The "DVDs/videos don't work" mentality

[topfitmama]

Originally Posted by Sara1000

NOTHING works unless YOU work.

Which is where message boards, especially this one can make all the difference. We come here for knowledge, inspiration, motivation. For me, VF is a necessary component in my exercise life. I'm not sure if workout videos would have worked for me without you guys!

I couldn't agree more!
On days when I just can't find the motivation, I come here and read for 10 or 15 minutes (any longer and my time is gone!), and leave with inspiration for a workout.

I just have to find a good dieting or healthy eating forum to help me out with the diet component.

[FitBoop]

I enjoy keeping how I stay fit, a secret. People aren't going to change what they do or how they think, and most people think that exercising at home with DVDs won't work. The people who think that, haven't tried it, or tried one beginner's video years ago, or never heard of all the different types of workouts that are available on DVD or computer. So people who say that exercising at home doesn't work, do not base their opinions on actual fact.

[hotncmom]

I just don't think that people realize the variety of workout DVD's that are available these days. In most people's minds' they think you're doing Richard Simmons.

The YMCA I belong to (why I still pay to have a membership there is a mystery) has not evolved to keep up with the trends. There are no barre classes, no cardio dance other than Zumba (which I can't seem to find the love for that other people have). We have barre studios but they're expensive. The reason I started doing DVD's was because I kept reading profiles of celebrity fitness instructors in magazines like Fitness and I wanted to do those celebrity workouts too. Lo and behold a lot of these trendy LA and NY studios had DVD's available. Core Fusion and P57 were among my first acquisitions. Now we can take classes from trainers online or via DVD that would cost $30-40 to take live. We are on the cutting edge of fitness trends. We were doing barre before barre was even heard of in our cities or towns. When Buti classes pop up, we can say "Oh, yeah, I was doing that two years ago." That's what is so exciting to me.

There's an arrogance there too. I know a couple of Les Mills instructors and they are utterly convinced that no one can get a good workout without their "help". Hello, they're standing at the front of a room demonstrating and the music is so loud you can hardly hear the cues. How is that better than what I do? I think a lot of regular people who attend classes are of this mindset too. They think home workout videos are "easy" or "dumbed down".

The issue I see with live classes is peer pressure to do more than you're capable of, which can lead to injury. When the instructor shows the modification and then the advanced, almost every single person in the room will go for the advanced, because they do not want to be the only one staying modified. People are using heavier weights than they probably should be, because they see other people doing it. And the class sizes at the Y? So large that there's no way an instructor can keep an eye on everyone (not that they are probably getting paid enough to bother).

With DVD's I think you are more inclined to work at your own pace, to follow cues to modify and to take a break when needed.

Honestly, I think that when people put down DVD workouts, it's out of ignorance of what's available and their own assessment that they themselves wouldn't be able to stay intrinsically motivated to work out on their own, so they project that onto everyone else who does DVD's. And I think for many of us, exercise is fun, getting a new DVD workout is exciting and we can't wait to do it, so it's like a pleasant hobby, versus for most people working out is a chore that they either avoid or try to get over with in any way possible. These are the kind of people that need peer pressure to motivate them because they haven't developed intrinsic motivation yet.

[Eibhinn]

Lots of people buy videos and never use them. When that is the case, obviously people are right that "videos" don't work.

Also, for the most part fitness videos aren't as "cool" as going to the gym, nor as visible. If you are someone who gets fit going to the gym, it's more likely people will see you going to the gym and possibly you will invite other people to go with you or talk about it with people who go to the same gym, etc. If you use videos and run, people will likely only see you running and assume that's the only way you keep fit. Most successful video fitness people are sort-of invisible.

On the other hand, while successful video use is mostly invisible, unsuccessful video use is more visible than unsuccessful gym use: people can see the equipment and videos gathering dust in a person's house a little more easily than the gym membership card in their wallet that has only been used once.

Finally, in North America our fitness beliefs are still heavily influenced by body building culture. Most people don't have a lot of equipment at home so that sort of heavy lifting approach is less available to most home exercisers. Given the assumption that body building is the only valid/successful form of fitness, home fitness videos are assumed to be useless. P90X has helped reduce this belief, but again the large number of people who buy P90X and never use it reinforce the idea that home fitness videos never get used. And some extroverted people really do need a social aspect to their fitness, or to work out in public for motivation. It's just not true that everyone does, obviously.

[dela]

I agree that the perception is in part tied to a persons own motivation to do the work, and in part because they simply don't understand the universe of workouts available, nor have they ever tried them. I guess many people have a hard time getting started and either know or deep down they know, they won't stay motivated on their own.

Honestly, I started working out with a trainer for years first, and had NO idea about the home DVD market. I stumbled on Cathe looking for step risers and the rest really is history. My shock to find true gym style lifting and hard workouts on dvd was a literal light bulb moment for me.

ETA: In all honesty though, I needed my trainer to get a good solid base of results and knowledge, and in working with him, I had the knowledge and understanding by then to recognize how effective the DVDs I 'stumbled on' really could be. I'm not sure if I found DVDs first if it would have been the same outcome I have today.

[bubbles76]

I think some people think videos don't work because the mainstream stuff you see at Target or Walmart (Firm, etc.) don't show people lifting really heavy weights. I know that's why Big Bubble thinks workout videos won't work for him. Even though Cathe and crew lift heavy weights for ME, they are relatively light for him. I explain that he could go heavier, but then he says if he can do that, why use a video? He does appreciate what they've done for me though. Also, he is a STRONG believer that it's what you eat. On top of that, his motivation to workout at home is lower than going outside to run or heading over to the gym. He says that time is to help him wake up.

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Originally Posted by topfitmama

I couldn't agree more!
On days when I just can't find the motivation, I come here and read for 10 or 15 minutes (any longer and my time is gone!), and leave with inspiration for a workout.

I just have to find a good dieting or healthy eating forum to help me out with the diet component.

Me too, on both counts!

And Bubbles, it really cracks me up when you refer to your family as 'Big Bubble' and 'Tiny Bubble.'

[Joni O]

I have an online friend in California who was shocked - after a couple of years - to learn that I work out at home. She thought DVDs were made for people who couldn't get to a gym because they were handicapped or housebound in some way. She's a gym rat and I guess she was just never exposed to DVDs. I sent her a link to Collage and she was overwhelmed.

[Laura S.]

Videos only "work" when (1) someone can exercise on their own (a lot of people won't exercise unless it is with someone else - they genuinely don't understand the concept of exercising alone) and (2) someone does the work and research to decide what will work for them (a lot of people who want to exercise know nothing about it and don't understand the concept of doing research on their own - they think someone has to tell them what to do).

Over the recent past, I've heard people mention that they do P90X or Insanity and I've struck up a conversation about exercise. In just about every case, they have had absolutely NO idea that there is anything to the video market beyond the Beachbody set they bought. They have acted a little embarrassed as they have said they have done that set, but they still go to the gym!

I have a friend who is just now expressing frustration because she hasn't been walking this summer like she planned. It has been too hot. Months ago, I sent her a couple of links to Jessica Smith YouTube workouts. Has she used them? Noooooooooo. People just don't recognize options beyond what they know.

[hdw]

My gain, their loss...