With so many of us canceling gym memberships and turning to home-based fitness regimes, exercise DVDs seem to be the way forward for a cost effective, high energy workout.  But with a whole myriad to choose from in the market, which one do you go for?

The selection seems infinite with a wide variety of DVDs targeting different areas of the body like glutes, abs and legs, or arms, shoulders and abs right through to all over cardio workouts like dance based routines or even pole dancing!  There are also mat based body conditioning workouts such as pilates and yoga.

But, why limit yourself?  We all have low energy days and a more relaxing stretch workout may be more suitable than a high energy one, so purchase a selection.

It is definitely worth spending time reading user reviews to make sure you choose the right workout DVD for you.  However, here are some criteria to get you started.

Start by taking into account your preferences for exercising.  Do you want to use equipment like weights or a step (for step aerobics) for example?  How do you feel about music? Whether it is high octane or relaxing, have a think about whether music suits you.

Also think about the stage you are starting at.  For example, your age is also a key factor in deciding which DVD to buy.  Or perhaps you used to exercise but have stopped due to injury.   Are you very overweight, or just need a bit of toning up in some focused areas?

The best exercise DVDs to get you on the road to fitness whatever your level, are those with a gradual progression-style structure so you are not struggling to keep up from the start.  The DVD should also have an ability specific structure to the exercise in order to cover all fitness levels, meaning a beginner can be moved through a gradual increase in intensity over time but a seasoned exerciser gets a challenge too.

Another key tip is to research the teacher.  Once you have found your favored fitness DVD it is a good idea to check out the professionalism, background and competence of the instructor.  Run a search on Google and see what comes up. Read a review about their DVD as well as comments from users too – the most unbiased information.

Also, when purchasing the exercise DVDs ensure they come with at least a 6 month guarantee.  In general, it usually takes the majority of users about 7 to 9 weeks to really get into the program, meaning a 30 day guarantee is not satisfactory.  You want to make sure you are seeing and feeling the changes the DVD claims to be offering.  If you purchased a legs, glutes and abs program, are you seeing the changes?  It’s unlikely you will notice a real difference in 30 days.

If you have been sedentary for a while for whatever reason, it is worth taking your DVDs to your doctor just as a precaution to make sure the exercises are appropriate for you.

So this gives you a few tips to get started.  Rest assured that you will find the right one for you.  The market for home fitness DVDs is absolutely huge with almost every celebrity jumping on the bandwagon!  So whether it’s Pilates, yoga or high energy aerobics and dance, you will almost definitely find the exercise DVDs to suit you.

Retaining your muscle mass while on a weight loss program is one of the most important aspects that you need to concentrate on as this will help you to keep your fat percentage down long-term.

On the ultra low calorie diets the body begins to cannibalize its own muscle tissue as its defense mechanisms come into play.

An example of this is shown with some of these apparently slim fashion models who have quite high levels of body fat in proportion to their overall size.

The reason for this is the fact that they haven’t done any form of exercise or resistance training to maintain any reasonable level of muscle mass and this is only made worse by the fact that they are often eating a very low quality diet and nutrition is lacking.

It is not uncommon to see skinny models with cellulite and that is a sure sign that they are retaining fat in a higher percentage than they should be.

They would find that if they added a little bit of resistance training or even some form of decent exercise to their daily routine they would be able to still retain a slim figure but the body fat percentage would be considerably lower and they would look a lot more toned and healthy.

And healthy is what you should be aiming for when you go on a weight-loss program and not simply losing weight as actually improving your overall health and well-being will help you to live a better lifestyle for a lot longer.

Increasing your muscle mass also improves your metabolic rate whereas body fat has a very low level of metabolic activity. Nutritionists regard muscle as the furnace that burns in the body and this is what you should be aiming for.

If more weight loss programs focused on retaining muscle mass people would be unlikely to put the weight back on rapidly once they finished the program.

For many people who are overweight starting an exercise program can be quite difficult.

What you need to understand is that you don’t have to immediately start going out for long-distance runs. In fact to do so if you are quite overweight could be detrimental to your health.

In the beginning of an exercise program it is better to start by going for walks and don’t be too concerned if initially they are short walks and slow ones at that.

You can’t expect to run before you walk and you will find that once you start taking the steps towards your goal it will become easier and easier.

Even if you don’t like exercise you need to be aware of the fact that exercise is one of the fastest ways for you to reduce weight and improve your health and speed up your metabolism to help reach your goals.

The more exercise you do, the more energetic you will become and this in turn makes it a lot easier for you to achieve your daily activities.

Exercise also helps to flush out toxins in the body and improve your digestive system with increased blood flow throughout the body so even small levels of exercise are going to benefit to some degree.

Any exercise that involves the use of resistance such as weightlifting will boost your ability to lose weight considerably as muscle burns fat and any muscle that you can build will help to lower your fat levels.

These resistance training type exercises also help to increase the strength of your bones that is very important as you age.

If possible, it is good to have some physical activity each day and at least you should assign time to do a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise three times per week.

If you find that you can’t do that initially don’t be too concerned as you will build up to it before too long and most people end up enjoying it and make it part of their regular lifestyle.

By getting into a regular pattern it makes the task of losing weight considerably easier.

If you know that you are going to exercise at the same time every day then your body will soon become adjusted to the fact that it will be exercising and this not only makes the exercise easier but it also ensures that you will stick to the plan and reach your goals a lot sooner than you would if you weren’t consistent in your actions.

By keeping a record of your fitness training, you will be able to improve your performance in small steps that will result in big gains over the course of your program.

A regular checkup with your doctor is always recommended to ensure that all aspects of your health are improving and any concerns that you might have can be answered before they have the chance to escalate.

You might occasionally have a break from your weight loss program and this is not unexpected. It can actually do you a lot of good to have the occasional break from routine, provided of course that you get back to the program in a reasonable time and don’t slip back to your old habits.

By adding variety to your food and your exercise it will ensure that you don’t get bored as this is one of the main reasons that many people struggle to maintain their plan and achieve their goals.

If possible get others to join in with you when you are training as this can help to relieve any boredom and also inspire you to do more training and improve your performance.

Always try to associate with positive people and those who will help you to reach your goals and don’t accept any negative energy from others as this will only hinder your chances of success.