1. 102
Hemavathy DM Suppiah buys dance and fitness videos to help her
meet her New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get a healthy body.
Video
Workouts
beauty+ FITNESS

2. 103
A
new year brings with it the op-
portunity for a fresh start. For me,
it is a chance to makeover the less
healthy aspects of my lifestyle and for the
first time, to actually try to stick to my res-
olutions.
Many years ago when I was still in
high school I made an ambitious list of
New Year’s resolutions. My teenage list
ranged from the altruistic (saving the en-
vironment, winning the Nobel Peace
Prize) to the dreamy (becoming Miss Uni-
verse, getting that cute guy in Maths tu-
ition to ask me out) to the mundane –
which included losing weight, becoming
more confident, studying harder, and
helping out more at home.
Now, as an expert on broken New
Year’s resolutions, I know how easy it is
to make them and how hard it is to keep
them. My record is three weeks, and that
was when I was 20. But this year, I tell
myself, it will be different. This year I
made fewer resolutions, and what’s more
I’ll be so disciplined I’ll keep every one of
them for a whole year!
Once again at the top of my list of res-
olutions is losing weight. But this year, in-
stead of just losing weight, I want to focus
on having a fit and healthy body. I’ll be
frank with you. I hate exercising (though
if shopping counted as exercise, I’d be a
gold medalist). I went through a phase of
setting my alarm for 5am workouts. I
lasted two days. I don’t like gyms. I never
have the time to go and when I do have
the time, I want to do something fun. See-
ing waxed and toned individuals working
out like there’s no tomorrow makes me
want to force feed them fried chicken and
ice cream.
So, I’m left with working out at home
with fitness DVDs. Having worked out to
belly dancing DVDs in the past I am very
comfortable with this option. It gives me
flexibility and convenience. I can put a
video on anytime I want) in the privacy of
my own home. And so, armed with a list
of virtuous resolutions, I took a look at the
latest fitness DVDs in the market.
10 MINUTE SOLUTION FROM
FIT MAGAZINE
The title sounded promising, and perfect
for someone as lazy as I am. The video
starts out well enough, as an impossibly
fit and perky blonde promises me that this
fitness system will change the way I think
about exercise. And since the number one
excuse for people not exercising is appar-
ently lack of time, this is recommended as
the perfect solution. All I need is just 10
minutes a day.
There are five different workouts pro-
vided, one for each day of the week so I
can choose to do it in order or mix it up
depending on my mood.
• Bootcamp
Three minutes in and I’m panting; five
minutes in and I’m flopping around like a
beached whale. This is the toughest work-
out I’ve done in a long time, as I attempt
to follow her speed and movements. At
the end of the 10 minutes, I feel absolutely
exhausted, and yet strangely invigorated.
Although I wish I could crawl back into
bed rather than go to work. Maybe I
should do it after work.
• Pilates
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale is the mantra
I recite here. How on earth does she hold
her legs up in that position for so long?
Mine already feel like jelly. But if Jen Anis-
ton can get abs like hers from pilates, so
can I. Boy this is hard.
• Ballet
The creators of this DVD have added this
little bit in because, apparently, everyone
loves the look of dancers’ legs. Heels for-
ward, abdominals tight, arms up and I
quickly get my feet in a tangle as I strug-
gle to keep up with the ballet terms, plié,
demi-plié, grand plié, port de bras, de-
gage, tendu. It’s hard keeping in sync
with the instructor but I really like the in-
tensive full body stretch.
• Kickboxing
This is all about movement, movement,
movement. Jab! Cross! Hook! Ouch! Al-
most poked my eye out there. My body
protests loudly as at this point. I’ve lost
track and am frantically trying to catch up
with this very fast moving routine. Very
challenging and not really a fun workout.
Perfect for very serious fitness.
• Yoga
I really liked this routine. It was very easy
to follow and I felt incredibly relaxed af-
terwards. This will definitely be some-
thing I’ll be incorporating into my
workout routine.
