Dear Cathe,

[SirenSongWoman]

I was seriously overweight when I began working out to The FIRM dvds back in August of 2006 and never really got the results I wanted. Fortunately, I learned about you before I got fed up and quit and am finally on the road to the results I'm really after. In the beginning I was so uncoordinated even The FIRM was hard to grasp but I finally got it. Month's went by and I could feel the muscles through inches of blubber. But no matter what, the blubber was not going away. All the aerobics and "heavy" four limb (with 3 lb. dumbbells... are you kidding?) was getting me nowhere but, for seven solid (and, as it turned out, largely WASTED) months I kept at it. So now, I keep reading about new research which seems to indicate that the thing overweight people need more than anything is MUSCLE because the more muscle you have the greater fat burning machine you become. I read in an interview where you said your focus is on the advanced exerciser because there's already a glut of dvd workouts geared towards beginners. But, Cathe, no beginner dvd workout features the type of serious weight training overweight people need to get off on the right foot and really burn that fat quickly (and safely). Until the fat comes off aerobics is, for many of the overweight, nearly impossible. However, once the weight is off, aerobics is so mch more do-able (I speak from experience) and these same people can handle even more intense and faster paced weight routines.

In my case, much of the weight has finally come off because of a few simple changes and because I now try to keep up wth YOU as best I can. But while I was really fat I (like many others) focused mainly on doing tons of aerobics, dragging my fat all over the place, huffin', puffin', and suffrin' to reap not a whole heck of a lot of reward. But, while I'm at a point in my life where nothing's going to stop ME, I'm worried about the legions of women glued to their sofas, eating bonbons in front of the tv all night. With the proper motivation and armed with some really excellent SERIOUS beginner weight training dvds (which, at present, do NOT exist) featuring an instructor who cares and understands but who takes no crap, their lives can be radically transformed. Sounds like a rewarding job for the right person. Hmm. I wonder who...

 

[bmngordon]

I agree that the beginner workouts, namely Total Body Sculpting, Body Fusion and High Step Circuit don't offer serious weight training, but they have their place for a true beginner. It's hard to heavy up in these workouts because the reps move fast. You might want to try Super Sets and Push Pull. These two workouts are very comprehensive and you can go heavier than you would with Total Body Sculpting. They are also great primers for form/exercise terminology. As far as the really advanced weight training DVDs such as Muscle Max, the Gym Styles and Pure Strength Series, you can take advantage of the time saver premixes and use a weight that is suitable for you until you build up your strength and endurance. HTH