Jane Fonda: Prime Time - Fit & Strong

Staying active has been my key to aging successfully. Regular exercise not only burns calories, it also dramatically improves both body and brain functions. My Fit & Strong DVD includes two 25-minute workouts that will burn fat, tone and shape every major muscle group and strengthen your core. Make a habit of doing these workouts and you’ll look and feel your best.

As Jane Fonda strides into her 70s, she is still focused on and committed to fitness. Her Fit & Strong workout is geared to older exercisers, or those who simply are starting out. There are two 25-minute workouts on this DVD, a Level 1 and a Level 2. Both can be done seated and standing, with light weights (which can be increased for a more challenging workout). These workouts get at nearly every muscle group, gently but thoroughly. There are also excellent stretches included and great tips on daily activities, posture, and the like. What is most endearing and touching about Fit & Strong is not necessarily the workouts--we expect Fonda to deliver and she does. But it's Fonda's supportive tone and discussions at the beginning of the workouts and throughout the movements that set Fit & Strong apart. Fonda is understanding about the disconnected feeling many people, especially older people, have about their bodies, and how feeling reconnected stimulates not just the body, but the mind and the soul. Fonda says it's OK to be wherever you are in your fitness level--and she takes it from there. It's as supportive an environment as any exerciser could possibly want, and it makes the routines go more quickly. Fonda has become the exerciser's true friend, and in Fit & Strong that becomes one of the best reasons to keep coming back to do the routines. Anyone of any fitness level can start Fit & Strong immediately and feel results--and that's a great gift, at any age. --A.T. Hurley