The simplest no-brainer exercise that you can do is walking. If you live where it is not always possible to go outside to walk, then consider a DVD workout. The first time I saw Sansone’s DVDs, I was confused. I thought she had audio tapes or CDs, something you would listen to as you walked. But these are DVDs, and the ‘walk’ comes in the number of step movements you make in the non-stop workout.
Leslie Sansone’s Active Adult 1 & 2 Mile DVD is a good one to supplement your outside walks when you cannot go outside. There are two programs. The first is the 1-mile ‘walk,’ and the second the 2-mile walk, which incorporates light hand weights (1 to 3 pounds). At the end of both workouts is a very good 12-minute abs workout. While these workouts are billed as upper body and abs, obviously your legs are used. The abs workout could be a standalone, and is short enough to do every day.
PROS:
- The workout keeps you moving the entire time. But if you get thirsty, have your water bottle close by.
- Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the father of aerobics, gives a short motivational talk on the importance of exercise for seniors.
- The exercisers in the background are wearing regular clothes and are typical people.
- Verbal cues are given if the movement is too difficult for you. All movements are easily explained and shown.
- The background music was not overpowering. You could easily hear Leslie speak.
CONS:
- Leslie Sansone talks nonstop. There is no more than a half second of silence in anything being said. The constant chattering can be quite annoying. But she is motivating.
- The counter does not start over for each segment (the mile start points). So you never know how fast your mile is. Further, it was virtually impossible to figure out what kind of time you did your mile in, since she goes into the cool down pretty quickly, but says as you start the cool down that you just walked two miles. The counter also does not reset after Dr. Cooper has finished talking. The fact you could not reset the timer and had no idea how long segments were was most annoying.
OVERALL: This is a nice workout for beginners, and is specifically designed for active adults. It is simple to do and follow, and a great no-brainer exercise when you are not up for a challenge.
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