free workout” if you can decipher the workout sheets. (But save up your pennies like I did, so you can bring Tony Horton into your home on DVD!)
You should pay for a workout when you are starting a new type of exercise (such as weightlifting, or yoga), to get proper visual instruction, or if you want to challenge yourself. (It’s funny how many times I have heard P90X “graduates” talk about their uncertainty when it comes to trying Insanity, or vice versa. Sometimes you just have to take the plunge!)
If this blog post has helped you decide to purchase one of the workouts mentioned, please consider using the affiliate links to advertisers on this page. Your purchase will support the blog at no additional cost to you. Thanks!
 Insanity Max Interval Plyo Don’t forget to check out all my CAST PROFILES!
Full Name: Rachel Buschert Vaziralli
Video Introduction: Shaun T stops by to check on Rachel during several Insanity workouts. He mentions that she’s a spin instructor (an understatement, as I have learned). Rachel was also featured in the infomercial and workouts for Insanity: The Asylum.
Background/Current: Rachel’s website About page describes her progression from New York University Tisch School of the Arts (where she studied dance), to becoming a yoga and pilates instructor. After that, “she fell in love with indoor cycling,” which led to (outdoor) road racing. Visit the page for more details! She is currently a Schwinn (indoor cycling) Master Trainer, and an instructor for a variety of classes at EQUINOX NYC. She holds about a dozen professional certifications, and is completing work towards a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science & Cardiac Rehabilitation.
My Comments: During the Insanity workouts, Rachel is always working hard, with a smile. I was getting tired just reading about all these other projects: Fitness modeling, cycling classes, how-to videos, and more, as seen on her website.
 Season 1 winner, Fit or Flop Official/Personal Websites
Personal website
Twitter @rachelbuschert
Facebook (Rachel V Fitness)
YouTube (FitCoach247)
Websites Featuring Rachel
Fit or Flop (Competition reality show; season 1 winner!)
YouTube Rachel B Insanity success story
YouTube Better Body Expert TV (June 2013)
YouTube Howcast Health & Fitness (Bootcamp Workout series)
Products Featuring Rachel
(Note: Previews are also available from Rachel’s website. Direct links to the products are below.)
Insanity: The Asylum (Amazon.com)
F3 Face Fear Fitness
Kettlebell video books on vook.com
Motion Traxx (Amazon.com)
 The Scientific 7-Minute Workout (NY Times blog)
I’m finding a lot of free workouts out there. How many of them can claim to be “scientifically proven” and take less than 10 minutes? Well, recently I found 2 of them, from different sources, making very similar claims.
First there’s The Scientific 7-Minute Workout, presented by the New York Times health/science blog Well. The big news here is that “In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science.” Remember that: A long run and a visit to the weight room, in seven minutes!
I did this workout a couple of days in a row. The first time, I was planning to do a 45-minute Insanity workout (Wasting all that extra time, maybe?), so I used this self-described “High Intensity Interval Training” (HIIT) as a warmup. It did take me about seven minutes, and according to my heart rate monitor I burned about 60 calories. If you extend that effort to an hour, it would be about equivalent to an Insanity workout… Or a long run. I did not compress an hour’s worth of workout time into seven minutes, but if you’re looking for a short workout that covers all the bases, this is definitely a good one.
For my second attempt, the following day (a planned rest day), I decided to do two circuits of this workout in a row. (Equivalent of a long run, twice… Never mind.) So in about 15 minutes, I burned about twice as many calories, and of course the second time through was more challenging, because I was keeping up a steady pace. So it’s possible to do something similar to an Insanity workout, in which an exercise circuit is repeated several times. In summary, I will say this does not live up to the hype, but it’s a good workout to keep handy for when time is limited.
A few days later, a friend forwarded a link to a Yahoo! Health article, 5-Minute Abs (Proven in a Lab!). I wasn’t crazy about the format of this “quick workout” because it uses the common online trick of one page per item, which is fine for browsing (and viewing more ads), not so good if you want to go from one exercise to the next. Anyway, here’s the intro:
“Meet the Doc Michele Olson, Ph.D. (aka our Dr. Abs), spent three months testing these exercises and comparing them
 Rotating Ball Plank (very tricky move!) with the crunch. For total toning, all are more effective—check out those percentages. You saw the moves here first, but her research will appear soon in ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal.”
(How convenient to have a very photogenic scientist demonstrating these exercises!)
I gave this one a try one evening instead of my P90X Ab Ripper workout. If you’re unfamiliar, the Ab Ripper is a 15-minute workout, with a combination of exercises to target the abdominal muscles from various angles. So this should be a big time-saver too (five minutes instead of 15).
There are nine exercises, with 12 repetitions (or 12 per side, if applicable) recommended for each exercise. For a five-minute workout, you would need to complete each exercise in less than 35 seconds (on average). If you’re going for proper exercise form, that might be difficult. So I threw out the timetable, and learned each exercise, one page at a time. It took me about 15 minutes to get through them all, as it turns out. Some exercises require a floor mat, and others use the stability ball as shown. The picture I chose, of the Rotating Ball Plank, was the trickiest exercise of all. I can’t figure out from the picture and text description how to do it without falling off. Maybe with some practice?
