Walking Workouts

3 Mile Slim & Sleek Walk
Leslie Sansone
Year Released: 2009

This is a 45-minute low-impact “walking” style cardio workout. There is also a 12-minute bonus Pilates mat routine.

Leslie is alone in her studio (aka the Bat Cave). This time we are facing the entry doors and office. The music is a mix of new and familiar tunes (no “Everybody” song though!). There is also a “Leslie off” option (music only). A countdown clock stays in the lower corner of the screen, counting down the time for each mile. No resistance tools are used. There is a variation of “boosted walking” (jogging). I found the pace kind of slow for the first mile, but it picked up noticeably in the second and third miles.

The chapter titles are Intro, Play Entire Workout, Mile 1, Mile 2, Mile 3, and Pilates Mat Workout. In the intro, Leslie explains a little about Joseph Pilates and his work. During the cardio portion Leslie talks about incorporating Pilates principles: abs in, shoulders back, etc. Really, nothing that different than her usual reminders about posture.

As always, Leslie concentrates on her basic steps: walking (marching in place), side steps, kicks, knee ups, and walking up two, back two. She does incorporate a few newer moves: a knee-up/back-back (which I remember from her 1998 Walk Aerobics 2 Mile Walk), walk up two steps and shift side-to-side (fun!), tap-out/knee-up/tap-out, and a side-squat/rear leg lift/side-squat. There are also a couple of new arm patterns (actually they are patterns she has done before with bands and the walk belt, just no resistance here).

I found the ending somewhat odd. After finishing the cool-down (which includes ronde de jambe moves), Leslie says goodbye and leaves the set, and the camera slowly pans over to the huge WALK sign. But no – Leslie suddenly turns around and says hey, we have to stretch! So help me, I can’t tell if this was a joke, or if Leslie truly forgot about stretching. Then, after the usual stretch, Leslie starts passing around apples to the camera crew and rhapsodizing about “apple ambrosia,” which puzzled me until I saw the recipe insert in the DVD case (cut-up fruit dressed with vanilla yogurt). On the flip side of the insert is a plug for California Raisins and a recipe for raisin energy bars. Is a Leslie cookbook next?

The 12-minute Pilates mat routine bonus sounded promising. Leslie teaches five basic Pilates moves. However, she spends the first three minutes showing you all five moves, and only then begins the routine. So while this segment might make a nice introduction to someone who has never seen Pilates before, the beginning demo kind of ruins it for being a short add-on (particularly since there are already so many good DVDs with short Pilates routines, such as the 10 Minute Solution series).

Bottom line: I’m a hard-core Lesliephile, but – dare I say it? – I’m really starting to reach my limit here. I appreciate that by streamlining her videos (working alone and in her own studio) Leslie can undoubtedly get more bang for her production buck. But how many different corners of her studio can she use? I’m half afraid we’ll next be in the ladies’ locker room. And at least having other walkers with her distracts from the same old backgrounds. I’d much rather Leslie cut back on the number of videos she’s producing, and instead put extra effort into making each one more special. Many people have suggested she film some outdoor walks, which I think is a great idea -- heck, at this point I’d even settle for the studio parking lot!
Instructor Comments:
Please see above. Leslie is by herself here, so she’s more calm and focused than she generally is with a group.

JustSandra

12/04/2009

Advanced 5-Mile Walk
Leslie Sansone

This is Leslie's long-awaited 5-mile walk workout. On the DVD you have a choice of doing the entire five miles (which would last a little over an hour) or three 3-mile pre-mixes (detailed below). It is also simple to get to each mile individually using the "skip" buttons on the DVD remote.

Three of the miles use "boosters" or light resistance tools for the upper body. However, at least a couple of the cast members in each mile do not use any equipment and Leslie stresses that using the boosters is always optional.

The pace on all the miles is quite quick (which I love!) but there are no warm-ups or cool-downs, which I missed when I did one of the pre-mixes this morning. I think next time I will warm up by doing one of the "booster" miles (which are a little slower) but with no equipment. There is also a separately filmed stretch on the DVD, but -- oddly -- the DVD did not take me there automatically after completing the pre-mix.

