I mentioned in my last post that I think exercise should be cheap, easy, and fun. One way to enhance your workout is with free podcasts from iTunes. There are several different categories of podcasts that you can use to add some excitement to your workout. To find these podcasts and many more just search "fitness podcasts" on iTunes.
Instructional Podcasts and Video podcasts
There are dozens of individuals and companies that produce instructional workout materials for iTunes. These podcasts and videos can be anywhere from two minutes to two hours long. You can find every type of workout imaginable from yoga to body building. I checked out three types.
Yoga to the People
This podcast is a sixty minute weekly podcast. It is a typical yoga workout best suited for intermediate students. The host Greg is hilariously funny. He is not intentionally comical, but he reminds me of the hippy teacher on Beavis and Butthead, the one that is always singing about seagulls.
The beginning of the workout was pretty basic and followed what I have seen in yoga classes before. However, the second half of the workout completely confused me, and I became very tangled in my own limbs. Oh, and for goodness-sakes play the podcast on your computer or stereo. DO NOT ATTEMPT to wear an ipod and do yoga. You will strangle yourself. I am speaking from experience people.
Interactive Fitness Studio
This podcast is a short three minute instructional video. The videos feature one or two exercises at a time. A narrator explains the exercise while instructor models the exercise. I checked out one of their pilates videos. The exercise was a simple roll-up for strengthening core muscles. It was easy to follow the visuals, but I think the narrator was German and very hard to understand. For some reason, the pilates with a German accent really cracked me up. I suppose because all of the pilates videos I have seen before are narrated by tiny blonde women who speak in "soothing" tones.
YogAmazing
The last instructional podcast I checked out was a video from YogAmazing. I think this video was the best one I downloaded. This twenty minute video podcast is best suited for experienced beginners. The poses are basic, but they are not explained. If you have a couple of yoga classes under your belt you should be fine. The host simply walks the viewer through a series of connected poses or a flow. I am planning on subscribing to this weekly podcast.
Fitness News and Information Podcasts
On iTunes there are also a wealth of podcast devoted to fitness information and news. There are also many on diet and exercise.
Fitness Rocks
This podcast is hosted by Monte Lardner M.D and is devoted to the subject of good health and weight management. The information is helpful, well researched, and boring. I'm an NPR junkie people. I can listen to some pretty dull stuff and still be enraptured, but this podcast put me to sleep. I listen to episode two on maintaining health life style. I'll save you the trouble of looking this one up. There are four characteristics to good health: not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, eating five servings of fruits and veggies a day, and exercising everyday. The study that was discussed on the podcast stated that these four things when done together prevent disease and extend life, and almost no one follows all four. This podcast was not my favorite, but you cannot argue that the information is useful.
Fitness Music
There was a wide variety of fitness music mixes available for download. Many of the mixes were geared toward a type of exercise.
FitMusic
This podcast is an hour long music mix that made me want to stab toothpicks into my eye balls. The techno beats are from DJ Fitmixer. I would rather eat a broken glass and tuna fish sandwich then listen to techno. Hey maybe you like to take a hit of E before hitting the treadmill, if so, then this podcast is for you.
Entertainment
The following podcast has nothing to do with fitness, yet I credit all of my lost baby weight to it. I think the best workout is the one you look forward to, and this podcast was one that made me want to exercise. When my baby was small, I was afraid to leave my neighborhood with him. I was limited to strolling around my tiny neighborhood over and over. However, these podcast were so entertaining I walked off forty pounds of postpartum weight.
This American Life with Ira Glass
A staple of NPR nerds everywhere, this hour long podcast features authors and journalists from every walk of life. These are the people who discovered David Sedaris. Need I say more?
This list is a microscopic look at the podcast available to get you moving. Remember weight loss should not be your motivation for exercise; fun should be your motivation. Just a reminder: ear buds and downward dog do not mix. Please do not wear an ipod while practicing yoga strangulation can occur. Wouldn't that be an embarrassing death?
Melissa is an English teacher and mother of one. She keeps of a blog of her daily mistakes at Fat Gold Watch as well as writing for Blissfully Domestic.
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