Based on my experience, this might be an equivalent or even superior replacement for Ab Ripper, based on the claims for each exercise. “54% better than a crunch at activating your lats,” for example. (I think Ab Ripper is pretty good as far as that goes, because it’s not all simple crunches either.) However, I would like to see the “science” that proves the workout can be completed in five minutes by a person with average-to-superior fitness.
I would love to hear from you if you try these workouts too. Does the science make that much of a difference? Maybe it can save you some time and help you work out more effectively.
Don’t forget to check out all my CAST PROFILES!
 Adriana, how do you feel? Full Name: Adriana Falcon
Video Introduction: Shaun T worked with Adriana in the Hip Hop Abs workout program, and then Insanity. Shaun T checks on Adriana from time to time during the Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit. She’s doing great, and during a set of Tricep Dips, Shaun T asks “How are you feeling?” In the most honest response I have heard so far on a workout video, she says, “I feel like sh*t!” She did a great job working through the pain, that’s for sure.
Background/Current: In addition to her work in Shaun T.’s fitness videos, Adriana’s biography lists many credits as a dancer, theater performer, and dance instructor. She has taught and performed in the Boston area, New York, Washington, D.C., and far from home in Macau and Hong Kong.
My Comments: As Han Solo once said of a certain princess, “She’s got spirit.” Dancers like Adriana and Tania are unstoppable (well, almost) in the Insanity workouts. Also, I am teasing about Adriana’s difficult moment in the photo above. Check out her Photo Gallery for some happy pictures too!
Official/Personal Websites
Personal Website (includes a Dance Reel page featuring her projects)
Facebook (friend request only)
Twitter @Adriana_Falcon
Websites Featuring Adriana
NYC’s Performing Arts Collective (P.A.C.) – Faculty page
Joy of Motion Dance Center (Washington, D.C.) – Faculty page
 Winsor Pilates workout DVD (Amazon.com link) There’s a saying that “You always remember your first time.” (Fill in the blank for your favorite first!) Well, I don’t remember the date, but the first DVD workout video that I remember using regularly is the Winsor Pilates Basic 3 DVD Workout Set . Before that, I was a runner, and experimented briefly with roller blades, but my knees were hurting, so I needed a change. My mom had been doing Pilates for a while, and it was popular in the early 2000s (back in style after being developed in the early 1900s by Joseph Pilates). I found this version of the Pilates exercises and decided to try it, because it added some aerobic elements and “body sculpting” (which I desperately needed at that point). Besides, it was endorsed by MTV personality and model Daisy Fuentes, so what more could I ask?
Mari Winsor is the instructor. The DVD jacket describes her as “one of the most sought after trainers by the biggest stars and celebrities in Hollywood.” This DVD was directed by Andrea Ambandos (of 30 Day Shred fame), and distributed by Guthy-Renker (a very successful direct marketing company).
 Single Leg Circles It’s crazy that I could have such vivid memories of a workout video, coming back all of a sudden… The music, the phrases she used (not nearly as entertaining as Jillian Michaels or Tony Horton), and of course, the exercises. “The first exercise in the Pilates workout is always the One Hundred” (core muscles engaged, pulse the arms one hundred times).
Pilates designed his exercises for rehabilitation and building strength, so this is a low-intensity workout that focuses on proper form. Breathing in and out through the nose is emphasized. The core muscles are called “The Powerhouse.” Many of the exercises put a C-curve in the spine, or press the belly button towards the spine. The arms and legs stay inside the frame of the body (no wider than the hips). There are exercises which are seen in more modern workouts, such as “rolling like a ball” and the “criss-cross” (legs extended, hands behind the head, extend one elbow to the opposite knee, and switch).
 Double Straight Leg Today I did the 20-minute workout, described as “a fast, fun, no-nonsense program designed to Sculpt Your Body Slim in just 20 minutes a day!” Sounds a lot like the Ab Ripper seen in P90X or P90X2! Well, it’s not that intense, but it is certainly a challenge for any fitness level, because form and control are important. (I’m glad to report that it seems a lot less difficult for me than it was back then!) The other workouts are a 29-minute Basics level, and the 57-minute Accelerated Body Sculpting. If you get to this level, the DVD jacket says, “With only three consistent workouts a week, you will not only change your body, you will change your life.”
In addition to these videos, I have a Pilates book called Total Pilates , which I used to add variety to my workouts. (I also found a set of flash cards by Brooke Siler which I think were purchased at Costco). The Pilates workouts were an important step for me, in terms of my fitness level as well as my experience using DVD workouts at home. It was shortly afterwards that I discovered Jillian Michaels workout DVDs. I was much more successful with this method than I was with my short-lived gym membership.
I’m not necessarily recommending this workout anymore, because it’s been a while since it was developed (a few years before P90X and 30 Day Shred, for example). It will always be a sentimental favorite, for sure! If you would like to support the blog, please check out the Amazon links on this page. Your purchases will send a little something our way, at no additional cost.
 Mari Winsor Cardio Pilates (Amazon.com)  Mari Winsor Lower Body Pilates (Amazon.com) 
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