Saundra

For February 2012 I will be alternating Insanity workouts with Cardio Karate . I have had the Insanity workouts since 2010 and just never got around to doing them. I would preview them and then decide I would rather do something else. I have only had the Cardio Karate workouts a little over a couple of weeks. Originally I was planning these for March, but changed my mind. I really want to see what these workouts are all about. Saturday is going to be Active Recovery day - mostly in the form of some extra stretching. I feel my body needs it. Since every workout, with the exception of Dynamic Flexibility, is going to be a new workout for me, I will be doing weekly blog post for the workouts I do that week. I don't have any evening workouts plan for February as I am looking to maximize my rest between workouts. February 2012 Wed Feb 1 - Insanity : Fit Test & Cardio Abs - 47 min Thu Feb 2 - Cardio Karate : Cardio Circuits - 63 min Fri Feb 3 - Insanity : Plyometric Car...

Extreme Calorie Burn could have been called Lean Hot Body 2. Same format but slightly longer, Extreme Calorie Burn clocks in at 67 minutes. I have to say, Patrick annoyed me or maybe it was the camera person. Patrick kept stopping "to coach". I am use to this because he does this in his other workouts. He does this so much in Extreme Calorie Burn that I don't think he even did 1/2 the workout. The part that annoys me is that the camera is on him quite a few times when he does stop which he does so very abruptly. So either I am thinking the exercise is over and I stop too or it messes up my count. There is a warm up, 5 interval blocks and cool down. The DVD has a chapter menu so you can choose to include the ab workout before the cool down, eliminated the ab workout and go straight to the cool down or do the ab workout on its own at a later time. The ab workout is about 10 minutes and it uses a dumbbell. The 5 interval blocks each contain two rounds and each round...

Cardio Coach Volume 5 is 63 1/2 minutes in length if you do the ending stretch. Without the ending stretch, the workout clocks in at a little less than 54 minutes. Following the same levels and zones as previous Cardio Coach workouts, Volume 5 breaks down as : Warm up - 5:18 - Level 1 Steady State 1 - 3:03 - Level 2 Challenge 1- 16:22 - three Level 3 Hills, each hill climb is 4 minutes with a 2 minute rest between hills Steady State 2 - 3:10 - Level 2 Challenge 2 9:37 - six - Level 3 sprints, sprint for 1 minute with a 30 second rest between sprints Steady State 3 - 3:12 - Level 2 Challenge 3 - 7:24 - four Level 4 Treks, each trek is 30 seconds with a 90 second rest between treks Cool down -5:39 - Level 2 to Level 1 Stretch 9:54 Volume 5 also contains Coaches Notes track (4:22) and a Bonus Track (3:25). This is another great cardio coach workout. I love all the tunes but the cool down music. That seems to be the case with me. I feel a lot of the cool down music is a bit sappy. O...

More Cardio Strength is approximately 55 minutes in length. There is no warm up. It consist of 5 blocks that are about 10 minutes in length. Each block is composed of 2 rounds that are around 5 minutes. There is a cool down. This workout follows Michelle, Peak format. That format is: Base camp, Ascent, Climb and Peak. With the exception of the first block, which does not include Peak and really doesn't include a Base camp, the other 4 blocks do follow the format. In the Cardio Strength workouts (this is Michelle's third Cardio Strength Workout) the Ascent level is the strength level, and thus weights are used. Michelle does a lot of compound multi- muscles type exercises. On almost every exercise you are working both the upper and lower body and sometimes the core. The Climb is cardio level - no weights are used. The Peak level is heavy on the plyo. There is a modifier. The Peak Exercises in this workout are : Block 2 - 180 Squat Touchdown Block 3 - Side to Side Jump Sq...

Another winner from Michelle. I am really a fan of her cardio workouts. More Cardio Interval Burn clocks in at 60 minutes, and the time flew by for me. Michelle said something about it being the last block and I was like "really?". There is a warm up, five Cardio Blocks consisting of two rounds each, and cool down. Each round consist of a series of training levels. As you proceed through the levels the intensity and movements increase. The levels are : Base camp, Ascent, Climb and Peak. Base camp is your recovery level. Ascent and Climb are where you increase the intensity. Climb is more intense than the Ascent. The most intense level is Peak. This level features a lot of plyo type movements. The Peak Exercises : Block 1 - Air Jacks Block 2 - Jump Shots Block 3 - Tuck Jumps to a Burpee Block 4 - 180 Lunge Jumps Block 5 - Quarter Eagle to Knee Slapper There is a modifier showing less intense ways to do the Peak Exercises. More Cardio Interval Burn follows the exact same...

