The Online Edition of the Annandale High School Newspaper.

The A-Blast

The Online Edition of the Annandale High School Newspaper.

The A-Blast

The Online Edition of the Annandale High School Newspaper.

The A-Blast

Burn fat on your own

Dressed in yoga pants, a loose T-shirt, and Nike tennis shoes, senior Banna Gebremichael is ready to begin her daily workout. She does not drive to the gym or attempt to go running in the brisk air, she merely turns on her television, searches through the many options on her Verizon Fios OnDemand, and finds her favorite abdominal workout video.

As the weather gets more frigid and the sky more gloomy, the motivation to go outside to work out quickly diminishes and people tend to bundle up and hide inside, forgetting about getting any physical activity. Even driving to the gym becomes a hassle, as cars are slower to start and take forever to heat up. Instead of completely giving up on working out, try checking your television for some free on demand videos or pick a few up from Blockbuster, Target, or even Wal-mart.

“I like work out videos because someone is telling me how to do the workout so that I’m not clueless and that someone is directing in how to properly tone my body.” During a normal work-out video, instructors such as Jillian Michaels, slowly teaches the different work out stances, including lunges. “I also enjoy the selection of music that comes along with it and that there are different paces so if I don’t know how to do something I can go along with the slower person. If I want to work out harder I’ll look at the person who is going faster,” said senior Banna Gebremichael.

Deciding which workout video is right for you depends on what parts of your body you are trying to target and what you want your outcome to be. If you are looking to lose weight and burn fat try a cardio video that involves kickboxing or dancing. If you are looking to tone your abdominals, try the “Six Pack Now” workout DVD. If you are looking to tone your arms and legs, try “Eight Minute Workouts: Arms, Abs, Buns, Legs.” No matter what type of workout you are searching for, there is a video to suit your needs.

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If you tend to cringe when someone says “exercise,” try looking into dance videos. They are a much more enjoyable way to get a workout without realizing you are doing so. Try Dancing With the Stars winner, Julianne Hough’s, new dance video called “Dance With Julianne: Just Dance!” She uses upbeat music and encouraging words to keep you moving along. It is a workout in disguise and targets your abdominals, legs, and arms.

“Dance videos are much more fun to follow along with rather than a regular workout video because working out to a dance video not only gets you in shape but it helps you move on the dance floor,” said sophomore Connie Tran.

Other popular work-out videos include yoga, pilates, mediation, kick-boxing, and even work-out bootcamp. During a usual pilates and yoga work-out they focus on the different yoga stances that helps you gain strength, balance, flexibility, and concentration.

“I love the variety that exercise TV provides, if I get bored of one thing, I move onto the next work-out,” said senior Elisa Figueroa.

Work-out videos are also becoming very popular in the Hollywood world. A lot of famous celebrities are also making videos and showing how they got skinny. Kendra Wilkinson, from the E! television show Kendra, made a work out video “Be a Knockout with Kendra” which focuses on six fun and easy workouts that incorporate football, soccer, kick-boxing, running, and basketball.

Not only are workout videos becoming popular, but so are workout video games such as Wii’s “Just Dance” game and their Wii Fit workout game. “Just Dance” offers a great cardio workout while dancing. The Wii Fit game offers yoga, balancing games, and strengthening techniques.

“I think Wii Just Dance gives you a good workout and I think it’s because it’s so fun so it makes you want to move more as well as all the music.” said junior Amiel Terry. Other video games are now focusing on work-out systems to help kids and teenagers exersise while playing video game. “It’s more fun than just working out because of all the music and with the Wii you have more chances to get friends involved and have competitions and games among other things.”

If the weather or the sheer monotony of exercise is preventing you from working out, try these simple and more entertaining ways to get in the fitness you need.

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  • M

    Mackda DinberuFeb 2, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    I use the Wii dance all the time! It’s such a fun way to workout!

    Reply
  • L

    Luetta DryerJan 25, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    Hello, I suppose your blog page is highly helpful. I found it by way of Yahoo. Will unquestionably arrive back again soon – Of all the items I’ve lost, I miss my thoughts the mo

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Burn fat on your own