How and when did you start working out, with or without videos?

[Pat58]

Paine, I loved your come to fitness story.

Reading Joni's post about Elaine Powers reminds me of some interesting clubs I belonged along the way. My first was a Jack LaLanne health club in NYC in the 1970s. It was so nice! Had the best pool I ever used, and they also had the old fashioned steam cabinets you could go in and your head stuck out of a little circle, and the jiggly belt machines (what a trip). Most of the equipment was new and current for the times, lots of universal cable machines, and I attended my first group fitness classes there.

When Nautilus came out the only way you could find the machines was at a Nautilus club. I loved it and it was my intro to weight training. My membership at Nautilus whipped me into shape like nothing else. Today's gym machines can't compare, IMO.

Then there was Gloria Stevens, Elaine Powers and Fitness Express, and World Gym (a/k/a "the gym Arnold prefers."). I even tried a Butterfly Life in more recent years, the alternative to Curves.

[danac99]

I started working out in high school. It was an aerobics workout on a record album. I don't remember who the instructor was. I then moved on to a Joanie Greggains workout on cassette. A year or two after that I discovered Firm Volume 1.

[ncl]

When I was a kid (like 8), I started swimming on the swim team in the summers only and did that until I was about 13. At that age, I started running some with my stepmother or sometimes she would take a class a the gym and I would go with her. When I moved away from home to go to college, I looked around and gyms/workout facilities and discovered the Firm in Columbia so I worked out there for 5 years (that was really fun!). Then, I moved to Charleston, SC to finish school and at that time they had a Firm Studio there, too, so I went there for 4 more years. Then I moved and by then there were some Firm videos (50 bucks a pop), so I would use those and had some Kari Andersons as well, ran some, walked some. I lived one year in Los Angeles and remember I discovered the Firm forums and a whole bunch more videos and I was working then so I splurged and bought them all! That was the beginning of vidiocy for me.

[Jewels5]

This is a fun thread.

When I was in the fifth grade I started tumbling/gymnastics, then started track in 7th grade and ran up until my late 30s/early 40s. Started dancing in 9th grade and joined a gym when I was 18 after doing Jane Fonda and Buns of Steel video. I quit my gym memberships in 2012 and fell in love with workout DVDs! After sampling hundreds I'm back to mostly Cathe with a few barre workouts here and there.

[Leonana]

It was fun reading everyone's stories!

I'm afraid I wasn't very athletic when young. I didn't exercise other than PE in school. I'm not very good at sports, and didn't realize at the time there were other things I could do.

In my 30's, I worked out at the gym on the treadmill. I tried the machines, but didn't know what I was doing. I quit the gym and bought a Nordic Trak, and used that for a year. After I got married, I'm afraid I stopped exercising. I tried an aerobics dvd, but was not coordinated enough to follow the moves. I wish I had known about the Firm, because I think I would have liked it back then.

I did a Kathy Smith Prenatal dvd while pregnant, and it was great. It relaxed me and also increased my strength for labor. Why I didn't continue working out afterwards is a mystery. I enjoyed the dvd, but thought that type of workout was for prenatal only.

About 9 years ago when I was 52, someone posted about Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. This was a revelation for me, simple athletic moves I could do. I searched online for more dvds and found Collage. About that time was when Jessica Smith started making dvds and doing you tube, and I've been working out with her ever since. Eventually I found VF.

Exercise is really important to me to relieve stress. In my mid-40's I started losing my hearing. Once I started exercising regularly, my hearing loss slowed down and has completely stopped the past few years. I think the loss was due to stress, and exercise is relieving that stress. Because of that, I will keep exercising as long as I can!

[Jewels5]

Sherry, I just got goosebumps reading your story! Thank you for sharing. I totally believe exercise is wonderful for stress relief. It's been a lifesaver for me. Keep up the good work!

[Leonana]

Thanks, Julie!

[Genevieve M]

i was a chubby kid in high school, and Maggie and the Beautiful Machine was on PBS so I started with that. Joined the Gloria Steven gym in the 80's and got introduced to free weights and Nautilus.

Was doing machine and lifting into my 30's. Really started working out at home when my dad had a massive stroke and was confined to a nursing home. As the only single sibling at the time, I checked in on my dad several times a week after work. A lot of times, I would not get home until 9:00. But I knew I had to do something to relieve the stress.

That's when I discovered The Firm, then went on to Cathe. Also, did a 90-day rotation of Body for Life with some co-workers. AND found VF back around 1996. Got in the best shape of my life.

I am working hard to get back on the wagon again. Like many of you, I have enough equipment to open a gym - kettlebells up to 35lbs, TRX, a Bellicon, weight bench, plates,

We are so lucky that we have learned from each other over the years. Am grateful to WWWendy (wherever she may be) and all of you for this site!

[tiffanywu]

I graduated from college and started working in a job that required traveling so I was away from home four days per week and armed with an expense account. I was not very active in college - I'd ride my bike around and take some classes for credits (e.g. swimming, tennis), and walk around a lot on campus and into downtown but that was it. Three things triggered my exploration of keeping fit post-college: (1) one of my co-workers was a year or two older and looked absolutely haggard and a tad heavy from too much smoking + too much sushi, (2) I hated having dudes ask me if I needed help with loading my carry-on luggage into the overhead compartment, as much as I appreciated them being helpful, (3) my roommate/pal who didn't see me often suggested I try Pilates since it's something I could do anywhere. And thus I somehow discovered Jennifer Kries' Precision Toning video and along the way, VF and Collage Video and the rest is history.

Truth be told, I'm actually on a DVD hoarding binge right now because I like that I own them outright. There are so many classics I haven't tried that I'm now digging through Thriftbooks.com to uncover. I have just started stepping after all these years of vidiocy (to supplement my weekend hiking hobby) and just acquired Karen Voight's Energy Sprint and Kari Anderson's Go so I can take my choreography and stamina a notch above Gilad's Step Aerobics! And due to the pandemic changing my daily routine so I have less opportunities to walk and bike as a part of my commute, I've been doing a lot more floor aerobics and dabbling in kickboxing to amp up my cardio (because much as I enjoy tougher walking workouts, they do get a bit repetitive and my heart needs a bit more of a challenge on some days when I feel energetic).

[Nuggie's Auntie]

I started doing dedicated exercise (as opposed to school sports/PE class/playing outside) when I was in college. I did the stairmaster a lot and took a yoga class, got my lifeguard certification and took a weight training class, all to earn a few extra credits so I could graduate a little early.

But the real life changer was my nanny job in the summers. The mom of the kids I looked after did Jane Fonda and Denise Austin videos. I got a catalog for Firm videos in the mail. I found their marketing compelling so I scraped together enough cash to buy Firm Vol. 4 on preorder. I was totally hooked! I didn't have access to a VHS player, but my parents' local library had Firm Vols. 1-3 to borrow! I did them religiously when I was home on breaks, then bought the audio tape versions that the Firm sold for $10 each. I painstakingly wrote out the routines and did them at school by listening to the audio tapes. What I wouldn't give to have THAT body back! sigh....

I continued to do the Firm in my tiny NYC studio apartment after graduation, and even brought those audio tapes to Europe, where I lived for five years. When I returned to the US, I married my husband and found VF. I now had consistent access to a TV, VHS player, a larger living room and a little cash to buy some videos and toys. The rest is history!

Love love love VF and all you fabulous peeps!