Lean Hot Body is a 60 minute Patrick Goudeau Workout. It is interval based - mixing cardio intervals with toning intervals. The workout follows a similar format to some other Interval Style workouts I have. You are essentially doing everything twice through. Once on the right and again on the left. I believe there are five interval blocks for a total of 10 intervals. I was going to break down each of the interval with each of the exercises perform but the workout is not chaptered - which is a big negative. So the next time I do the workout, I will try to take the time to write down what is what. It is a shame that the workout is not chaptered or the main part of the workout is not chapter. You can select the cool down and the abs as separate chapter points. Anyway, as I was doing the workout, I was thinking it would be good to mix and match the sections - to design my own workout by shortening it or repeating some sections or simply just doing the intervals I like best. This workout ...

Cardio Coach Volume 6 is 58 minutes long. Your coach is Sean O'Malley and Sean takes you on a journey through several challenges and steady state intervals. This workout recommends the use of a heart rate monitor. You use the heart rate monitor to keep track of which level you are working at. The levels are : Level 1 Blue - 55% to 65% of max heart rate Level 2 Green - 65% to 75% of max heart rate Level 3 Orange - 75% to 85% of max heart rate Level 4 Red - Above 85% The workout breaks down as follows : warm up - 5:28, Level 1 to Level 2 Challenge 1 - 21:01, Four Level 3 to Level 4 hill climbs, followed by a 1 minute sprint, 2 minutes of rest Steady State 1 - 3:37, Level 2 Challenge 2 - 9:47, Five Level 3 Sprints, Sprint for 1 minute, rest for 1 minute Steady State 2 - 3:05, Level 2 Challenge 3 - 4:04, Level 2 Climb for 1 minute, Level 3 Climb for 2 minute, Level 4 climb for 1 minute Cool down - 3:55, Level to Level 1 Stretch - 6:42 I like Cardio Coach Volume 6 because it has more...

Latin Live by Jazzercise is 45 minute dance based workout. It stars Judi Sheppard Misset and Cheryl Burke as the instructors. It features a live percussionist and a circular stage surrounded by a ton of cast members. With the exception of the warm up and cool down, Judi and Cheryl take turns leading each of the dance segments. The Breakdown of the main workout is: Warm up - features both Judi & Cheryl Dance 1 - Merengue with Cheryl Dance 2 - Jazzercise Diva Dance with Judi Dance 3 - Samba with Cheryl Dance 4 - Jazzercise The Skip It Dance with Judi Dance 5 - Jazzercise The Hip Core Dance with Judi Dance 6 - Cha Cha with Cheryl Dance 7 - Jive with Cheryl Dance 8 - Jazzercise - Ball Change Dance with Judi Dance 9 - Cha Cha with Cheryl Dance 10 - Rhumba with Cheryl Cool Down - features both Judi & Cheryl Now, while the workout is chaptered, you can't select each segment as I have them listed. There is no menu for it. However, you can moved quickly from one segment to the...

Body Design is a long workout. I specifically schedule it for today because I knew that I would be off from work. It clocks in at 81 minutes, and I did all 81 minutes, and yes it felt that long. The DVD is chaptered so you don't have to do the whole workout or rather you have options to jump round and do what you want. The breakdown is : Warm up Design 1 - Lower Body Design 2 - Chest and Back Design 3 - Triceps and Biceps Design 4 - More Legs & Shoulders Design 5 Abs Cool Down. Now Patrick, tells you that you can pick and choose which sections to do, thus designing your own workout. I just think with the way he has it set up, it would be difficult to get a complete workout in. This is an interval workout and many of the sections contain some type of impact move. Squat thrust and mountain climbers both show up. A lot of the impact moves comes from moving on and off the step. Along with a step, Patrick uses a body bar for sculpting and balance moves. For most of the worko...

