How many VFers have been working out for 20 years or more?

[eventmom]

wow - started out swimming in 1988, added Kathy Smith videos that same year. So 30+ years. I was pretty happy with Kathy then I found this place. I have no idea how many workouts I own now

[ots]

Originally Posted by firmaniac

I began in '83 with 20:Minute Workout on tv, and weight training as a gym elective in school. Bought a Jane Fonda video once we had a vcr ( 1987?), and then became more consistent in late 1997 when a friend introduced me to The FIRM. I've never missed a month of since then, for which I'm very grateful. Exercise kept me sane & focused through some pretty bad times, even during illness and injury. So grateful!

My little sister recorded the 20 minute workout and we used to do that one at least once a week. I remember as a teenager, I found it very challenging. They would encourage you to keep jogging through the commercial break --- but I would just collapse. My sister would keep jogging the whole time.

We didn't have the Jane Fonda workout because it was expensive. But, I had a friend whose mother bought it for her as a videodisc (because she was a little heavy --- she hated doing it --- but, I was so jealous --- I made her do it every time I went over --- afterwards we could do what she wanted). This was in the early 80's.

When I got my first Collage catalog, I pored over it. I would make lists and figure out how much I could afford --- I spend much less now. I have pretty much all the equipment I need and all the workouts. The other day, I pulled out a workout that I hadn't done in a while and found a clipping of that workout from the Collage catalog taped to the inside cover giving a better overview than the DVD. I wish I had done that with more of the DVDs...

For me, Jazzercize - yes! Gym workouts yes! (I still teach). Videos - yes! My first video was Greg Smithy (sp?) - Buns of steel...I got Karen Voights Great weighted workout around the same time. I did both of those so often, I knew them by heart!

[muggle]

[QUOTE=ots;2877962
When I got my first Collage catalog, I pored over it. I would make lists and figure out how much I could afford --- I spend much less now. I have pretty much all the equipment I need and all the workouts. ![/QUOTE]

Oh boy....I used to LOVE the Collage catalog! I would study it!! I still use the color coding system from their catalog for my own workout binders. Yellow highlighter for aerobics and pink for strength.

[adawn]

I'm 38 and I'm pretty sure my first foray into home workouts was with "Get In Shape Girl" (if that counts). I think there were cassette tapes and there were definitely these very lightweight, white and purple (or pink and white?) hand weights. I think the weights were just for looks. There may have been other gear, not sure. My sister and I really liked those "weights" though.

Then I began doing yoga with (I believe) Priscilla Patrick's show on PBS (I was pretty young at the time and maybe in Jr. High--it was mid-90s perhaps?). I even wrote her a little letter at the time and couldn't believe she responded by mail!!! I may have also dabbled in Margaret Richard's Body Electric show on PBS but my memory is not the greatest.

Then in gym class every once in a great while (still in Jr. High), the teachers would pop in a workout video (but I can't remember what the workouts were). There was even a gym class where we formed small groups of 3-4 people and were given a song and tasked with choreographing a simple aerobics routine and then we were supposed to perform the routine on Parent's Night or something. And I was VERY serious about getting the choreography in sync and matching the music. (Not sure if we actually succeeded in the end.)

So, me not being very good at any kind of sports, running, biking, etc. but wanting to continue exercising beyond gym class, based on the experience with doing workout videos a couple times during gym class, I decided to try and find a similar video on my own and buy it and do it at home.

So I was with my mom in Kmart or some store with a workout VHS section next to the cookbooks or whatever and I couldn't remember what the instructor was in the workout we did in gym class. So I eventually ended up buying (not sure if it was in one trip or over the course of several trips browsing in the VHS workout section of the store) a Kathie Lee Gifford aerobics video, a couple of Jane Fonda's (the Complete one and Favorite Fat Burners), and eventually Kathy Smith's Lower Body Firming and Peak Fat Burning. I also got a couple of Yoga Journal VHS tapes--the beginner's one and the flexibility one (both with Patricia Walden IIRC).

Then, a revelation--step aerobics. I felt I needed more of a challenge so I bought Kathy Smith's Great Buns & Thighs step workout & her Power Step workout. So I had to buy a step. And I believe the step came with a Cathe workout (maybe basic step or low impact step or low max or something), and the Cathe workout basically blew my mind and I was hooked.

I mean, Kathy Smith's step was/is fine and I don't have a natural gift for picking up step choreo so it took me awhile to even catch on to all of Kathy Smith's step and get decent at stepping in the first place, but that Cathe workout opened up a whole new world to me because I went online and realized there was a community of Cathletes, that she had A LOT of workouts and I could progress with how much weight I could lift, etc. I think one of the Jane Fonda's I had included a short upper body weight section so I had a few light weights already, but then with Cathe of course I had to acquire a lot more weights over the years and a Danskin barbell and plates that I still use (though I would like a Troy lite barbell system someday if possible).

Unfortunately I have not always been consistent about working out throughout the past 25+ years for various reasons, but when I do workout, it's almost always at home. I did try some group classes at one university I was at (a step class and a couple others) but I wasn't thrilled about getting up early for them and the step class never seemed to progress/build much in choreography complexity because the instructor was teaching a big class, many of whom had very little experience with step. So it never got as "fun" as doing a Cathe step workout I knew by heart with much less TIFTing.

Also, when I was in high school (late 1990s) my sister and I had a membership for a year or at a "Women's Workout World" location, but the location was almost 30min from my house via highway. But I would use the treadmill there and some of the weight machines and my favorite part was the pull-up machine thing. But they went out of business eventually I think. I also took a few kickboxing classes with friends at some place near us in high school when kickboxing was super popular.

But I'm still most comfortable working out at home.

