If you are 10 pounds, 35 pounds or 200 pounds over your ideal weight, and don't know how to start on the road to a slimmer and happier life, try an exercise DVD. While it seems to be constantly in the paper, or on TV, it is no longer really "news" that the United States suffers from an obesity problem that borders on the epidemic. If you are a middle aged or older woman who suffers from this condition, it certainly comes as no surprise to you.



If you have "tried everything," from every diet imaginable, to the local gym; from calorie counting to personal training; from high impact aerobics to expensive in home exercise contraptions, (to name but a few), and nothing has helped or held, you are the perfect candidate for isometric exercise. Even if you have stacks of celebrity training videos, this is truly new and different.

With isometric exercise you take 10 to 15 minutes of your relentlessly busy schedule, and leverage that brief time into the results you have been seeking. By practicing the simple to learn techniques of isometric exercise, you will translate your time and effort into energy, flexibility and strength, and drop those insidious pounds and inches, freeing yourself from the stress, frustration and additional health risks which actually contribute to the continuation or worsening of your condition.

See your Doctor, of course, prior to embarking on any new course of exercise or lifestyle change. She or he will be familiar with the concept of Isometrics, which is a course of training that involves contracting muscles without shortening the angle of the joint. "Isometric," a combination the Greek prefix "iso," (same), with the Greek term "metric" (distance), refers to the tensing or contraction of muscles without changing their length. Energy is expended by holding the contraction, thereby burning calories in a very low-impact manner.

The basics of re-forming yourself lie in proper nutrition, aerobics, (literally increasing oxygen in your system), and the exercise trio of stretching, resistance and strength training. Combined with simple breathing practices (which can be done anywhere, including sitting in traffic), you will begin to feel and see results in the first week. This quick success will increase your motivation, which will increase your desire to stay the course.

10 to 15 minutes of basic isometric exercise a day, most of which can be performed sitting in a chair in the privacy of your home, along with at least five daily instances of breathing practice, and smart eating gives you the tools to take control of your life and self-image by decreasing your body fat and increasing your vitality.

Learning advanced, but still simple, isometric exercise focused on weight loss can actually reduce your workout time to 10 minutes, by combining work on multiple muscle groups. Having tried everything else, try this. Invest a little time, and probably less cost than one month in most gyms. You will win by losing that which you most want to lose: weight and inches.