The Video Star: Alexis Martinez
31, stay-at-home mom
This multitasking mom of two got hooked on workout DVDs
because she thought her “only chance to exercise” was when
her 3½-year-old was at preschool and her toddler was napping.
The Gym Junkie: Nichole D’Auria
31, FITNESS associate art director
Nichole exercises five or six days a week at the gym, where she
usually bikes or runs, then lifts weights. “I love it, although I seem
to end up doing the same routine every time,” she says.
Alexis hit pause on her DVD habit to rise and shine
three mornings a week for Spinning classes at New York Sports
Club in Westwood, New Jersey, while her husband was home
watching the kids. Plus, she met trainer Alberto Cruz there two
evenings a week for an hour-long cardio and strength session.
“Besides working on machines, we did things like plyometrics
and planks that Alexis could replicate at home,” Cruz says.
“Being at the gym has been a huge motivator. When
you’re around other people exercising, you inevitably work
harder,” Alexis says. She lost two inches from her waist and an
inch and a half from her thighs to finally fit back into her pre-pregnancy clothes: “My abs are in better shape than they were
before I had my kids!” Alexis has learned to keep her exercise
options open. “My husband has a busy travel schedule coming
up, which means I won’t be able to get to the gym as often as
With advice from trainer Andrew McCreary at
Equinox Fitness Clubs in New York City, Nichole expanded her
exercise repertoire by doing two different cardio or sculpting
DVDs a week at home. “Nichole was working the same muscles
every time she exercised, especially her quads, so I had her
do DVDs that would strengthen her upper back, core, glutes
and hamstrings,” McCreary says. Meanwhile, back at the gym,
Nichole focused on those muscles during hour-long cardio-strength sessions two or three times each week.
I would like,” she says. “It’s nice to know that I can always put on
a DVD and get a workout in.”
“Given the choice, I’d rather hit the gym,” Nichole
says. But despite feeling silly doing class-style workouts by
herself at home, she did find a DVD workout that got results:
Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones. “I was working up a
sweat, and I loved that I could do it in my pj’s,” Nichole says. She
dropped two inches from her waist and one and a half inches
from her thighs, thanks to expanding her range of go-to exercises.
“I found myself trying my video moves at the gym,” she says.
The Slimming Combination Three or four days of cardio plus two days of strength training. “Whether you’re
at the gym or at home, you can get results by using your body weight as resistance,” says Geralyn Coopersmith, senior
national manager of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute in New York City. Try one-legged squats, lunges and push-ups.
