There’s no mystery that regular exercise is great for your physical and mental health, fitness and weight management. That said, with a busy lifestyle, keeping up a regular workout can be easier said than done. Still, just about anybody can fit 30 minutes of exercise into their day, most days of the week.

It’s even easier when you just have to hit “play” on a video and follow the routine. That way, there isn’t any planning or thought involved, you can just dive into the workout, do your exercises and move on with your day. At the same time, all videos aren’t created equal. Just because it’s 30 minutes long, it doesn’t mean you’ll get the exercise you want or that you’ll enjoy it for that matter.

Consider the following to help to make certain you choose the right 30 minute workout videos to help you meet your goals:

· Exercise type – Consider the form of the exercise in the video. Is it a dance style like Zumba? Is it old school step aerobics? Does it use yoga, Pilates or special pieces of equipment? Decide on the type of workout you want to do and narrow down your search to videos that provide it.

· Fitness level – Take both your fitness level and your skill level in the specific type of exercise into account when you choose your video. For instance, if you have been essentially sedentary for a while, you might want to choose a beginner video, even if you used to be very good at the type of workout you’ve selected. That will give you the chance to build your fitness level back up again. At that point you can buy a more advanced video. Similarly, if you’re quite active but have never done a certain type of video – say, Pilates or dance – before, you might still appreciate the beginners video as it won’t start you off with moves and instructions that are too advanced for you.

· Length – There are two types of 30 minute exercise video. There is the type that is a total of 30 minutes in length, meaning that your entire workout including warm-up and cool-down will be 30 minutes long. There is also the type that is 30 minutes long in addition to a warm-up and/or cool-down. This could mean that the total workout may be anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes long. Depending on how much time you have to complete the workout, you will want to pay attention to the total length.

Thirty minutes may not sound like a very big workout, but it can have a considerable impact on several parts of your life. This includes:

· Improved overall health

· Better weight control

· Increased productivity

· Decreased risk of depression

· Raised happiness level

· Enhanced stress immunity

· Improved disease and infection immunity

· Better sexual health

· Increased sleep quality

· Longer lifespan

Once you’ve chosen your 30 minute workout video, the only way you’ll be able to take advantage of those benefits is if you actually do the workout. Hold yourself accountable, work it into your schedule, and make it an even higher priority on your busiest days. After all, it’s on those highly stressful days that exercise offers the greatest possible impact.