Rating: Summary: Excellent Workout! Review: I decided to buy this video after reading the favorable reviews on it here. I must say the positive reviews were accurate. This is a good calorie burner that's quite fun to do. I like how parts of the routine are done using weights (though you can still do them without weights if you so choose). On this video Kathy Smith changes scenery (and clothing) from time to time within the same routine (a cool editing effect). This helps keep you from getting bored watching the same setting throughout the whole routine. This is labeled as an intermediate-level routine, but it isn't that tough to follow. Still, if you are just starting out with exercise, you may want to use her "March to Fitness" tape first to build yourself up to this one. By the way, don't let an unfavorable review which characterizes this tape as merely a compiling of clips from old tapes scare you away from this one. That characterization is simply not true. This is a totally unique tape, and one that I'm glad I now have in my fitness collection.
Rating: Summary: MY FAVORITE KATHY SMITH OLDIE!!! Review: YES, THIS VIDEO IS AN OLDIE ALRIGHT. it was done in the early 90's so you can surely expect "cheesiness" in terms of hairstyles, clothing, and even the sets. This was made over a decade ago. Take out a photo album of your own and you'd be embarrassed at your own cheesy hair style and clothes 10 years ago! Now on to the important part -- do you get a good work out from this tape -- YES. The upper body workout is around 10 minutes. Next, you get five aerobic segments that last around 35 mins. My faves were the Latin and 50's dance segments. Finally, you do around 15 mins of lower body toning. The weight segments are only easy if you're using too light of weights. I've used 3 and then 5 pound weights and what a difference that makes. The entire workout is around an hour! This is definitely for intermediate level. I had great fun doing the workouts but what matters most was that I lost 25 lbs in 2 months doing this video every single day. THIS WORKS!
Rating: Summary: The cover is misleading but a great workout Review: Just bought this last night and really had high hopes this morning when I was ready to workout. But the covers leads you to believe that this is an recent workout when it's not. I was rather dissappointed to see the big hair, Kathy flipping her hair, cheesy set ups, older music and outdated aerobic moves. I do believe that it is a good workout if you can get past these drawbacks. I kept thinking to myself that hopefully the next segment would be more updated but that never happened. I was amazed at the fast pace of the workout though. The workout switches between one set that looks like a warehouse or a loft apartment and the other set is very bright and cheesy looking. After some sections, the DVD instructs you to take your pulse and it has a clock on the screen to time yourself. It also provides the proper heart rate for your age. There is a great warm up in this DVD and it's the best that I have come across to date. It really warms you up and doesn't rush you through it. Then you do a weight warm up and then several aerobic routines, switching between the two sets. There is also a lunge section that I absolutely hate doing because it's so fast paced and it's hard to keep up with them. Every now and then they will show a Kathy blooper and then immediately it flashes back to the workout. There is also a 50's section and I now realize why I wasn't born in the 50's since I can't seem to get the moves down. In the end there is a standing leg section, standing legs section with weights and then cool down. Overall, it gives you a great workout if you can get past the big hair and cheesy set up. I have now used this workout several times and am still learning the moves. I have lost 87 pounds and still have 17 more pounds to lose. I have done many workout routines and would concider myself to be able to handle high intensity workouts. But this workout gets my heart rate up and the sweat flowing.
Rating: Summary: Great cardio with hand weights; hokey sets and outfits Review: You will burn calories while simultaneously toning your arm and leg muscles, but don't buy this 60-minute video if you are bothered by dated sets (1990) or gross thong outfits. The shifting back and forth from black outfits to colorful ones, the changing camera angles, and the silly turquoise sheet waving around in the back to look like water can get pretty annoying after a while. But if you ignore those problems and focus on the workout, you will work up a good sweat, lose weight, and tone up the muscles of your upper and lower body with this fast-moving, dancy video. I do like Kathy Smith's "Functionally Fit Peak Fat Burning Workout," "Step Workout," "Power Step Workout," and "Peak Fat Burning Breakthrough" better -- her tapes keep getting better as she gets older. If you want a shorter (half-hour) tape that combines cardio with hand weights, "Crunch - Cardio/Sculpt" is excellent.
Rating: Summary: Buy something else Review: I have just received this DVD and have not been able to keep it on my DVD player. I have fast forwarded trying to see if it gets any better but am quite disappointed. The music, the set, the moves even, are much too cheesy and annoying. I give it one star because cueing from Kathy is great, as usual, and the division into sections is also practical. That is, if you keep it playing long enough without being annoyed by the rest of it.
