"7 Day Solution with Tracy York and Michelle Dozois" (63 minutes, $14.95, 800-433-6769, www.collagevideo.com). Reviewed by Amy Jors, 40, of Sammamish.

This program was designed by nutritionist and trainer Jonny Bowden to get users ready for a special occasion or jump-started on an exercise program. It consists of a 30-minute cardio segment to do each of the seven days, a 30-minute "tone and firm" workout for days two, four and six, and a diet plan to follow the entire week. "I like the tone and firm section the best because it is easy to follow," said Jors. It requires two sets of weights and a chair. "The aerobics section is challenging" and might be difficult for those with little aerobics experience. Jors didn't follow the diet plan, which outlines every meal and offers a chart for substitutions, "but I think if you did, you would definitely see some weight loss because it included only 1,250 calories per day for a woman."

"Kathy Smith's Timesaver Lift Weights to Lose Weight" (DVD, 60 minutes, $14.98; 800-433-6769, www.kathysmith.com). Reviewed by Norma Hobbs, 48, of Issaquah.

Fitness news you can use Portion control The Perfect Portions Diet Dish helps keep portions to recommended sizes. Designed by an Ohio registered dietitian, the compartmentalized see-through dish fits into a plastic base, which holds one of 10 disks with portion tips for different meals. ($19.95, 800-606-2468, www.perfectportions.com). Back in business After filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last December, the Web site started by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, www.drkoop.com, has been acquired by Vitacost.com, a U.S.-based provider of health and nutritional products. New features include natural-medicine centers and health-insurance centers. Altruist Fitness If you're organizing a fitness event that also benefits others or want to take part in one, go to www.seattletimes.com/onfitness and click on the links to add an event or ongoing training program or to see our Altruist Fitness calendar.

Hobbs was impressed by Smith's two 20-minute strength workouts, plus the 7-minute abs and back session. "These workouts delivered sculpting and toning results in the shortest time I ever imagined possible! Not only do they thoroughly and effectively work the entire upper and lower body, they even provide ample opportunity for stretching. Opposing muscles are worked back to back, for example biceps and triceps, to ensure the development of balanced strength. Supersets (two or more sets of different exercises performed consecutively with no rest period between) and frequent use of pulsating reps help" to work muscles and prevent boredom. Although designed to accommodate exercisers ranging from beginner to advanced, the workout is best suited for intermediates, Hobbs thought, because of minimal instruction and the music-driven pace, which fits a lighter weights/more repetitions approach not always sought by veteran exercisers (although half of the demonstrators used higher weights for fewer reps). Some folks might not be enticed by Smith's enthusiasm, Hobbs said, but "the flexibility afforded by the DVD format makes this a very useful and appealing add-on series of workouts."

"Kinkout Workout: The fitting response to sitting" (15 minutes, $18.95, www.amazon.com or from Barbara Ronis, 19124 Rhodes Way, Montgomery Village, MD 20886). Reviewed by Pat Crace, 67, of Seattle.

Crace, who has sciatica, arthritis and a bad knee but still is very mobile, found this 10-minute program of seated stretching exercises too easy for her own use. She thought the video quality was poor and the deadpan real-people demonstrators boring to watch. "Despite the presentation, the exercises are good to 'get the kinks out' when you aren't able to get up and move around much — especially on an airplane. It would probably be good for use in retirement and group living situations for elderly people (which, of course, I'm not)."

"10 Minute Solution with Michelle Dozois" (DVD, 52 minutes, $12.95, 800-546-1949, www.collagevideo.com). Reviewed by Norma-Jean Trabold, 61, of Bellevue.

Within each of five, 10-minute workouts on this disk, "there really wasn't enough time for a proper warm-up," said Trabold, although "if you did the workouts starting with ballet, Pilates, kickboxing, boot camp and ended with yoga, you would have build-up, intensity and cool-down." Users can program the sessions in the order they select but Trabold, who borrowed her daughter's DVD player to try the program, said, "I never did figure it out." She said the workouts themselves were easy to follow and varied in impact. "It is very intense and it will take me some time to master it, which is a good thing," and overall she liked the program — enough to want to buy her own DVD player.