Saundra

Hi/Lo Recharge features Kristen Dowell as the instructor.  This workout is good old-fashion aerobics. Kristen takes you through seven combos. Although, combo 1 is an extension of the mini routine taught during the warm up. Kristin introduces each combo with a low impact variation before layering on with more complexity and impact. After learning all the combos, Kristen combines them all back to back for a final cardio push. After doing all the combos, you move into a cool down, this is followed by core work and then a final stretch.  I didn't do the core work or the final stretch. There is a beginner modifier. As well as a person that will show an even more advance option from time to time. The DVD comes with lots of options: Introduction Play All Chapters Premixes Credits The Chapters option allows you to select any of the cardio combos or core or stretch segment. There is also a Splice and Dice option you can select as well. The Premix option gives you seve...

Hi/Lo Med Ball is fun workout with a lot of personality. It features Tracey Staehle as the lead and there are two backup cast members (Jill and Barbie). The music is fairly good but this is the type of workout that just begs for vocals. Because it is instrumental, some of the moves get lost in "repetitiveness". The workout is called Hi Lo Med Ball, and it is mostly Hi Lo. There are only two Med Ball sections and one of those is an ab section done on the floor. In total there are 9 combos, plus a warm up and cool down. Combos 4 and 9 are the med ball combos. I didn't really like the med ball sections. The other combos are hi lo and feature, kickboxing, dance, athletic style moves. There's lots of jumping and plyo type moves. Tracey slows moves down to half counts and she speeds them up to double count varying the tempo throughout the workout. My biggest issue with the workout is Tracey's cuing. Sometimes I think she forgets she is leading a workout. She ...

Mission Possible is a cardio workout that is little bit over 50 minutes in length. It is similar in setup to Cardio Collectible but shorter. The sections are: warm up step multi-impact (hi-lo) cool down Extras are: Mission Briefing aka Introduction MoveMaster aka breakdown of the combos Bloops & Credits. The Step and Hi Lo sections are both 20 minutes each in length and the combinations are very basic. Compared to most of the Christi Taylor workouts I have done, this one is Step 101 and Hi Lo 101. Super easy to follow. Each section has four combos. Christi teaches in the layered and take it from the top approach. The thing that I did not like is that Christi did not teach the whole combo before taking it from the top. For instance, in combo two. She would teach half of the combo and then go all the way back to combo one before teaching you the second half of combo two. She did this in the third and fourth combos as well. I would have preferred her to teach all of combo two a...

Cardio Collectibles is about a 70 minute plus workout. It features a warm up and cool down and two Cardio sections. During the warm up, you have the option to use or not use a step. Christi uses a step, the other two cast members do not. The warm is about 7 minutes long. Next comes the cardio sections. The first section is step and it is about 30 minutes long. During the step combination Christi teaches 4 combos. She layers the combos on top of one another. After teaching combo 1, she moves on to combo 2. Before going on to combo 3, she takes it from the top with combo 1. Christi starts each combo by teaching you the basic moves but adds complexity as she moves along. Unlike her other workouts that I have done, there is not a group sticking with doing modification moves. However, for the most part the combos were easy to pick up. The next cardio section is High-Low. It is also about 30 minutes. This section does not use a step and it also contains 4 combos. It is taught ...

Solid Gold Cardio - this is my fourth Christi Taylor workout that I have done and it is definitely my favorite. The music and combos really came together in this workout. Both suited each other. Solid Gold Cardio has 8 mini combos. Combos 1 -4 are taught first, then combos 5-8. A brief perceived exertion test separate the combos. There is a warm up , much of which is used as part of the first combo. The cool down is the same cool down Christi used in Solid Gold Step which appear to be the cast member from both the Solid Gold Step and Solid Gold Cardio workouts. There are a lot of cast members in the cool down. In the Solid Gold Cardio, there are a total of seven cast members. Christi and two others do the advance and more complex moves. The remaining cast members do the modify or more basic moves. A couple of the combos were tough for me to pick up right away. The cardio is either hi or low impact. Christi makes the moves high impact by adding a bounce to the moves, but you ca...

Another 50 minute aerobic workout from Christi Taylor, Totally Hot Cardio features 7 mini combo routines. Christi teaches the first three, then gives you a perceived exertion test. She then teaches the next three. Christi tacks on one more mini combo before moving on to the cool down. Lots of modifications and variations shown in the workout. Christi starts with a basic move in which the whole cast does, as she start to add-on, two of the cast members continue to do the basic moves throughout and the other two cast members and Christi do the more complex moves. There were some challenging parts but I didn't think her combinations were terribly difficult to execute. The DVD has lots of contents . Some of which are: Bonus Warm up into Workout Move Master (breaks down the step) Behind the Scenes Bonus Abs Bonus Cardio The music has vocals. A lot of the tunes I didn't care for. I didn't think the music selection fit the high/low of the workout. It was hard for me to get ...

CIA 2202 All-Out Hi/Low & Step features Franny Benedetto as the lead. It is an older CIA Video workout that is part of the 2200 Series of Workouts. The actual DVD contains three 2200 workouts that were once only on VHS. I have had the DVD forever but up until today, I had only done CIA 2203 Cardio Strikezone which is a kickboxing workout. So I decided to explore the other workouts on the DVD. 2202 All-Out Hi/Low & Step is actually two separate 55 minute plus workouts. Workout one is Hi/Low and Workout Two is Step. I only did the Hi/Low workout. The Hi Low workout features an 8 minute warm up, 7 mini combos, and about a 5 minute cool down. Franny teaches the combos in a rapid layer approach. Once you get pass the warm up, there is not a lot of marching. You are always doing a move that is part of the combo. She teaches it, does it about 4 times and then she is like "let's move on". I mentioned this because a couple of times, I was trying to figure out where ...

Cardio Pump Hi/Lo is another workout I have had for awhile and I that I just got around to doing. It features classic Amy Bento Hi/Lo followed by classic Amy Bento sculpting. . The Hi/Lo portion is sadly too short - only about 13 or 14 minutes or so. It is athletic in nature and I didn't find the steps difficult to pick up at all. I want to say there are two combinations but I really felt there was one combination and then some add-on moves to that. . The sculpting portion is about 20 minutes and it features lots of equipment - club step, tubing, weights, stability ball and mat. The sculpting portion has some unique and traditional exercises. . The workout flew by. Amy is full of energy and the music is motivating. There is a lot of counting down the reps - something that I don't always like. So at times I found this annoying but other than that I love the workout especially the Hi/Lo portion. . The whole workout clocks in around 46 minutes. 4 stars