Richard Simmons Celebrates 30 Years of Sweatin'

In 1987, Richard Simmons was a phenomenon. The health guru made a splash by going from fat to thin, then turning his exuberant personality loose on America to inspire millions of others to join him. And it worked! Everyone found a way to follow Richard's advice.

One of the more famous methods Simmons employed to get people up and moving was his video excercise course, SWEATIN' TO THE OLDIES, which was a group excercise method of dancing to classic rock songs. With Richard at the lead, and a group representative of a variety of body types (unlike so many excercise videos where it's you and the perfectly scuplted instructors), fans across the country were getting up off the couch and onto their feet, getting their heart rates up and their weights down.

It was so successful that it expanded four more times, so that there were ultimately five collections of excercise dance routines.

That was 30 years ago. Now Simmons -- and Time Life -- have brought back the classic collection in its entirety, and packaged it neatly together in one case with a bonus DVD and a 20-page photo album. Of course, the "oldies" today would be considered modern rock at the time these DVDs were made, so technically you'll be sweatin' to the really old oldies. But classic music never really gets old, and exercise will always be a key part of good health and weight loss. So this set is a win/win all around.