Cardio Coach Volume 7 is the longest Cardio Coach workout. If you do the workout as designed, it clocks in at 73:46. That includes a 12 minute ending stretch. The breakdown for this workout is : Warm up - 4:03 at Level 1 Steady State 1 - 3:03 at Level 2 Challenge 1 - 22:14 - this is four Level 3 treks, each trek is 3 minutes with 2 minutes of rest. Steady State 2 - 3:49 at Level 2 Challenge 2 - 15:04 - this is ten Level 3 Intervals, Alternating Level 3 Hill for 1 minute, 30 seconds of rest, Level 3 Sprint for 1 minute, 30 seconds of rest Steady State 3 - 3:50 at Level 2 Challenge 3 - 5:01 - this is a L3 Trek for 4 minutes followed by a Level 4 Trek for 1 minute Cool Down - 4:48 - work yourself back down to Level 1 Stretch - 12:00 I didn't do the ending stretch. This is one of my favorite Cardio Coach workouts. I absolutely love the musical score for this. As always, Sean is very motivating. My favorite section is Challenge 2. 4 stars

I received my Cardio Karate workout system. Right now, I don't plan to do the workouts until March. I did preview the workouts - something that I always do to make sure I actually received the right DVD and that the DVD plays without any problems. The 14 workouts that come with the system are : Welcome to the Dojo : Introduction to system only - 6:42 The Perfect Martial Arts Workout - 50:32 Disc 1 Cardio Circuits (Amy Bento Ross) - 63:00 Disc 2 Extreme Martial Conditioning 1 (Gregg Cook) - 60:24 Disc 3 Extreme Cardio Interval (Gay Gasper) - 57:40 Disc 4 Flexible Strength Conditioning (Keli Roberts) - 50:58 Disc 5 Cardio Intense (Amy Bento Ross) - 77:00 Disc 6 Interval Core (Greg Sims) - 57:43 Disc 7 Cardio Kata (Gay Gasper) - 57:22, Disc 8 Extreme Martial Conditioning 2 (Gregg Cook) - 64 minutes Disc 9 Cardio Plyo Intervals (Keli Roberts) - 53:45 Disc 10 Cardio Metabolic Interval s (Gay Gasper) - 64:00, Disc 11 Cardio Complexes (Amy Bento Ross) 56:15, Disc 12 Marti...

Carb & Calorie Burner features Michelle Dozois as the lead. It contains 5 - mostly cardio based- 10 minute workouts. One thing to note about the 10 Minute Solution workouts is that each 10 minute workout is fairly self contain. Meaning they contain some type of warm up and cool down - although brief they may be. Because of this, there is a lot of stopping and starting if you are doing all 5 workouts back to back. I found this to be true in all the 10 minute workouts I have done. What I found in Carb & Calorie Burner, is that there is a lot of instruction within each 10 minute segment - so it seems like there is even more stopping and starting than just when one workout ends and the next begins. The five 10 minute workouts are : Slow & Steady Burn - all cardio - simple moves such as side steps, knee pulls, & marching, Carb Killer - all cardio with a Kickboxing influence Power Blast - leg cardio drills Interval Burn - Boot camp influence (this segment uses a mat and con...

Cardio Coach Volume 8 is an MP3 downloaded interval workout that you can use - I guess - with any piece of cardio equipment. I use the Cardio Coach series with my Treadmill. The Coach is Sean O'Malley and he guides you through the workout using resistance and speed challenges. Volume 8 is 67 minutes long but that includes a stretch segment. If you do just the treadmill portion, the workout clocks in just under 59 minutes. To get the best out of the workout, you need a heart rate monitor that can give your heart rate max percentages so that you will know what zone or level you are working out at. The zones are: Blue - 55 - 65% Green - 65 - 75% Orange - 75 - 85% Red - 85 - 95% Sean is telling you what zone you should be in throughout the workout. Volume 8 breaks down as follows : Warm up - 4:37 (Starting at Level 1 and working towards Level 2) Challenge 1 - 6:43 (3 minutes starting at Level 2 working towards Level 3, Level 3 Hill Climb for 2 minutes, followed by a level 4 Hill...

