Karen Voight Sleek Essentials 2 - Thoughts

Sleek Essentials by Karen Voight focuses on the three essentials of fitness: cardio, strength, and flexibility to deliver a “fit, firm, and flexible” body.  Karen calls it her triple effect training system.  It is a 3 in 1 program.
In this system you have three main workouts, Sweat Effect, Strength Effect, and Sleek Effect.  All workouts are around 22 minutes.

Sweat Effect is the cardio workout. Karen uses a fitness roller to warm up the body. She then takes you through a series of athletic, kickboxing inspired moves. The majority of the cardio workout is low impact.  Karen does include some high impact modifications.  However you can always follow the modifier who keeps the moves low impact.  The workout contains minimum choreography and it is easy to follow. It is not drill base. Karen teaches the move on one side and then have you repeat on the other side.  This workout is about getting your heart rate up.  The music was very uninspiring.

Strength Effect is a weight based workout that starts with an easy warm up to get the body ready to go. Karen combines isolation moves with compound moves.  The strength workout is broken up into blocks. You go right from one move to the next without any break while you are working within the block.
The first block is legs and arms or more specifically squats, rows, dead lifts, bicep curls,
The next block is shoulders and arms:  lateral raise, chest scoops, standing chest flys, outer thigh lift, triceps press.
The next block is chest and back and it uses the foam roller in addition to the set of weights. Some of the exercises in this segment are weighted core twist,  single arm chest fly, lying triceps press, and pullovers.
The last block is abdominal block and it also uses the foam roller.  Upper crunches, lower crunches, oblique crunches, and hamstring rolls with arm variations are some of the exercises in this block.
The workout concludes with a roam roller cool down.

Sleek effect is focused on developing a firm and flexible body. The workout alternates body weight strength exercises with stretching exercises.
Karen start off with a warm up that later incorporates the foam roller.  The foam roller is used throughout as a  prop to assist with balance and on some moves it is used to increase the flexibility.
Hamstring curls and quad extension are some the body weight exercises.
The core is work with a series of abdominal and back exercises, c curve sit ups, lower body crunch with the roller  and super mans are exercises in the segment.
The next block works core and legs by performing a series of lying side inner thigh leg lifts, side plank lifts and elbow planks roll ins.
The last block, cool down concludes with a total body stretch using the foam roller.
I really enjoyed this workout. I  liked how Karen combined the body toning with the flexibility.

The four workout is the Foam Roller Basics workout. This is essentially a premix made up of the foam roller segments from the three main workouts.
The DVD also includes a 50 minute premix that also contains segments from the three main workouts.  I did not do the 50 minute premix.

The DVD offers the following option.
-          Karen explains the workouts
-          The complete sleek 7 day workout 50 minute
-          Sweat Effect workout 20 min
-          Strength Effect workout 20 min
-          Sleek Effect  workout 20 min
-          Roller Basics workout 20 min
I did not care for the music really in any of the workouts.  Reminded me of very bad elevator music.  Along with Karen there are 4 other cast members and there is one person in each workout that shows modifications.
The DVD that comes in a CD size cardboard box.

Sweat Effect - 3 & 1/2 stars
Strength Effect - 3 & 1/4 stars
Sleek Effect - 3 & 3/4 stars
Foam Roller Basics - 3 stars