Beth,
I am besotted with Sean O Malley's Cardio Coach workouts. (So I will sound very CC biased.) They can be done on any exercise machine. So a CC workout can be done today on a cycle and tomorrow on a elliptical and the day after, alternating challenges can be done on each manhine.
iTrain has workouts specifically for the elliptical in its iClimb series and for the cycle in iCycle series. You cannot go wrong with any that are coached by Keith.
Both CC or iTrain seem like they should work for someone with ADD because you are constantly changing the speed and resistance at which you are working. Keeping up with the intensity bursts does not let me think of anything else when I am doing them, and the respites for recovery are never too long.
Music is a very subjective thing. Sean's music is instrumental. It is specifically composed for each workout so the experience is exhilarating. For instance everytime there is a interval where you need to exert harder, there is a dramatic upswing in tempo and the tune too gives you a "Send off". When you finish an intensity interval, the music relaxes along with you into a less intense tempo/mood. The music literally works lo/hard/wow-unbelievaby-hard with you. You cannot help pushing to your best. In itrain or icycle the music is house pop/rock/hip-hop. The songs are catchy. Luckily not too much hip-hop (which I do not like). There are songs with vocals and without, and most lyrics are cute. I find myself singing along to itrain songs when I workout these days. The challenge in Keith's workoust is to keep to the beat of the music at a resistance scale that he gives you.
Sean currently has two sales in progress - you get a third workout free if you buy two. On the CDs he has a great deal of a bundle of several for 40 bucks. Individual iTrain workouts are very affordable.
If I were buying for someone else who has never used them I'd limit the number I am getting to see is the person really likes them. There are two things that happen when you start with yur first CC or itrain. You compulsively collect a huge library. Or you hardly ever use the first one you get. There seems to be no moderation with them!
My recommendation would be CC4 or either of the CC2s. Generally speaking the lower volumes of Cardio Coach are meant for beginners and the workouts get higher with volume numbers. CC4 has unbelievabe music (strong sitar moments which send me into ecstasy). To work up on fitness, your husband could just do the first challenge and then forward to the cool down track (the workouts is split into tracks so this is easy to do) and as his fitness improves, aim for the whole things. The CC2s can be done in full to give a great workout to someone starting out. Both have superb music. The original CC has a horse neighing moment that is brilliant. People seem to find the revised Vol 2 better organized. I like them both equally. The CC2s are short enough in length as to not be gruelling. The intensity of challenges gets tougher in Vol 5 and up, so I think they should be done after fitness picks up a bit.
If you go with iTrain, I'd pick based on which machine he prefers. The 20/30/40 min are all achievable by someone starting out, because you customize your resistance setting.
Let us know how it goes.
~* Vrinda *~
