FEBRUARY 2012
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"86 pounds down and my confidence is up!"

"As a child, I always struggled with my weight... " See Tamara's full story.

See how YOUR story could win $100 and help your favorite charity.

Three of the most popular forum threads:

How to stay motivated this winter

Best resistance training workouts

Possibly dangerous yoga moves?

Q. I'm  doing a lot of ab videos, which I enjoy. I focused on ab workouts because my waistline is a problem area. But, then I read that you can't target fat loss in just one area. So now I'm thinking that I'm just wasting my time. Is that right?

A. Good question. We all want a sexy, six-pack belly. So why not just do a million crunches, right? Seems to make sense, but it doesn't work. You can't "spot reduce" — just lose fat or tone up in one chosen area of the body. Any attempt to spot reduce won't produce measurable results. You could do sit-ups all day, every day, but you won't be seeing a flat tummy any time soon.

The abdominal muscles anatomically look like a six-pack. So, you actually already have one now — everyone does. But you can't see that, because it's hiding underneath the adipose fat on your belly. If you only concentrate on strengthening your abs, and nothing else, you would absolutely increase your ab strength. And that's great. However, you'd be doing nothing to reduce the adipose tissue that covers your abs. Bottom line: until you eliminate the excess fat, you won't physically see that awesome six-pack.

Okay, so how can you get rid of excess fat? You probably already know — cardio. You have to integrate cardiovascular activity into your program in order to achieve the toned results you want. The combination of aerobic activity, total-body strength training and targeted ab work will help create that nice defined look. However, fat loss is a total-body effort — meaning there's no guarantee that you'll lose fat from the stomach first (your individual genetics determine that). So don't get frustrated if your pant legs loosen up before your belt. Just keep moving — you are burning fat and the results will show up over time.

So, keep going with those ab videos. The importance of core strength goes way beyond fabulous looking abs. A strong core enhances balance, spine stability, injury prevention and proper posture. There are a huge variety of great ways to train your abs — you'll probably never get bored. So, have fun crunching, planking and bicycling.

But also make sure you're cross training with cardio and total-body sculpting on a weekly basis. This gives you a comprehensive fat-loss and toning program. It will produce real results — not only in the mid-section, but all over. With this combination, you'll be on the road to a nice belly and total-body fitness!

Here are some ab-focused workouts you may want to try:  10 Minute Solution: Best Belly Blasters, Jazzercise: Dancin' Abs, Gilad's Lord of the Abs: Phenomenal Abs & Core and Jillian's 6 Week Six-Pack.

More new videos for your new year's resolutions...

Gin Miller, Michelle Dozois, Brooke Burke, Mindy Mylrea, Jennifer Galardi and many more...

Gin's newest is Short Circuit. It's a compact program with a varied set of aero/tone intervals.

Michelle Dozois has two new "Peak 10" workouts. Cardio Interval Burn features fast/slow aerobic intervals. Cardio Strength alternates aerobic and toning segments.

Brooke Burke's new Strengthen and Condition is similar to her earlier Tone and Tighten. They're both well-structured sets of effective body-sculpting exercises.

Mindy Mylrea's Gliding Beyond the Basics uses three different gliding techniques.

Jennifer Galardi's Flowetry is a straight-forward series of very fluid yoga poses.

SuperModel Butt & Thighs shapes your lower body with a combination of aero/tone intervals and pure toning.

Strong Stride is specially designed for runners. It has nearly three hours of gym-style muscle toning.

There are two new ballet barre programs. Burn at the Barre features short, goal-focused segments. A Dancer's Body demos the moves at a slower speed, then lets you do the program at a faster pace.

Check out the two new Custom Fit programs. They're both taught at three levels. 50/50 Cardio Weights starts with aerobics and ends with toning. Cardio & Strength Interval Circuit has short aerobics and toning intervals.

More new workouts include: Xen Strength Yoga, Susan Tuttle's Chair Resistance Band, Super Seniors Box, Balance & Lift and Z-Box Fitness.

Plus, two new re-releases! Karen Voight's Sleek Essentials Roller Kit — a three-workout set that includes a foam roller. Also, Kettleworx Ultra — a 28-workout series that uses kettlebells to reshape your entire body.

See ALL the new releases.

"Today Show" says Collage website is "terrific"

On the January 19th "Today Show," Joy Bauer was answering a viewer's email question about how to find a yoga DVD. Instead of choosing a specific video, Joy suggested that she visit the Collage website (see Today Show clip). Specifically, Joy said: "I'm going to tell you about a terrific website. They have a huge assortment."

Among her other comments were: "It's a great resource to know about."

