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Showing posts from December, 2012

Les Mills Combat HiiT Workouts - Thoughts

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Power HiiT 1 is just over 30 minutes in length.  It is a workout that is based on the principal of HiiT.  It is mostly a weight and strength workout but with a cardio aspect.  There are about 6 tracks including warm up and cool down.  A lot of the exercises repeat themselves. Warm up - 4:08 Run in place, forward and backward Squat, Ski Squat Side Shuffles Alternating Forward Lunges Inchworm Pushups Strength Phase - 8:40 Dead Rows Clean & Deadlift Clean & Press Power Press Power Phase 5:45 Sumo Jumps Cross Sumo Jumps Alt Plyometric Lunge Jumps Squat Press Body Weight Training 4:30 Burpee Jump Squat - 4 sets Core  Training - 4:00 Hover Planks Mountain Climbers Spider Pushups Cool Down Stretch - 2:45 Dan Cohen leads Power HiiT.  This workout does feature a modifier. Shock Plyo HiiT 2 clocks in at 28 & 1/2 minutes and it is lead by Rachael Newsham.   This workout features a lot of plyo moves that are repeated over and over.  There is one se

Les Mills Combat 60 Extreme Cardio Fighter - Thoughts

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Combat 60 Extreme Cardio Fighter clocks in at just over 53 minutes.  While Dan and Rachael are the predominate teachers, two of the other cast members steps up to teach part of a combo. This workout features practically all of the martial arts disciplines.  During one of the tracks, the trainer said "Welcome to the World of Kickboxing"  however there were no kicks in this segment at all.  I thought that odd. I felt Combat 60 had more cardio type moves than Combat 45 and Combat 30.  Simulated jump rope training, scissors, jump kicks and high knees show up on some of the tracks.  There is built in pacing in the workout.  Not only are there are lot of stop and starts as you move from segment to segment but the workout also slows a bit as you change your working lead.  Even so I felt the energy was high. Each segment features lots of repetition but it didn't bother me. I haven't mention music yet in any of the reviews.  For the most part it has been okay. T

Les Mills Combat 30 Kick Start and Combat 45 Power Kata

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Combat 30 Kick Start clocks in at 30 minutes.  There are seven class members with Dan and Rachael as the predominate leaders of the workouts. The workout features two countdown climber. One timer counts down the total workout time and the other timer counts down that particular segment. The workout also features subtitles that pop up and tell you what moves you are performing. There is a modifier who does less impact moves. The workout has two warm up tracks. The first track warms up the upper body and the second warms up the lower body.  I like the Kick Start workout.  I wouldn't say it was advance or it is not as intense as I thought it would be. As you move from segment to segment or track to track there is a lot of stopping. Most tracks end with and "ending pose".  The cast members are all wearing gloves. Combat 45 Power Kat a clocks in at just over 43 minutes.  This workout is similar to Kick Start. However Power Kata has more impact moves than Kick S

Les Mills Combat Basics

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Well I altered my rotation for December because my Les Mills Comba t system came in. The system consist of 8 workouts on 6 DVDs.  The first DVD is The Basics DVD. I really didn't consider this a workout. Dan Cohen and Rachael Newsham takes you through a series of disciplines and techniques that you will see thorough out the other DVDs. During this DVD they show you correct form and offer tips on how to perform each of the moves. The sections of this DVD are: Stances and Guards Boxing Karate Tae Kwon Do Capoeira Muay Thai (Kickboxing) Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu The Basics DVD is about 30 minutes in length and it is a nice tutorial and introduction to the system but not really a workout.  3 stars

Tracey Mallet The Booty Barre Beginners & Beyond - Thoughts

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The Booty Barre Beginners & Beyond . The main workouts is 35 minutes.  This is definitely one to start with.  I felt it more doable than last week's barre workout.  Not that it wasn't challenging, I still felt the burn , but the individual segments were shorter making it easier. Tracey offers several modifications from basic beginner to beginner-plus to intermediate throughout this workout.  Tracey did the beginner-plus version.  There was a cast member who did beginner-basic and another cast member doing intermediate.  I alternated between doing the beginner-basic and beginner-plus moves. A chair and a pair of hand-weights are used in the workout. There is a tutorial section on the DVD. This section offers sub-titles detailing what move you are learning to execute.   It is about 12 minutes long. There is also a bonus sections:  Abs, Booty, and Flexibility. This section uses a mat and is about 14 minutes. The set is clean and bright and the music has a modern tech

Susan Chung Rapid Fire 3 - Thoughts

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Rapid Fire 3:  Rock Steady Rock Hard is a 65 minute workout if you do the whole workout.  I did not do the whole workout.  I skipped the section on Weights. The other sections of the main workout I did do. My favorite part of the workout is definitely the blocks of Kickbox Combos.  There are four blocks total.  Within each block, you execute the moves on the left lead and then you repeat executing the moves on the right lead.  Each combo included kicks, punches, and intensifier moves such as plyos. The tabata section was okay. Susan takes you through a series of four moves done twice through. You switch the lead leg second time through. You are doing 20 seconds of work with a 10 second break. There is a clock that pops up during this section. A set of weights are used in the abdominal section.  This section was okay.  Lots of oblique and lower ab work. The ab section is about 10 minutes. The DVD is well chapter. The top menu is broken down as follows: Introduction Play Workou

Tracey Mallet The Booty Barre Plus Abs & Arms - Thoughts

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The Booty Barre Plus Abs & Arms was a tough workout for me.  I did this workout in parts. Mostly because it is a long workout. It clocks in at 79 minutes. This is definitely a workout I need to build up endurance for.  I don't do many barre type workouts and I am sure that is why. I did like the workout.  Tracey is pleasant to workout with.  Her instruction is clear, concise and helpful.  There is a beginner modifier that shows how to make the moves less intense There is a DVD menu that allows you to choose the following sections: Play All - ~ 79 minutes Fusion Warm Up - ~ 7 minutes Killer Arms - ~ 14 minutes Booty Barre & Abs - ~35 minutes Core Challenge & Calming Stretch - ~ 24 minutes The  Killer Arms section uses a set of 3 to 5lbs weights. In this section you are doing lots of isometric and/or high rep exercises. There is a lot of shoulder work. The Booty Barre & Abs sections uses a chair and a ball.  Tracey works one side of the body and then sw