The set is a sort of brick courtyard, with louvered doors, patio furniture and plants in the background. The music is just kind of "there" -- it is neither horrible nor great IMHO. The way the sound is balanced, Leslie's voice is much more prominent than the music. Sometimes she would say to "catch that beat" when a tune changed but I occasionally had a hard time hearing it. There is an option to work out to music only, but to me it just looked too weird to see Leslie's lips constantly moving and nothing coming out!

There are eight background walkers, six women and two guys. Veterans Joanne and Linda are back; the rest are new faces and include Leslie's daughter, Marie. The two guys are Jim and Carl, and both are characters! There is one plus-size lady (Regina?) who is married to Carl (who is also somewhat plus-sized). On the whole it is a reasonably diverse cast as far as ages, body types, etc.

Each mile is individually filmed with the cast wearing different outfits for each mile. The outfits are color-coordinated but not matchy-matchy.

Leslie assumes that you are already familiar with her basic moves from her various Walk Away the Pounds series. They are very simple: walking/marching, kicks, knee-ups, side-steps, and occasionally kick-backs (hamstring curls) and walking up-two, back-two. Leslie seems even more casual than usual with her cueing, so be prepared for quick changes!

Leslie announces when we are half-way through each mile, but there are no on-screen graphics to chart your progress like there are in some of her other workouts. Each mile lasts about 13-15 minutes, except for the second (jogging) mile, which is about 10 minutes.

The individual miles are as follows:

Mile One: Uses optional 1- to 2-lb. hand weights on each hand.

Mile Two: No boosters but some optional light jogging (very similar to Leslie's Walk and Jog). It is the quickest mile -- only 10 minutes!

Mile Three: Includes using the belt with the cords. Again, its use is optional and several of the cast members don't wear one and just follow along with their arms. I'm sure you could use hand weights again here with no problem also.

Mile Four: No equipment. No jogging, but still a very quick pace.

Mile Five: Includes the stretchie, and here it is pink! Only a couple of the walkers use it -- again, the rest just follow along with their arms.

There are three 3-mile premixes:

3-Mile Walk With Hand Weights (miles 4, 2 and 1);

3-Mile Walk With Walk Belt (miles 4, 2 and 3); and

3-Mile Walk With Firm Band (miles 4, 2 and 5) (and why it is called a "firm band" in the menu I have no idea!).

Also on the menu is a 7-day meal plan (no pun intended!).

Overall, despite its relatively high price, I am very pleased with this DVD and expect to get a lot of use out of it. I loved the quick pace and the time just flew by. I kind of wish Leslie had included separate warm-ups and cool-downs for those of us who need/want them, but as I already noted I think just using one of the booster miles with no equipment will substitute well. I also wish the music had been a little louder.

I think most Leslie fans will like this DVD, and it is a good choice for those looking for low-impact workouts and/or ones with simple choreography. I don't think it is the best choice for someone new to exercise, though, because of the quick pace and lack of warm-ups and cool-downs. I'd suggest almost any one of Leslie's other workouts for those folks.
Instructor Comments:
Leslie looks great. But be warned -- believe it or not, Leslie seems even chattier than usual. She is also somewhat haphazard in her cueing but Leslie veterans will have no trouble following along.

JustSandra

01/18/2006

Flat Belly Workout - Express Belly Blast
Ellen Barrett
Year Released: 2008

This workout and its companion, Walk Off Belly Fat, are meant to accompany the Flat Belly Diet book from Prevention/Rodale Press. I purchased the videos solely because they are led by Ellen Barrett, so I may be a little biased in my review.

In a nutshell, I do not find this routine too easy or too hard. It gets me sweating gently and gets my heart rate up in a good, comfortable, not chest-pounding range. The only flaws with this workout are the weird music, pop-up screens announcing the next segment, and references to the Flat Belly Diet, in which I have no interest. I bought this ONLY because of Ellen. She did not disappoint, but whoever produced the soundtrack needs to step away from the Burble Button. I enjoy the workout enough to overlook the weird blends of elevator music with sudden bubbly, burpy noises and the bright pink segment announcement screens, which are distracting.