 But YOU already knew that!

Patrick Goudeau

Patrick Goudeau has  created choreography for lots of celebrities. One of them was Paula Abdul. "I think the most fun I had was going on tour with Paula Abdul, when her very first album took off. It was amazing because I happened to meet her at The Voight Fitness and Dance Center right as she was releasing her  'Forever Your Girl' album. Next thing I know, I'm on her MTV tour!"

You are known for your creative choreography; do you have dance training? "I do not have a 'formal' dance background; I've never studied dance or taken classes for any period of time. I'm one of those cases where it's just a talent I was born with. There are times when I wish I had more extensive training, or that I had pursued dance as a young kid. But it's important to move beyond 'what if's' and be thankful for the blessings you were given and use them."

Besides working with celebrities, you've taught instructor training classes in lots of foreign countries. "I've been very fortunate to have traveled the world teaching fitness to literally thousands of people. It's amazing to me how music and movement translate far beyond the  language barriers. One of my most memorable international experiences was the time I was invited to launch step aerobics in South Africa. Being the first international presenter to teach step in that country was amazing in itself. But what made the trip even more surreal was this all happened during the apartheid period (when blacks were normally segregated from the white population). It was truly an incredibly eye-opening experience."

Now you've just created a new video. What's involved in that process? "I'm constantly looking for new ideas! But, when you love what you do, inspiration, and new ways to do something, come pretty easily. My mind is constantly creating — sometimes too much! I often have to write down moves so I don't forget to use them. But what I think separates me from others is that I try to create exercises that are truly functional — moves that have a purpose. And if it doesn't feel good to me, you better believe I'm not gonna have someone else do it!

"Creativity doesn't mean crazy or flashy! The hardest part about making a new video is the preparation. The scheduling, the music, the rehearsals... But when the day finally arrives, it's truly rewarding how it always comes together. I have a great crew and I always pick the most amazing people to back me up."

When you're planning a new video, how do you decide what the content should be? "Well, I tend to create based on where I am in my career. I also consider where I think the industry is at that time. My body of work has gone from very choreographed routines to where I am now — more interval-based videos. And while I'm known for my dance-based choreography, I've always described myself as 'dancy, yet athletic.' I'm a big guy, so I like to move big, make it fluid and keep it strong at the same time."

See all of Patrick's videos.

Functional Training

Functional training has recently surged in popularity. Compared to the traditional weight training, it's a relatively new concept. Functional training is a resistance technique that's focused on overall body movements rather than targeting one specific muscle. The exercises are designed to strengthen the areas that improve your everyday activities in work, play, sport and life.

A good example is a classic bicep curl. What does a basic bicep curl do for you? It primarily strengthens the bicep while also helping to tone the arms. Great, right? But, ask yourself: "In real life, what activity uses a pure bicep curl" That is, when you're standing or sitting with correct form, holding an object and curling it to your shoulder?

Maybe you'd guess something simple like "eating with a spoon." But that's wrong. There is a lot more going on when you eat with a spoon. You have to reach for the spoon. Then scoop your food. Then bring it up toward your mouth. Even this tiny task requires activating muscle groups well beyond your biceps (also at different tempos and movement angles). Actually, the correct answer is "nothing." There is no real day-to-day activity that is genuinely mimicked by a bicep curl.

The same thing applies to another exercise classic — the simple squat. In real life, you're never bending down to pick up something with perfect form. You may need to step forward slightly before lowering yourself to grab the TV remote. Or squat down to pick up a bag of groceries and then have to lift them up on the counter. What about squatting down with a child on your hip to get a dropped pacifier? All these movements require more muscles and more movements.

So what would the functional variation of a classic squat look like? How about this sequence: squat down, pick up weights, stand up, and then lift those weights into a shoulder press. This imitates picking up something off the floor and putting it on a shelf — something you do every day!

Does this mean that good old bicep curls and squats are obsolete? Absolutely not. All strength training is beneficial. Many beginners — those in therapy and individuals with muscle imbalances — need traditional strength training. Functional training is just another way to get fit. You'll start to notice the differences. Any exercise that uses lighter weights, multiple muscle groups, various movement angles and different speeds is almost certainly a functional activity.

If you're interested in learning or doing more, there are a variety of strength training videos that focus specifically on functional exercise. Although, if you're currently doing sculpting videos, you're probably already doing functional training. If not, give it a try. It's fun. It's different. And it's a great workout.

Some videos you may want to try are: Denise Austin's Sculpt & Burn Body Blitz, Kathy Smith's Ageless: Total Body Turnaround, Sharon Twombly's Zero to 60 and Paul Katami's Burn & Build.