Fitness DVDs could harm your health

[MaryJane]

Limbering up in front of the television to the latest celebrity keep-fit DVD may severely damage your health, experts have warned.
Thousands of Britons who try to shed post-Christmas pounds with a home workout risk ending up in a hospital bed.

The problem is that most stars who turn out DVDs are not qualified and don't realise they are simply teaching bad habits, according to a group of worried fitness instructors.
The result is pulled muscles because enthusiasts don't warmup or down, or dizzy spells due to over-exertion - a serious threat to those exercising alone.

Injuries among the astonishing 14,000 who are treated in hospital each year after exercising at home also include cuts and bruises due to falling over furniture and limb injuries caused by crashing into walls.

Now chartered physiotherapist Sammy Margo is calling for an independent body to give ratings for the safety levels of individual DVDs.
"Without guidance or proper knowledge, they have the potential to be dangerous," she warned. "In the hands of people who are unfit, they can pose a real hazard. There is not a sufficient health warning or information about what standard they are aimed at. Often they are far too advanced for beginners which can lead to trouble."

Home workouts took off during the 1980s when Jane Fonda's intense video routine captivated a generation keen to hone themselves into her shape.

Yesterday a qualified fitness instructor gave a damning verdict on some of the latest and upcoming offerings.

Big Brother presenter Davina McCall and Celebrity Love Island star Lady Isabella Hervey were both criticised as having poor technique on many of their exercise routines.

And while some of the hamstring stretches in Kelly Holmes' DVD First Steps to Fitness may be easy for a double Olympic gold medallist, they would be impossible for about half the population, and could easily lead to muscle strains.

Sarah Joy, of the Register of Exercise Professionals, said the problem was the 'one size fits all' approach followed by most celebrity workouts.
"Unfit people doing some of these at home risk injuring themselves because they do not match individual needs," she said. "We urge everybody to visit a GP or a qualified gym instructor before embarking on exercise regime. They need to identify their own personal requirements and begin a programme at a pace they can cope with."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said most injuries occur due to over-exertion after exercisers fast-forward sections offering safety advice.
"And most of us do not live in mansions but in small homes," said a spokesman. 'With some of the exercise there is a risk of hitting someone else, or a wall, with outstretched arms or legs. There is also a risk of falling over something in the sitting room, which is never going to be good for your health. People can also concentrate so hard on the celebrity on the screen that they become disoriented and lose their footing, leading to falls."

dailymail.co.uk

[Barbara]

Injuries among the astonishing 14,000 who are treated in hospital each year after exercising at home also include cuts and bruises due to falling over furniture and limb injuries caused by crashing into walls.