Segments consist of Warmup, Cardio Intervals, Metabolism Boost, Yoga, Cooldown and Bonus. For Cardio Intervals(20 minutes) Ellen takes simple moves such as "out out / in in", grapevines with foot crossing in front rather than back, knee lifts, and lunges. Ellen and her helpers demonstrate simultaneously at three levels - you can stay at level 1, increase to level 2 with more vigorous arm movements, or go to level 3 by adding a bit of plyometric impact to the moves. I pick and choose which level to do at any time, finding it flows well no matter your level. "Walking workout" is a misnomer, it is more of a low impact cardio routine, which is fine in my world. Ellen usually teaches in blocks rather than TIFT style, but this workout seems to be a bit of both in that the cardio segments culminate with the blocks strung together, starting on the right foot, then the left foot, with marching intervals in between. Throughout Ellen gives reminders about posture, and I can feel my core working during the cardio moves, particularly during the squat series with twists and knee raises.

Metabolism Boost is "10 minutes of total body toning" consisting of a brief hand weights segment, standing work such as rear and side lunges with arm work brought in (a tricep press on the rear lunge, bicep curls with the squats, side lateral raise with the side lunges). This moves to the floor for pushup rows w/dumbbells and a short plank or "The Hover" as Ellen calls it. It's OK, not the most exciting toning segment I've used.

Yoga is only 5 minutes - Ellen fans will recognize an abbreviated version of the first Pulsing Warrior series from "Crunch Super Slimdown Pilates-Yoga Blend." This moves to the floor for some alternate leg stretching with a brief twist. The final cooldown has Ellen and her helpers back in sneakers, which I found disconcerting at first, but they are simple stretches which you can continue to do barefoot. Despite the music (which oddly seems to be growing on me like a commercial jingle) and pop-ups, I plan to use it regularly. It's nice to have something slightly more traditional from Ellen.

Final notes: the DVD is not chaptered, although it is portrayed in segments on the title screen; the Bonus feature is simply an infomercial for the Flat Belly Diet.

Instructor Comments:
Ellen is motivating, cues well and is as cute as a button. I forgave her for plugging the Flat Belly Diet, after all they sponsored the videos. I can't have enough Ellen Barrett.

Pat58

10/13/2009

Prevention Walk Yourself Fit
Chris Freytag

DVD Review:
The DVD has 3 workouts (separate chapters for each workout):
Accelerated workout
Body-shaping workout (uses weights)
Cardio workout

The set is bright and there's 4 cast members, including Michele Stanten. i have a hard time watching Michele because she almost appears a bit uncoordinated. I noticed this in Prevention 3-2-1 workout. Michele is the fitness editor/columnist for Prevention Magazine.

Workout #1:
more like a high-low aerobics workout in that there's more variety in arm-movements (compared with Leslie Sansone). Lots of side to side movements. However, it has more walking than say, Michele Dozois' Walk Yourself Slim which tends to be more of a hi/lo floor workout. Chris tells you how far you've walked (quarter mile intervals); for example, at 7 minutes, it's already a quarter of a mile, and the BPM is 148. Some of it toward the middle is high impact (in out, in out car tires feet). Total distance is 1 mile. I was slightly below the 70% level and next time i think i'll add weighted gloves.

Workout 2:
1) walking warm-up
2) standing movements with light dumbbells
3) walking without weights; There's also messages that indicate the distance you've walked (half mile at the 10-min mark, 132 BPM).
4) standing toning segment (at around the 11 min mark.
5) walking without weights the 4th body shaping segment (at 14 min, she says its 3/4 of a mile.
6) weights with yoga stances are used in the standing position (warrior) for about 2 min.
7) Then walking without weights.
8) At 17 min, she picks up the weights again. The segment ends at 18:44, and she says "you've completed 1 mile" which is about right.
9) Cool Down is about 4 minutes.

Workout 3:
without weights; Chris says in the beginning that you'll go for 1.5 miles for the entire workout (this must include the warm-up and cool down). Mostly the same moves as workout #1 except at a faster pace (140 BPM); quarter mile at around 6:10. My heartrate averaged slightly below the 70% level for this workout - i think next time i'll add weighted gloves. Duration wise, it's slightly longer than the other 2 workouts.

Music on the DVD is fun - pop/dance mostly.


