GaiamTV: Fitness Videos for Busy Moms (and Stir Crazy Kids)

I admit, I have dabbled with yoga and Pilates in the past, but for some reason, it’s never caught on. I think the biggest barrier for me has always been time. My time to work out is so limited and I want to get the biggest bang for my buck, so I always go for either cardio or weight resistance training first.

But I really want to increase my core strength, as well as my overall flexibility. Sure, it would be nice to look decent in a bathing suit when we go to Disney World in April, but mostly I know that a strong core and increased flexibility will improve my running.

I do have a handful of fitness DVDs, but truthfully? They’re collecting dust somewhere in my house. This is what happens: I get sooooooo excited to buy the DVD, I do it a few times, and then I get bored and I never do it again. And the DVD conveniently disappears.

That’s why I was very curious to check out GaiamTV. They’re the first streaming fitness video subscription service for those interested in health, wellness, yoga, fitness and personal development … think Netflix for the fitness-conscious.

Because they literally have thousands of different titles (including Jillian Michaels, Rodney Yee, Mari Winsor and others), I could do a different yoga or Pilates program every day. And you’re not limited to a TV; you can stream the videos on your iPad, iPhone, laptop, etc.

So yesterday I was getting ready to try “Yoga for Runners” (perfect, since I had run 7 miles earlier in the day) when Buddy announced he wanted to “do yoga” with me (which shows how bored he probably was.)

But who am I to turn down a little bonding time with my boy? So instead, I did a search on GaiamTV’s website, found a bunch of kid-friendly programs, and switched to “Family Yoga with Rodney Yee.” Even Mimi joined in!

Talk about a win-win. We still have about 2.5 months of winter, which means I have many more days of stir crazy, whiny kids to look forward to. But now I can say, “Hey, kids, wanna do some yoga?” and they can stay active and busy at the same time!

My only issue is connectivity. We have a web-enabled TV and a PlayStation 3 (along with a Google Nexus tablet) but unfortunately, GaiamTV is not enabled for any of those devices yet (although they are coming soon). However, I was able to access it on my iPhone (which is fine if I’m the only one watching the video) and our laptop, which I connected to our TV. That part was a little time-consuming, although it shouldn’t take so long next time, now that I know what I’m doing.

Gaiam TV is offering a free, 10-day trial to my readers to try them out for the first 10 days. If you like what you see, you can subscribe to their monthly plan for only $9.95/month. They also have a flexible policy, so you can cancel at any time so there’s no contracts or commitments. Interested? Check out GaiamTV for this offer.

I received a free subscription to GaiamTV to facilitate my review, but all opinions are my own.