Monday, October 30, 2006
“Desk Sets: 5 Minute Desk Workouts” (DVD, $19.99)
Life as the acting health and fitness editor, it turns out, leaves little time for exercise. Between the usual learning curve with a new job and a new computer system, I hadn’t been to the gym in a month when “Desk Sets: 5-Minute Desk Workouts” arrived.
The packaging promised 10 mini-workouts, which trainer Sharyn Pak says will reduce stress and increase muscle tone. Two 2 1/2-minute workouts focus on trouble spots for the deskbound: the hands and wrists, and the neck and shoulders.
Figuring anything was better than nothing, I popped the DVD into my office computer. It wouldn’t play. I took the DVD to my home computer, which didn’t recognize it. (The computer technicians at work eventually solved the problem.)
So off I went to the living room, which houses the television and real DVD player. To mimic the work experience, I wore a blazer, skirt and heels.
Unfortunately, the workouts were all but useless. One involved standing on one foot. For another, you kick your legs as if you’re splashing in a pool. Exercises such as lunges and the plank were drastically watered down.
Plus, the production was hilariously bad. The desk was unnaturally uncluttered. The pad on which the trainer scribbled feverishly before her exercise break was blank. The hands on the wall clock never moved.
The stretches felt good, but you don’t need a video for that. They’re instinctive. Get up and walk around the office or the block a couple of times a day. You’ll be better off.
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