Even though I won't get to these workouts until March, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge and order Cardio Karate. I really like the clips and hope at least 1/2 the DVDs live up to my expectations. I ordered online. Typical of ordering online (and I am sure on the phone as well) is that you are offered a lot of add ons. When you click "Order Now" the first page is where you put in all your information (name, address, and credit card). I deselected the check box that mention something to the affect of authorizing text payments for this phone. Once you "click here to order", I think it is too late to cancel. Then you get a series of offers to buy the add on equipment. The first offer is offering you the whole package, I believe the price was $79.95 + $24.95 S+H. Might be wrong on the shipping. In this package comes the pull up bar, three pair of sand weights, and weighted gloves. I said no thanks. And then one by one, pages came up offering the product...

Your Best Body Circuit is the third workout in Michelle's Your Body Breakthru series. The other two are Rockin Body Cardio Jam and Slim, Strong, Sexy Body Sculpt. This series is like a intro to Michelle's Peak Fit Challenge Series. There are a lot of similarities with perhaps the Peak Fit Challenge series being more refined. This workout, Your Best Body Circuit ( YBBC ), would be like one of her Cardio Strength workouts, except she includes what I consider to be a true warm up in YBBC . YBBC is about 58 minutes in length. The DVD does contain a 35 minute express option. Also you can select individual chapter points and make up your own/mix and match the sections. If you do the workout as designed, which is what I did, it breaks down as follows: Warm up Circuit 1 (Back & Biceps 1) Circuit 2 (Chest & Triceps 1) Circuit 3 (Back & Biceps 2) Circuit 4 (Chest & Triceps 2) Circuit 5 (Shoulders with Legs) Circuit 6 (Legs) Circuit 7 ( Abdominals ) Cool Down. E...

Slim, Strong, & Sexy Body Sculpt - This is a long title. The workout - well it is not short if you do both portions, clocking in at just over 60 minutes. There really is two separate 30 minute + a few seconds workouts. The first workout is called Upper Body and Core. The second workout is called Lower Body and Core. Each workout is broken up into 4 blocks. The DVD is chaptered in a way that you can select individual blocks to do. Both workouts contain their on warm up and a brief stretch at the end. Michelle uses a band and dumbbells in both workouts. The workout comes with a band - it is blue. It looks similar to what Michelle is using in the workout. I am not a big fan of band workout, although quite a few of the band exercises she chose I like. Sometimes she has you using the band and dumbbell at the same time - wrapping the band around the dumbbell for even more resistance. Quite a few of the exercises I found challenging. Also I felt that I had enough time to set up t...

My first workout for 2012 was Michelle Dozois's The Ultimate Workout . The workout, which is about 75 minutes is actually 3 workouts in 1. Michelle calls it The Ultimate Workout because it contains the three main components of a good fitness program. These components are cardio, resistance and flexibility. So you can play the whole workout, which I did because I was off today and had plenty of time to work out; or you can do any of the three parts on their on or in combination. 30 Minute Ultimate Cardio Blast Workout 30 Minute Ultimate Super Sculpting Workout 15 Minute Ultimate Flexibility Session The cardio workout . I am a huge fan of Michelle's cardio workouts, so I l0ve this portion even though it included push up. The cardio is mostly athletic, with a little kickboxing thrown in. There is some high impact but their is a modifier showing modifications. The cardio section contains a warm up, 3 combos consisting of 3 main exercises that Michelle builds intensity around...

Happy New Years Everyone!!! January Rotation I am starting off the New Year with Michelle, Chalene, Zumba and a little Patrick. I will add in some Cardio Coach, some PowerFit and sprinkle in Jazzercise and The PussyCat Dolls. I am looking forward to this rotation and I hoping to blast away those holiday pounds. The break down is as follows: Sunday - Cardio Coach followed by PowerFit/Harmony Core Work Monday (am) Aerobics & Sculpting (pm) Zumba Tuesday (am) Turbo Fire Fire Workouts Wednesday (am) Sculpting workouts (pm) Turbo Fire HiiT Workouts Thursday (am) Michelle Dozois Cardio Workouts (pm)Dance Friday (am) Michelle Dozois Cardio Strength Workouts Saturday rest