Saundra

Jillian Michaels Beginner Shred features three workouts.  Jillian labels these as 20 minute workouts, however, they are closer to 25 minutes. Each of the workouts features a warm up, three circuits, and a stretch. There are five exercises per circuit and each of the three circuits  are performed twice through before moving on to the next circuit. Jillian states that the workouts get progressively harder as you move through them. I didn't really think workout 3 was any harder than workouts 2 and 1. Jillian might start off doing one or two reps but she is mostly coaching and offering form pointers. There are two other cast members.  One cast member keeps the moves at the beginner level and one cast member shows more advance options. I like the set. It was nice bright and spacious. Equipment:  mat, dumbbells The DVD Menu offers the following options: Workouts        Workout 1        Workout 2  ...

The Method for Beginner s is led by Tracy Anderson. This workout is designed as a spring board for people to the Tracy Anderson Method. This DVD contains two workouts: Intro Part 1 and Intro Part 2. Intro Part 1 uses ankle weights, wrist weights, dumbbells, and a chair.  The workout starts off with a series of stretches and then moves into a mini arm segment. Tracy concludes the workout with a weighted dance routine.  I found the weighted dance routine quite enjoyable. Tracy does give lots instructions. She does not mirror cue. Workout 1 is just under 29 minutes in length. Intro Part 2 uses a mat, hand weights and a chair.  It clocks in at 32 minutes. There is a 2 minute introduction before Tracy starts the workouts.  The workouts starts with a series of stretches, moves into arm work, then there is weighted arm work where Tracy uses 3lbs weights and does 10 reps per exercise.  Next comes chair work.  The exercises in this segment are performed f...

Cardio Dance For Beginners Mmmm - where to start, Well this DVD contains four 15 minute cardio routines. The DVD gives you the following options: Play All Dance 1:  The Basics Dance 2: Get Moving Dance 3:  Cardio Connection Dance 4:  Cardio Blast From a choreography standpoint I do not want to say the dances are progressively harder, however I will say that as you move from Dance 1 to Dance 4 there is more impact and more jumping.  Tracy introduces each dance segment prior to the segment starting. So there is about 45 seconds of chatter before each dance. Essentially each dance is one long combinations and you are really just following along.What you typically do on the left you do on the right however this is not always the case. Tracy tries to cue but doesn't really do a good job. To make matters worse there is no real or consistent pattern so it is hard to say what it is coming next. And sometimes what is coming next is a move you had not seen before...

Mat Workout For Beginner contains three 25 minute workouts. The DVD has the following options: Play All Mat 1:  Full Body Beginner Mat 2:  Chair Mat 3:  Full Body Intermediate Each of the workout starts with an upper body sequence. Mat 2 and 3 use a set of hand weights during the upper body portion. Some of the notes that I took during this workout were: ** Tracy does not mirror cue, The cuing is lacking in the upper body sequence but in the lower body (chair and floor) it is decent. There are occasions when Tracy takes the time to demonstrate the upcoming move during the lower body portion.  Tracy also counts out the reps for you. Most of the time we are doing 20 reps. Towards the end of the sequence, Tracy ups the reps to 30.  Some of the reps are quick and Tracy will tell you to catch every other rep. For the lower body sequence (in each of the workouts) Tracy will do a series of moves for one side of the body before moving on to repeat those ...

10 Minute Solution Pilates for Beginners. There are five 10-Minute segments workouts on the is DVD.  And I did each 10 Minute segment as standalone workout or as add on to my morning workouts. The segments are: Core Basics Lower Body Basics Upper Body Basics Total Body Combo Long and Limber Stretch Even though this workout states that it is basic and for the most part it is, there were around two exercises that I found challenging.  Lara Hudson, the instructor does take time to set up each move. She emphasises proper breathing techniques for pilates.  With each move that Lara teaches, she gives you slight modifications to make the move more challenging.  There are not a lot of reps.  The most reps you will do for any exercise is eight. Equipment required - mat. This workout was okay. I thought Lara did a nice job a keeping pilates at a basics level. Core Basics 3 & 1/4 stars Lower Body Basics  - 3 & 1/2 stars Upper Body Basics - ...

My last workout for 2011 is KCM's Start Here from her 30 Minute To Fitness Series. Start Here consist of two workouts, Workout 1 (Cardio) and Workout 2 (Toning). Workout 1 is actually cardio and toning. The first half (about 12 minutes) is cardio . The second half (also about 12 minutes) is toning. I did the Workout 2 yesterday evening and Workout 1 this morning. Both workouts use the same warm up. I really like the music in the Warm Up. It had vocals and the words are about "feeling sexy". So I will start with Workout 2, since I did that workout first. So the Start Here DVD is touted as being beginner workouts. I agree with that in that the moves are basic and straight forward. There is not a lot , if any, compound multi-exercises going on. You are doing one exercise at a time. So this is the type of workout you can go really heavy if you want. There is nothing rushed about the workout. The tempo is fairly steady. I like this one. Workout 1 (Cardio). I kind o...