The Audio CD workout:
comes with the DVD workout - both are sold as a set on 2 separate discs in one DVD keep case. The audio workout is not a "rehash" of the DVD workout - it's a completely different workout altogether. durations are shown as mintes:seconds. BPM = beats per minute. Neither the CD cover nor CD label have a description of the tracks; i got the descriptions by listening to Chris's verbal synopsis and tracks by viewing the file structure using Windows Media Player. BPM were determined by tapping my finger and counting the beats.

Track 1, 0:46; Chris describes the program
Track 2, 5:02; 108 BPM warm-up
Track 3, 9:22; 120-128 BPM moderate steady pace walk
Track 4, 9:15; 140-138 (starts at 140, ends at 138 BPM) vigorous steady pace workout
Track 5, 16:11; 124/132 (3 min at 124 BPM, then 1 min at 132 BPM) about 4 cycles
Track 6, 17:04; 138/156 (3 min at 138 BPM, then 1 min at 156 BPM; advanced interval walk
Track 7, 15:33; 108-140-108 Pyramid walk (starts out moderate, gradually increases speed, then back down the pyramid
Track 8, 5:00; cool down

Music on the CD is instrumental and has a variety of styles, but mostly electronica/jazz/rock guitar. in track 3 (?) there is one segment that sounds a little blue-grass, but has a quick beat.

I liked this audio better than Debbie Rocker's audio CDs. My all-time favorite audios are the ones from Kathy Smith, especially her WalkFit 3-CD set and her Steady Strides from Project You.

Chris allows you time to listen to and get into the music. she provides a few cues between the times when the music either speeds up or slows down. I thought Kathy Smith gives a lot more cues on form yet at the same time, wasn't chattering non-stop (Debbie Rocker chatters non-stop). Leslie Sansone's audio, "Walking for Everybody Advanced" surprisingly has very little chattering from Leslie ~ you'd expect the opposite!

For this workout, it's best to play the CD or download it into your MP3 player so that you can skip to the cool down when you're ready.

I liked this set as an alternative to Leslie or even George/Petra.
Instructor Comments:
: DVD: Chris is motivating to me. I can see how some people might be annoyed by her perkiness (not as perky as Denise Austin, though). She is encouraging which is nice. Calls to her cast members every so often while facing the front (as if on cue).

CD: Speaks clearly, provides just enough form tips throughout the workout, but fortunately, does not jabber non-stop. Motivating tone.
bzar

03/12/2007

Walk On to Weight Loss
P.J. O'Clair, Moira Stott Merrithew
Year Released: 2005
I’m reviewing this workout after doing it once.

General workout breakdown: Sandra has already written a great review of this, and I agree with what she’s written. But I’ll add a few more details here and there, just for grins.

Moira leads the introductory segment (about 4 min.), which is done standing still. You breathe, drop your shoulders away from your ears, do scapular protraction and rotraction, mobilize the shoulders with shoulder rolls, bent slightly forward to engage abdominals and then do mini cat stretch, before rolling up to standing for stretching the neck.
The warm-up (about 5 min.) isn’t the most exciting: you march in place the entire time, although sometimes you’ll march with your feet a little wider. Ooh, the excitement. PJ then introduces many of the other steps that you’ll do, leaving out the arms at this point in time. During the bulk of the workout PJ prefers to do longer series of one or two moves rather than rotate through all of them in random order (as Leslie Sansone does – PJ definitely has a much clearer game plan than Leslie, who’s more spontaneous). Unlike Walk on to Total Fitness, where a particular arm movement was paired with a particular lower body movement, PJ mixes and matches here; in fact, sometimes you’ll alternate between different arm movements while you keep going with the same step. And the moves with a little more oomph, or the optional impact (not particularly high or jarring impact), only come in the last “mile.” There is no choreography here: you do a step until PJ says to switch or return to walking / marching in place. PJ does do a few combinations of moves, where you do one thing for a count of 4 and another for another count of 4, then back to the first for another 4 count, and so on, but that’s as fancy as things get.
You do get a cool-down, where the moves become a little smaller, ending with some mini squats with the legs together. A few quick stretches for the inner thighs, hamstrings, outer hips / glutes, and side torso finish out the workout. (Why do so few walking workouts include stretches for the quadriceps and hip flexors - that is, the muscles along the front of the leg?)

