Plan your approach. Decide whether you are going to talk while you are instructing and performing the moves, or record first and add a voiceover later. Choose to either proceed straight through an entire fitness routine or break it up into segments. Determine beforehand if you want to enhance the experience for the viewer with interviews or special features.
Write the script. Determine how long your video will be and create the segments within that time frame, allowing time for opening and closing credits. A good time frame for a one-hour fitness DVD includes approximately 55 minutes of instruction time, with one minute for your opening and one minute for your closing.
Choose the music. If you are planning to sell these DVDs or to air your routine online, you must either use royalty-free music or obtain the rights from musicians you know to use their music. Some musicians will give permission in exchange for credit at the end of the DVD.
Record the video. Set up an indoor studio with some set design and good lighting. You can rent a small lighting kit or go to a hardware store and purchase lights on stands for filming. Alternately, you can shoot outside. Outside shooting is often better for lighting, but you must contend with background noise if you are not recording a separate voiceover soundtrack.
Bounce indoor lighting off the ceiling so that there are no shadows and everyone lights evenly in the shot.
Mark a set area on the floor for the fitness routine, so you'll stay within the desired shot of the camera.
Shoot a master shot straight through the entire sequence, then run through the sequence again, shooting close-ups of various moves. If you have a second camera, you can shoot the close-ups at the same time as the master shot.
Edit the raw copy. Unless you have extensive experience in movie-making and editing, you should hire someone. Getting a fitness DVD to look professional takes a lot of tricks that would take a long time to learn.
Use a duplication service that can print DVD covers, as well as labels to put right on the discs. Create an attractive menu and burn a quality master copy of the entire DVD, for duplication.