There are several. The site can be slow, and you can't use songs that you've bought from iTunes with this system. (A big problem, I know.) Instead, you have to go with music from CDs or other sources. Another issue: Downloading takes longer than expected, thanks to bizarre slowdowns, mysterious orders to update your Podfitness program and instructions to click on a word (say, "Mix,") that is unclickable. This leads to the never-helpful practice of screaming at your monitor.
Some users say these technical issues are caused by the no-iTunes rule, so don't even try to use those downloads. This should cut down on your screaming time.
Here's my assessment of three workouts downloaded from podfitness.com.
WORKOUT 1:
Running with Ashley Borden
In the intro, Ashley gives a quick rundown of how to use a treadmill. "If you don't know how to do that, you'd never figure out how to download this little workout," I tell her. She does not reply. Britney, who serves as the trainer's assistant on every workout, introduces herself and calls me by name. "OK, Darla," she says in a kind voice. How special!
"All right, it's cardio time," Ashley says. "I know nobody likes the first five minutes of cardio, but when you're done, you'll feel so good. You'll thank me." She's keepin' it real; I like that. The workout is 51 minutes, during which I was told to run on inclines up to 12 percent (I could only go to 10, as it's the highest level on my home treadmill) and at a top speed of 4.5 mph. Not too speedy, but in this workout, it's the incline that gets you. After changing speeds and inclines every few minutes, we're finally done. I'm sweating and, as Ashley predicted, thanking her for it.
WORKOUT 2:
Stair climbing with Mike Young
Mike's not so friendly. This was the extent of his interaction: "Find a stair stepper and be ready to begin in 30 seconds." And later, this: "OK, let's begin." He sounds bored. Angry even. This is definitely not a love connection. Plus, the workout was trying to kill me. Britney tried to motivate me through the many one-minute intervals of climbing on a level 9 on a scale of 1 to 10, but it was still brutal. I'm flattered that Podfitness felt Mike and his torturous ways were a match for my fitness level, but they are sadly mistaken. Not that Mike cares. He ditched me at hello. How much did he get paid for saying 15 words, I wonder? The trainers allegedly designed the workouts, but I still expected more from my trainer than muteness.
WORKOUT 3:
Elliptical training with Danny Bonaduce
"Hey, I'm really glad you're back," he says, friendly right from the start. Thanks, Dan! The warm-up, he says, should feel easy, "but the good news is that people who are in really bad shape when they start improve a lot faster." Way to put a positive spin on it.
Although I'd never done the elliptical before, Danny made the workout effective and fun. And he's chatty throughout the workout; my favorite part was this little mishap:
Britney starts to remind me of something important: "When you're in training, keep ..."
"TWO MINUTES!" Danny interrupts.
Isn't that just like him to butt in? But I enjoyed his personality, especially when he threw in such comments as, "I know you're tired, but not as tired as a person 30 pounds overweight climbing stairs."
I kept waiting for him to, just once, tell me to "C'mon, get happy;" didn't happen. But maybe he's saving that for our next workout