Level: I’d recommend this to beginners through intermediates. While the length may be a bit much for absolute beginners to exercise – and this workout, in addition to lacking chapters along the “mile zones,” is without obvious places to break up the routine into more manageable shorter bits – the focus on form and technique would be most helpful to beginners. More intermediate exercises could find ways to boost the intensity, such as adding in the impact from the start, using light hand weights (1-3 lbs., depending upon experience), taking this to equipment like a rebounder, etc.
I consider myself an intermediate / advanced exerciser. My heart rate stayed low during this; I never even got it to the level it reached when I paused the DVD to run up and down the stairs to close the windows during a sudden thunderstorm. For whatever reason I had better luck getting a workout out of the shorter and supposedly easier Walk on to Total Fitness. Either I’ve become more fit in the few months since I did the other, which is a possibility, or I put some extra oomph into Total Fitness that I just didn’t with Weight Loss (which I did as shown).

Class: 1 man and 3 women join PJ and Moira, who instruct live. Everyone does the same thing; no one sticks with the suggested modifications.
I agree with Sandra that some group interaction would have been nice, especially since PJ talks about how great it is to walk with friends, how exercising in a group can boost the energy. Since this group only gets to follow along with a big smile, that doesn’t reinforce her point very well.

Set: bright interior set of wood and white, with white gauzy curtains over windows looking onto nothing. Furniture, including a table with a bowl of fruit and a pitcher of water, and fitness props are artfully arranged around the sides.

Production: very clear picture and sound, mostly helpful camera angles (I could do without the artsy one from behind the bowl of fruit, but at least you could still see most of the exercisers), and smooth editing (although there was one point when PJ and crew were doing squats in one direction, then there was a quick cut to the fruit bowl shot, where they were doing squats in the opposite direction, then a quick cut back to the original shot and original direction). The music is soft relative to PJ and Moira’s voices. Given that it’s so snooze-inducing I don’t mind not hearing it, but I’d rather have it louder so there was a beat to move to and then with an option to do this workout without it at all, so you could play motivating tunes with a beat.

Space Requirements: You don’t need tons of space for this. If you can take two big steps to the front and two big steps to the side, you have enough room.

DVD Notes: I have one of the dual language DVDs, which adds an extra step to getting this silly DVD to play the workout. First you have to choose your language (English or French), then you have to wait for the initial warning screen to come and go, and then you have to agree to the disclaimer. Once you’ve done that, there’s a commercial for Stott products, which you can skip, and the standard Stott intro, which you can’t. Finally you get to the main menu, where your options are Getting Started (What You’ll Need, DVD Tips, and Warnings / Cautions), Audio Options (Instruction On or Instruction Off – This DVD really, really needs an Instruction Only option so you can play your own music), Workout Principles (Breathing, Pelvic Placement, Rib Cage Placement, Scapular Movement & Stabilization, Head & Cervical Placement, and Play All), The Workout, Chapter Selections (Moira’s Intro, Warm-Up, and Walking Pilates Cardio Workout – no, there are no chapter points within the walking portion itself, which is annoying if you have a power outage in the middle of your workout!), and Special Features (Bonus! Try the Next Level, which here is Walk on to Total Fitness; Stott Pilates equipment, Meet the instructor, Get in touch, Stott Pilates education, and Other Stott Pilates video titles).

Comments: While this is a perfectly nice and well done walking workout, I have to agree with Sandra that this one lacks the excitement factor. This would be a great one for relative beginners to exercise, for folks who need a break from or alternative to Leslie Sansone, and for those who have to stick with low impact move exclusively. But as someone who uses walking videos occasionally rather than regularly and who has too big of a collection already, in my current purging mode I’m having a hard time justifying keeping this one in place of the 3-mile / approximately 45-min. Leslie Sansones that I’ve kept: 3 Mile Slim & Sleek Walk, 3 Mile Weight Loss Walk, and Walk Slim 3 Fast Miles. (Even 5K with a Twist, which I recently weeded because I felt it overlapped too much with 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk, appeals to me a little more than this one, but then I like Leslie’s “boosted walking” workouts.) Like Sandra, I find PJ’s personality a plus. But, while I like how organized PJ is, the fact that this workout is so predictable will make this one lose what interest it has for me more quickly.

