You get two 25-minute workouts here: both are low-impact, aerobic routines alternating with intervals of lower-body muscle work using the body's resistance, no weights. The aerobic segments are taught by Fonda and two other instructors. The choreography is simple-nothing more complicated than step-touch, grapevine, heel digs, marches, and hamstring curls-and each move is repeated many times. If you like choreography challenges, this video won't hold your interest, but if you like to keep your choreography simple, or if you are a beginner to aerobic dance, you will be at ease here. The intervals of lower-body training, taught by Fonda, include moves such as stationary lunges, squats (without weights) and standing leg lifts. Both workouts end with abdominals and a stretch. This video is suitable for beginners. -Joan Price, Amazon. com.

As one of the highest-profile American exercise mavens, Jane Fonda knows how to work it, and in Total Body Sculpting, she's working all of it with weights. Setting muscle tone and strength as goals, Fonda has designed the segments of Total Body Sculpting as a pair of complementary 25-minute sequences. Together the two sections achieve maximum efficiency and full-body weight training. As a supplement to an aerobic exercise program, Fonda's Total Body Sculpting is a reliable way to tone muscle without massive dumbbells, steely contraptions, or groaning beefcakes. As Fonda explains early on, the two halves of the video focus in turn on different muscle groups and exercises. Each section features optional hand and ankle weights and combines standing, seated, and floor work. After a two-minute warm-up, Fonda heads for the weights and her series of gently paced exercises. Following upper body, lower body, and abdominal strength work, Fonda finishes with a three-minute stretch to keep your developing muscles limber and resilient. She talks you calmly through each exercise, underscoring what to do and what not to do, listing target muscle groups and explaining future benefits for your posture, your tennis game, and your resistance to injury. Fitting it into your regimen requires only moderate space, minimal equipment, and a commitment of fewer than 30 minutes a couple of times a week. [+]