Rating: Summary: MY FAVORITE KATHY SMITH OLDIE!!! Review: YES, THIS VIDEO IS AN OLDIE ALRIGHT. it was done in the early 90's so you can surely expect "cheesiness" in terms of hairstyles, clothing, and even the sets. This was made over a decade ago. Take out a photo album of your own and you'd be embarrassed at your own cheesy hair style and clothes 10 years ago! Now on to the important part -- do you get a good work out from this tape -- YES. The upper body workout is around 10 minutes. Next, you get five aerobic segments that last around 35 mins. My faves were the Latin and 50's dance segments. Finally, you do around 15 mins of lower body toning. The weight segments are only easy if you're using too light of weights. I've used 3 and then 5 pound weights and what a difference that makes. The entire workout is around an hour! This is definitely for intermediate level. I had great fun doing the workouts but what matters most was that I lost 25 lbs in 2 months doing this video every single day. THIS WORKS!
Rating: Summary: A Great Workout Review: I love this video because it is the first that I have found that is non-stop aerobics for a full hour. There is no floor work in this video at all. They use light weights in two short sections but they are not manditory and you can do the tape without them and still get a great workout. There are two heart rate checks in which they help you time your heart rate and tell you where your heart rate should be according to your age so you will know whether you are working too hard or not hard enough. I have only had this video for a few weeks and I alternate it with Firm workouts w/ weights and Yoga tapes and I have seen a difference already just by adding this tape. It is helping to get rid of those last few hard to reach areas. Highly recommended video... but warning.. it is NON-STOP for 60 full minutes. If you want to start with something easier maybe start with her Timesaver workouts. Also included in this video... Kathy talks at great length at the beginning of the video which is good for beginners. At the end she speaks briefly on nutriion.
Rating: Summary: AWFUL!!! Review: I thought, like the other person that commented, that this was a new workout, since there is a 2003 production date on the DVD. It is outdated, hard to follow, and generally a waste of time. I did give this review 2 stars because of the upper body workout, which is somewhat worthwhile, but it goes so fast and is so confusing due to the stupid camera angles that I didn't feel like I was really getting a good workout.
Rating: Summary: decent workout if you can get past the cheesiness Review: I've worked out with Kathy Smith's step videos, and although cheesy as heck ("AH HAA!" -- you know what I mean), it's a good work out. I decided to buy another Kathy Smith work out since I've been satisfied with my results from her step video and selected the "Weight Loss Workout", mostly because I thought the picture of her on the cover looked slightly newer (maybe it would be less cheesy). No way! I popped this baby in and I was cracking up too hard to even work out! It has early 90s written all over it. Each segment is set in a difference scene. My favorite of course is the "street" scene with a brick wall that has "Kathy was here" spray painted graffiti-style. Then there are the island and 1950s scenes. They tried to use innovative camera angles that just end up annoying me. Although I enjoy Kathy's work outs, I just find it hard to take this video seriously. In this particular video, the moves seem very dancey and I feel like I'm trying out for a MC Hammer video or an "In Living Color" fly girl. I DO, however, highly recommend Kathy's "Step Workout." It's on a plain set that doesn't look so dated. The work out is a gradual build up. You know, the kind where in the beginning you're thinking "okaaayy... this isn't going to help me..." and by the end you're sweatin' and heavin'. The time flies, and there is weight training and toning at the end. AH HAA!
Rating: Summary: OUTDATED? YES, BUT HIGHLY EFFECTIVE! Review: There were negative comments about how the this video is cheesy and reminds you of the Jane Fonda exercise videos of the 80s. Well, this video was done in 1990 so what more could you expect? This video is fantastic! It is a classic that I find myself doing if I want a surefire fat blaster workout. Despite being more than a decade old, it is very effective in losing those pounds and inches. It kept my heart rate up but not too high the entire hour. It is mostly low impact and the few moves that are high impact can be easily modified.Yes, the sets are not fancy and the feel is very 80's, but it did not matter because to me it was a perfect workout. I even enjoyed the 1950's dance segment. Personally, I liked the change of scenery because it broke up the aerobic segments nicely. The tape reminds me a bit of the FIRMs aerobic weight training method but this tape makes it way more fun.One thing it is missing is ab work which is easy to add on.This is a great tape for people that have a hard time keeping doing an hour workout because of attention span. I've heard people say that this or that tape was over before you know it - this is definitely one of those! Get this on DVD!
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