Instructor Comments:
I’ll echo Sandra on PJ and Moira being great instructors who don’t shine here as they normally do, although I’ll still take PJ and Moira on an off day over some other folks... Both are positive and encouraging without being perky and excitable. (I’m another who, as much as I like Leslie Sansone, finds her a bit chatty and loopy for me at times, so I tend to prefer the lone Leslies, and PJ with a group is even calmer and more focused than Leslie by herself.) PJ cues fairly consistently, although there are a few spots where she might not cue a move change, but they’re usually when you’re doing a series, so as long as you watch her and follow the pattern you’ll be fine. She gives you plenty of advance notice of a change in moves, almost always counting down from 4 before the change. She’s a bit vague on her description of some of the arm movements, but again they’re simple enough and easy enough to pick up just by watching.
Moira does not mirror cue (only an issue once, really), but PJ does. (In other words, when she says “right,” she means the viewer’s right, but when Moira says “right,” she means her own right).

KathAL79

06/03/2010


Walk On to Weight Loss is a 45-minute “walking” style cardio workout and is part of the Stott Pilates Walking Pilates Series.

Stott Pilates rates all of its workouts on an intensity scale of 1 (easiest) to 5 (hardest). Walk On to Weight Loss is rated a 2. Unlike some of the other Walking Pilates titles (The Secret to Weight Loss 1 and 2) there is no toning session in Walk On to Weight Loss.

The only equipment needed are proper shoes.

Moira Stott begins the workout with a few minutes of gentle alignment exercises, then turns it over to P.J. O’Clair, who leads the actual cardio workout. They are accompanied by four background exercisers. P.J. uses several of the same moves as Leslie Sansone (marching in place, side steps, knee-ups, walking up-two, back-two), and tweaks others (kicks done across the body). P.J. also uses a lot of heel digs, which Leslie did in her older videos but seldom does now. An optional hop is incorporated into some of those sets. Simple arm movements are sometimes added in to increase intensity. Toward the end of the workout are a series of side-to-side squats. The workout ends with a cool down and stretch.

Any “walking” workout must inevitably be compared to Leslie, who is the undisputed queen of this type of cardio. The Stott series, while it has its positive points, doesn’t quite measure up IMHO. One positive is P.J., who has a warm, caring demeanor (and who is certainly less hyper than Leslie). P.J. cues better than Leslie, and uses a few different steps and shows some optional impact moves. Unfortunately the negatives outweigh these positives. The music, while brisk, is uninspired, too soft, and keeps an unvarying pace (Leslie changes tunes and gradually increases then decreases the pace throughout the workout). There are a few vague references to mileage (we‘re told this workout equals about three miles), but there are no announcements or graphics in order to judge where we are during the actual workout. Finally, even though the entire cast is miked, no one says anything except for an occasional comment from Moira. Basically P.J. simply talks non-stop. Some group interaction would have helped the time go by.

Low impact “walking” workouts are my cardio mainstay, and as much as I love Leslie I do appreciate variety. However, except for Leslie and the collection by George Foreman and Petra Kolber, other instructors seem to have trouble creating walking workouts that are simple and low impact yet still offer interest and challenge.

I’ve done VF reviews of The Secret to Weight Loss 1 and 2. If you are interested in the Stott Pilates take on walking workouts, try one of those DVDs. Unfortunately, Walk On to Weight Loss, while the longest of the Walking Pilates Series, is also its most boring.

Instructor Comments:
Both Moira and P.J. are excellent instructors, but this particular DVD doesn't do them justice.

JustSandra

12/11/2008

Walk, Sculpt and Tone
Debbie Rocker
Year Released: 2007

Instructor Debbie Rocker leads this walking working which adds light weights for some additional toning benefits. She is joined by 2 background exercisers, one of whom shows lower impact modifications, in a beautiful mountain setting. There are two workouts on this DVD: the main workout (labelled as 60 minutes but actually significantly longer at 68 minutes) and a 30-minute, shortened version of this. Also included is a 57-minute CD designed for walking outdoors.

