Get Fit with Gilad

I don't particularly enjoy exercising. I like the way I feel afterwards and the results I get in regards to my health and appearance but the actual doing ain't so fun for me. Unless, that is, it's with Gilad.

Gilad is a fitness instructor who is originally from Israel and lives in Hawaii. He has shows that air on FitTV and a line of fitness videos. His shows date back to the '80s and he is still filming new ones. They air them all on FitTV. So at 10am on Gilad's Bodies In Motion, he and his workout crew have some hilarious workout outfits complete with legwarmers and headbands and techno music in the background. At 10:30 on Total Body Sculpt with Gilad, it's a recent episode featuring clothing and music that's more in style.

However, one thing that doesn't seem to change is Gilad himself. He still has a great tan and muscular body and an accent just as thick as his head of black curly hair. Over the decades, he's living proof that his workout plan truly works. If that's not enough to convince you there are lots of commercials for his videos (that air during his shows) with actual "success stories" of people who have lost several pounds. They show before and after pictures and claim that his latest releases (based on his Total Body Sculpt) are being touted as the best fitness videos ever made.

Also, all the episodes have a beautiful Hawaiian background. On Bodies In Motion, he is on the beach with tourists and beautiful blue water behind him or in a rainforest with tropical birds. On Total Body Sculpt, he is often on the beach with boats in the background. This is often a nice distraction from the exercise.

The Bodies In Motion shows are broken into four parts: warm up, aerobics, abs, and cool down with stretch. Aerobics were very big in the '80s. That segment alternates between high and low impact moves that are easy to follow and some arm movements without weights. He then does an abdomen workout usually consisting of many variations of the crunch. The end is a very short cool down segment with a few stretches and breathing. There are commercials between each segment which sometimes are a little irritating. I suppose you could record them and fast forward through the commercials.

Total Body Sculpt is also four segments but they are warm up, sculpting, abs and cool down stretch. The warm up segment often includes his signature moves such as discus throw, shot put, and squat and lift. The sculpting uses light and heavier hand weights concentrating on one or two muscle groups per show. He also often works out the lower body with variations of squats and lunges. Occasionally he does some no or low impact aerobics such as boxing. After the commercial break is the abs segment. Then more commercials and a stretch and cool down which sometimes includes yoga moves.

I have never purchased a video but have been following his workouts on TV for several years. One thing I really like about them is they're easy to follow. A lot of shows and videos lead you on very complicated choreographed workouts that are hard to perform. Gilad is more deliberate and carefully starts you with leg moves before adding in the corresponding arm movements. He is fairly entertaining with his silly jokes and remarks like "my thighs are burning" and "if you don't feel that I don't know what you're going to feel". He encourages you throughout the episode. My husband got in shape in high school back in the '80s watching his show and today my mother-in-law who's in her 60s, loves working out with Gilad. So, no matter what your fitness level, you can follow Gilad's steps to a better body.