[MARIKA]

I've BEEN WORKING OUT HOME SINCE 1982. I STARTED W/ THE 20 MIN WORKOUT,MARGARET RICHARDS THEN THE ESPN CREW, THEN I FOUND KATHY SMITH AND A VCR AND NOTHING WAS EVER THE SAME.

Oh yeah Joannie Greggins too

[Vintage VFer]

Wow, what great replies!

I remember the President's Council on Fitness way back in the 1960's. It was to encourage youth to be more active. I was already an active kid and rode my bike for hours a day. I was in the track team in high school. As a young adult, I was an avid walker.

In my 30's, I fell in love with hiking and hiked quite a bit. I liked to hike alone which is just so wrong, but I loved it!

I still love hiking, but assorted joint issues limit my hike terrain and length.

I'm not sure when I stared doing videos mostly. I know it was searching for Tae Bo that led me to VF. The rest is history!

Originally Posted by summer breeze

... I did lust after a Nordic Trac for years but never caved, got an ergonomic stationary bike and manual treadmill instead. ...

I had the low end model and loved it. My friend had the top of the line NorcicTrack and it was a thing of beauty. Smooth, quiet and fun.

[Buzzer]

I started working out when I was 13 at the wellness center for the company my Dad worked for. We tried the aerobics classes with the little weights, and the instructor would take us outside to run down the road and back. I hated that!!

One day I did the weight machines, I even can tell you what I was wearing. Black capris and a cheetah print tank top that was dark blue and black. I looked down at my bicep while doing the bicep machine, and I was just floored. That was cool!! I was hooked. I would walk to the center (about 1.5 or 2 miles from our house), lift on the machines, then walk back home.

In 1990, my sister was getting married, and a friend of my Mom's loaned her Firm Volume 1. We did that workout every other day, followed by a day of walking fast with the dog. We lost tons of weight!! I knew the workout so well that when I went back to college that year, I taped the sound and did it in my bedroom. I thought it was so unique and amazing! I had no idea there were other workouts out there too.

I then found Buns of Steel, and discovered I didn't need to go to they gym to lift. I loved Tamilee! I wanted to shout from the rooftops about Firm Vol 1 and Tamilee. HA!

Eventually, after college (1992/1993) I found other volumes of Firms I didn't know existed at Blockbuster video. I was over the moon excited! I could only afford one at a time, but I made sure to get all of them they had.

I went for years thinking I was the only one that knew of these hidden gems. I had no idea the Firm was such a big thing!

I started out with 10 pound weights being my heaviest weights, and now own weights up to 40 pounds. My first workout equipment was a step I got from LaBelles. I still remember it coming out on the conveyer belt. They were the original Ikea idea, you'd go through the store, see what you want, order it on a piece of paper, wait at the conveyer belt for it to come out.

I have been working out now for 36 years. hard to believe! It's definitely been an evolution, and I can't imagine my life without it!!

[Gams]

We started our PE class with this song in grade school for years (the 1960’s version).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8df2skF8gnQ

[KateTT]

I've been working out since I was in grade school. My Dad was an avid, heavy duty exerciser back in my youth and I love working out with him. That included lots of weight lifting. Lots.
I also played a lot of sports in my youth, mainly softball and some soccer and cross country running.

As I got into high school my love for sports increased and so did my love for weight lifting. Dad started to help me train to be a female body builder.

Then I left for college, met my first husband and got pregnant. I did some exercising, but not at the intensity I used to. After baby #2 I got back into workouts big time with the help from ESPN and Gilad's Bodies in Motion TV show and Ada's too. I was hooked again, and hooked on at-home workouts!!! That addiction started causing a huge influx of vhs and dvds through the years along with some streaming subscriptions.

I did end up gaining a LOT of weight in late 40s/early 50s. But I still kept working out every day - it just got harder with all the weight. Now I've lost 60lbs and my workouts are back to being more intense and more fun too.
NOTE: You can exercise like a maniac, but if you don't eat healthy, it's all for naught in the weight loss arena. Fit fat I guess.

I love working out. I'm 57 now and in the best shape of my life. I can lift heavy, I have good endurance and I can handle every difficult physical task with relative ease. I will not quit and have every intention of keeping it up until the day I die.

p.s. My Dad is now 93. Not quite as vigorous workouts as he used to do, but he's still kicking it!

[zoegirl]

Originally Posted by Vintage VFer

I remember the President's Council on Fitness way back in the 1960's. It was to encourage youth to be more active.

I took ballet and tap in early elementary school, but dropped that when I started taking piano lessons. I always dreaded the Presidential Fitness Tests we had to do every year in PE. I was always dead last in the running and not much better in anything else. In fact, in junior high, we ran laps across the grass and had to run up to our teacher to report which lap we were on and she would mark it on her clipboard. I would cheat and skip a lap or 2 when I reported to her and she would let me! It's pretty bad when your PE teacher HELPS you cheat because you are so bad! But for the first time in my life, I got the award that year!

All through school, I hated everything involving running and/or chasing/hitting/throwing balls. I enjoyed archery when we did that for 6 weeks in high school and the 6 weeks in junior high when we did square dancing. I enjoyed riding my bike but was not an athlete.

In high school, I bought my first Jane Fonda workout (maybe the record?). Not long after I got married, I exercised with a group of friends to a Jane Fonda video. Yes, the same video every time! Years later, I discovered Leslie Sansone and Jari Love and Collage Video, which is where I learned about VF. I walk regularly with my husband when the weather permits, but I love my videos! Leslie, Cathe, KCM are my favorites, with a few others thrown in for variety.

I have watched both of my parents decline rapidly due to inactivity so that is definitely a motivating factor at this stage in my life. Plus, I work at a desk job so I crave the activity when I get off in the evenings.