CARA PESEK / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, July 1, 2007 7:00 pm
It's been more than two decades since leotard-wearing home fitness pioneers like Jane Fonda first recorded home workout tapes, guiding legions of followers through leg lifts and stretches.
The tights and leg-warmers of Fonda's time have, for now at least, fallen from fashion.
The home workout, on the other hand, has not.Â
Women have sweated to the oldies and strived to turn their buns into steel and sculpt their abs in just minutes a day.
And the options keep on getting more numerous.
Recently released DVDs lead viewers through exercise routines that include yoga, Pilates, walking, classic abdominal crunches, salsa dancing and belly dancing, among others.
They offer workout tips specifically designed for brides-to-be and couples who want to get into shape together.
There's a good reason for all the variety, said fitness guru Minna Lessig.
The body gets used to routines quickly, she said. It needs variety.
Lessig is the host of several fitness DVDs, including one featuring one-minute workouts and another specifically designed for women who have an event coming up that requires them to get fit in a hurry.Â
Her most recent, "Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom," includes exercises borrowed from ballet, gymnastics and Pilates, among other sources.
Lessig makes up some of the moves herself.
"It's an all-new thing to learn, and that means you're recruiting different body parts," said Lessig, a former Miss Fitness USA.
Some of the moves are unconventional, among them the "shoulder shimmy," which she realized would be a good addition to a workout DVD after a night of dancing.
The âshoulder shimmyâ is exactly what it sounds like. Yes, itâs kind of silly, Lessig said, but home exercise doesnât need to be a serious thing.Â
"I like to encourage clients and people who do my DVDs to have fun with your workouts, to find your goofy side," she said.
That's actually a really nice thing about working out at home, said local personal trainer April Kassebaum. If you like doing silly dance moves, no one will judge. If you want to work out in your underwear and a terry cloth sweatband, you can.
But you can't be lacking in self-motivation.
"The person who works at home works out best at home, because they have the discipline," she said.
For Bethanie Paulus, who works at the Lincoln YMCA, home DVDs are a nice alternative to going to the gym on days she's pressed for time.
She has a favorite — a yoga DVD that has good music and poses that can be easily modified to suit the amount of energy she has.
Paulus also likes the host, Rainbeau Mars.
"I like her because she's not cheesy," she said.
Lessig, who has two kids, said she designed DVDs with time-starved moms in mind. For her, even half an hour for a workout is a luxury.
That's why her most recent DVD targets the body parts that women are likely to show off during the summer.
Arms in particular.
"If you see a woman with nice, shapely arms, you think, 'Oh she's in shape,'" Lessig said. "That's why I was thinking of targeting the arms as I did."
She thought about benefits to posture and overall fitness, too, she said.
But she understands that vanity is a motivator.
"We love to look great in tank tops and that kind of thing," she said.
Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@journalstar.com.