CNN.com - DVDs offer fitness variety

By Kat Carney
CNN Headline News

	"Quick Fix: Total Mix" allows users to build their own custom workouts from nine separate upper, lower, and abdominal sections.
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(CNN) -- Fitness experts recommend modifying one's workout every three to four weeks to keep the body from "adapting" to any one routine. The practice can also help with the dreaded weight loss plateau.

Thanks to the increasing number of exercise titles on DVD, home fitness enthusiasts can enjoy hundreds of combinations of workouts from one single purchase.

Just in case you're one of those people who still can't program the time on your DVD player, most of these new DVDs have made it easy for you. From a main on-screen menu, just click on the sections you want to do, press enter, and voila -- you're ready to sweat.

"Quick Fix: Total Mix" allows users to build their own custom workouts from nine separate upper, lower, and abdominal sections. Programs can range from a quick 10 minutes to a full 30 minutes. Research shows that several 10-minute bouts of exercise during the day can all count toward a daily fitness goal of 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

If yoga and Pilates are more your speed, "The Works with Sharon Mann: Yoga/Pilates" might be just what the guru ordered. "The Works" allows users to customize a variety of flexibility, yoga, and Pilates-style exercise sessions that all clock in at 25 minutes. With more than 1,000 different combinations, there's little chance of becoming bored by any one routine.

If you're still not sold on DVD over VHS when it comes to exercise videos, check out instructor Cathe Friedrich. While the VHS version of her workouts only contains one program, her DVDs contain two full titles, along with several "premixes" made up from various sections of both workouts -- ranging from 20 minutes to more than 100 minutes (for days when you're feeling "really" fit).

Whatever your choice, fitness DVDs offer variety and flexibility to fit any budget or lifestyle.