if there is one thing i have learned from the few times i was able to go to a health club (cost prevents me) is that overweight people often have knee and back problems. we also often want a decent workout. I have watched this fitTv channel for the last week trying desperately to find a show with a decent workout I can do safely, to no avail.

yoga is not helpful, it does leave one with a feeling of accomplishment in the weight loss area, and often the exercises are beyond the ability of anyone not already very limber (unlikely for an obese person to be limber). shows like "cardio blast" put way too much stress on the knees and back, us fat people simply can't do that without risking injury to our leg joints and spines with all that bouncing around.

personnally i would find it nice to see just one so-called fitness program with the following: (1) fat people working at getting back in shape and trying to lose weight. (2) Exercises that are likely to work up a sweat without destroying the already-taxed joints of overweight people. (3) music other than technopop.

Also would like to see an "exercise for seniors" program. The enormous benefits to elders of simple exercise such as lifing and holding up the arms have been demonstrated through clinical studies, but this is almost unheard of...my mother is convinced that ANY form of exercise is inappropriate for people in their 70s, yet she complains all the time about having trouble doing simple things. What if older people could SEE how little they would have to do to increase their strength and get around easier? of course, seeing other OLD people would be more effective than anything else...they are unlikely to repond to a 20- or 30-soemthing super-fit person in spandex telling them what to do.

anyway, you asked for opinions, this is mine. to sum it up, if you put on some programming for the reality of being fat or old and out of shape, there might be an audience out here for it.

I totally agree. There is nothing for people who need to get a workout if they are older, are over-weight or are out of shape. When you tune in to any of the work out programs everyone is thin, firm and obviously not doing anything that a person just starting out can do. As an older person I need a program that would work for my age group.

With regard to female overweight folks, I highly recommend Shimmy, the bellydancing show. I was 100 lbs overweight and have since lost 15 lbs (in 3-4 weeks) and I owe a lot to it to Shimmy. I have foot/tendon issues so I can't be bouncing around like a kangaroo but I really get a good workout with Shimmy--hey, my heart is racing and I'm sweating so that's calories burning! Plus I feel invigorated after it. I also added Gilad's first 5-10 minutes of his show--the warm up--I can't do the rest of his show though. My only recommendation is for the first two weeks just do one Shimmy show a day. I did two back to back too soon and really hurt the muscles in my lower back--so sore I couldn't "shimmy" for a few days. Today I did three Shimmys! I'm doing them now because I really like them. I do agree though, they don't have enough programming for people just starting an exercise routine.