PUSSYCAT DOLLS DANCER’S
BODY WORKOUT
Don’t cha wish you could be like a Pussy-
cat Doll? I have a confession to make. Ever
since I saw Nicole and the girls on the
Don’t Cha video I have wanted to be a
Pussycat Doll. I wanted to move like
them, look like them, feel like them, I
wanted to be them. Robin Antin (the
founder of the Pussycat Dolls) and the real
Pussycat Dolls (minus Nicole) start me off
with a quick workout before moving on to
a breakdown of the dance moves. It is like
being in an actual dance class but it is very
difficult to follow as there is no explana-
tion for the steps and I found myself hav-
ing to pause and rewind the DVD at times
to really understand the moves. The per-
formance segments for Wait A Minute,
When I Grow Up as well as a burlesque
style chair dance were accompanied by
costume changes by the Dolls. I liked that
I could choose the workout I wanted and
just dance to that. High heeled boots,
corset top and bowler hat optional.
DANCE WITH THE CHAKRAS
YOGA WORKOUT
The DVD starts with a quick meditation
and 30-minute whole body chakra work-
out before seguing into the dance routines.

3. Some of the positions are really hard, like
the full shoulder stand, but hosts Ana and
Ravi advise me to only go as far as my
body can without feeling pain. Ravi’s
voice over and the music makes me feel
like I’m doing a mini meditation at the
same time. The dance segment is really
fun, really making use of the body in a
very sensual, earthy way. It’s very easy to
follow. The routine changed very quickly
so I didn’t feel bored and just focused on
enjoying myself. There are quite a number
of moves I’ll be using the next time I hit
the clubs!
STRICTLY COME DANCING
DANCE SCHOOL
I’ve always had secret fantasies of gliding
across a ballroom floor in a ball gown
104
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gazed at admiringly by an audience of the
best-dressed people around. So this seems
like the perfect DVD to kick start my danc-
ing alter ego. The instructors are all pro-
dancers from the hit BBC show and what’s
really nice is that you don’t need to be a
pro to follow the routines. The DVD starts
with a very quick but intense stretch be-
fore going on to dance classes for the salsa,
rhumba and cha cha cha. Sadly, no waltz.
And so once I’ve practiced, practiced,
practiced I should be able to dance along
with the three dance floor sets which are
also included. This is a full body workout
and my feet were crying for mercy by the
end of the first class but strangely, the ex-
haustion and pain seemed worth it. As a
bonus, the DVD also includes wardrobe
and makeup tips from the Strictly costume
designers and makeup artists. I guess I’ll
have to invest in a pair of dancing shoes
now.
THE GODDESS WORKOUT 4 IN 1
WITH DOLPHINA (BELLY-
DANCE)
A Google search on Dolphina elicited in-
formation that she is a mademoiselle with
a mission to make a difference in our
world one Goddess at a time. She aims to
teach me to be confident, to love my body,
to inspire men to treat me as an irresistible
creature worthy of great love and adora-
tion and to make every day feel like a va-
cation. With a recommendation like that I
became very curious indeed. Dolphina
tells me that The Goddess Workout will
engage my mind, body and spirit and will
put me in touch with my hidden feminine
being. This is a really comprehensive set as
each DVD is dedicated to an individual
belly dance workout – introduction and
conventional belly dance moves, dance
with veils, dance with finger cymbals, and
warrior goddess inclusive of warm ups,
and step-by-step techniques before moving
on to a complete routine and ending with a
cool down.
The first DVD in the set introduces us
to belly dance and the basic moves and
steps. This was quite easy to follow and in-
stead of the conventional fitness video
voiceovers, Dolphina chooses to speak to
us like we’re all friends, just hanging out.
Yep, just another day hanging out belly
dancing with my incredibly fit new BFF.
However, the camera work could have
been more effective. Too much time was
spent focusing on her face rather than her
movements. Having no cymbals for the
next workout I just did the movements
with my fingers. This workout is meant to
enhance coordination, concentration and
focus. It probably would have been more
fun with the cymbals but I did feel fo-
cused.
I was advised to use the veil as an ex-
tension of my arms, as if I am a Winged
Goddess. Dolphina does it gracefully. As I
copy her I almost feel like I’m performing
in the court of an Arab sheikh: I shimmy,
undulate and reveal using the veil to se-
duce. The warrior goddess is meant to cul-
tivate physical and spiritual strength and
was a challenging workout. My only com-
plaint is that too little time was spent ex-
plaining the moves and it was hard to
catch up. I found myself going over and
over the moves again. I didn’t really feel
like a Warrior Goddess. Just a very tired
Goddess. Each workout is shot in a differ-
ent location and Dolphina changes into
amazing costumes after every segment.
So there you have it folks, a sampling of
some of the latest fitness DVDs. Let’s make
2013 the year we finally lose those pounds
and create our most authentic, healthy fit
selves!