Debbie begins the main workout with a just under 6-minute warm-up that is mostly marching, although she adds some breathing work and arm movements. This flows into a 4.5-minute basic cardio segment that is more of an extended aerobic warm-up. The following 10-minute cardio segment starts to bring up the intensity a little, adding moves such as cross-country arms. Another 7.5-minute cardio segment follows, this time adding a little impact with shuffles (a light side-to-side jog) as well as some upper body movements. Then Debbie picks up light weights (1-5 lbs.) to lead you into the first toning segment. Here she continues to do a lot of marching, but the aerobic pace slows as you move into basic strength moves such as squats, deadlifts, lat rows, and bicep curls.

Another 10-minute cardio segment follows. This time, there is a little less marching and a bit more varied moves such as breast stroke arms and hamstring curls. The final 7-minute cardio segment was probably the most intense, as Debbie includes more high-impact moves such as jumping jacks plus adds a bit of fun with some front punches. Then there is a final 8-minute weights segment with additional marches, lunges, and triceps work. The workout includes with a 3.5-minute cool-down/stretch. The shorter, 30-minute workout (actually 33.5 minutes) uses the warm-up, the first cardio segment, the first weighted segment, the final cardio segment, and the cool-down.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed in this workout, mainly because I found it hard to keep my heart rate up. For the most part, the cardio segments are not very intense, and my heart rate dropped even further during the toning segments. I also found Debbie's cueing to be really lacking here: not only does she fail to mirror-cue, but also she often cues a new move way ahead of time but fails to cue actually ON the new move. Finally, I didn't find the included CD very motivating, however--it is simply Debbie talking, occasionally encouraging you to pick up the pace as the tempo changes, but that's it. Debbie talks throughout the DVD workout as well, which some may find annoying. If you have liked Debbie's past workouts and/or enjoy combining low-intensity cardio with very light weight work, you might like this workout, but otherwise, I think there are better options available.

Instructor Comments:
I didn't mind Debbie's chatter so much, but as mentioned above, her cueing is quite poor, and this is what I found annoying.

Beth C (aka toaster)

02/28/2008


She's done another good workout. The scenery is beautiful in the background with the orange rocks, green trees and brilliant blue skies of Arizona. Gorgeous!!! Debbie is in front of two women background exercisers. The woman to the right doing modifications - same lady as her other workouts. Similar to her Walking for Weight Loss and A.M P.M. Walking in the following ways:
1) cueing (unfortunately still says lead with right but with mirroring, you start left)
2) talks a lot through the whole workout (no irrelevant chatter just all about the workout)
3) says the same coach for life stuff and some new-age comments.

Length: 1 hour and 9 minutes
Solid Intermediate Workout
Music: Mostly instrumental with the exception of one song during the cardio segments that has some vocals. Not the same music as the Hawaii workouts.

Warm-up (6 minutes) - Marching in place with several arm movements to stretch

Cardio Segment 1 (17 minutes) - Pick up the pace with more marching then bring up intensity slightly with cross country arms (reach arms out further and pump). Boxer shuffle. Front taps with bicep curls added. Side taps with arms overhead. Back taps with arms out front. All the above has marching in between. Repeat.

Sculpting Segment 1 (10 minutes)
Pick up weights (1-5 pounds). Slow marching and walking in between some of the following exercises. Stand in place squats then pulse. Deadlifts with pulses. Stand in place back lateral rows. Marching in place with bicep curls.
Balance work - bicep curls with one leg back then lifting up back leg during curls

Cardio Segment 2 (17 minutes)
Pick up the pace with marches and cross country arms. Boxer shuffle and march. Side to side steps then add breast stroke arms. Hamstring curls then add tricep kick backs. Repeat side step section. March again and move into most intense cardio of sustained boxer shuffles with front punches, marching, and modified jumping jacks into regular jumping jacks. Repeat intense section.

Sculpt Section 2 (8 minutes)
Pick up weights. Lateral lunges first to one side then the other. March. Repeat lateral lunges with over head press in between. Curtsey dips then add tricep extensions. Walking. Standing tricep kick backs and pulses.

Cool Down and Stretch (4 minutes)

Summary: If you have tried and liked her other workouts, you will also like this one.

Instructor Comments:
JulieWW

03/08/2007