• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Learn

Science Compares Exercise DVDs to Live Coaching

Exercise DVDs may be convenient, but a new study showed they were less effective than having a coach.

Doug Dupont

Written by Doug Dupont Last updated on August 11, 2014

Following along to workouts via a video medium like DVD or on the Internet is an increasingly popular trend. It’s cheaper, more convenient than most in-person coaching opportunities, and allows more people access to talented coaches.

But a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research examined whether this approach was as effective as in-person training.

Study Desgn

The participants of the study were twenty college-aged women. They were active, which means they did some form of exercise on more or less a daily basis, but they weren’t well-trained athletes. They represented a fairly average gym-goer looking to either lose weight or get into good shape.

Each participant engaged in two twenty-minute workouts in a random order. The two workouts were identical, consisting of six exercises performed in a circuit after a brief warm up. A coach led one of the workouts live, and the other was viewed on a DVD while the participants followed along. The coaching was the only difference between the two workouts.

Calories Burned and Heart Rate

Calorie expenditure and heart rate both improved when the women received live coaching. The calorie expenditure was greater and the average heart rate was higher. The subjects burned an average of a little over half a calorie a minute extra doing the same workout, just by being coached. That amounts to about a twelve-percent increase in calories lost, which is pretty good. And while the workout was only twenty minutes, it was at a pace that the subjects likely could have maintained for a standard hour-long workout.

The fact that heart rate was a full ten beats per minute higher when being coached was also telling. This means the cardiovascular stimulus was more substantial, which would lead to greater cardiovascular health and perhaps more rapid results.

Rate of Perceived Exertion

Rate of perceived exertion, the scale by which we subjectively measure how intense a workout is, was also higher when being coached than when watching the DVD. It’s possible to consider this a negative result. When perceived exertion goes beyond a certain point, exercise would be considered unpleasant and thus a participant would be less likely to partake over time. In that case, although a workout with higher exertion might burn more calories in one session, it wouldn’t be as effective in the long term.

However, that did not occur in this study. Although the participants found the exertion levels to be higher when being coached, they also found the coaching workout to be preferable. In fact, 89% of the participants liked the coaching workout better, despite being more difficult.

Ultimately, while DVDs may be less costly and more convenient than in-person training, there is a big tradeoff. Consider the time savings of a superior workout that allows you to achieve the results you want over a shorter term. Cheaper and more convenient may be meaningless in the face of being less effective.

References:

1. Lauren Killen, et. al., “Live versus DVD Exercise in College Age Females,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000560

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Doug Dupont

About Doug Dupont

Having grown up at the foot of a forest covered mountain in rural Vermont, Doug was active from a very young age. Hiking, running, and climbing were a part of everyday life in the Green Mountains. This culture of exercise led to dabbling in martial arts as a teen, and also getting work in a local powerlifting focused gym. Doug continued to pursue knowledge and training in exercise, becoming a certified personal trainer while still a teenager. Once in college he began his hand at the business side of fitness, taking a management position at a large local gym. During that time he became a founding member of the UVM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, and was the first among their competition team. After only a few months he was assisting in coaching, and ran conditioning program for the club.

Out of college Doug set up his own training center. He grew his list of clientele including several professional MMA athletes, eventually going so far as to corner a world title fight. He has continued ­­­to develop his business into today.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

maryannberry
Posture Intervention: Healing After a Knee Injury
Opposites Distract: Stress Versus Fitness
Go Big: Be Your Own Coach
soyprotein
Unravelling the Urban Myths of Soy Protein

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Strongman Legend Hafthor Björnsson Receives International Sports Hall of Fame Induction

Iain Valliere Believes the 212 Division Should No Longer Exist in Bodybuilding

Ryan Terry Diagrams His Ambitious 1,874-Calorie Mass-Building Protein Shake

Andrew Jacked’s Trainer Thinks His “Best” Will Come at 2023 Arnold Classic

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About