15-Minute Workouts For Dummies

Rating:
Summary: Intermediate Speed, Classic Exercises
Review: "Common don't quit!" ~Gay Gasper

Gay Gasper is an internationally known fitness presenter who loves exercise and has been teaching for over 19 years. She has appeared in 27 fitness workouts and has a high-energy style. Each movement has a purpose and she doesn't waste anytime between exercises. This is why I'm going to say this might be intermediate. If you have been exercising for a few months, and are familiar with the use of dumbbells then you might be ready for this workout.

Some favorite features:

15-minute Workouts for Abs, Arms, Buns and Thighs
The countdown clock - motivation to keep going to the last minute

Aerobic sections between the weight lifting - This makes the workout feel like an interval training style workout. If you do all the exercises one after the other.

Challenging modifications for advanced users - you can add weights at some point.
Icons - Jargon alert, Myth Buster, Tips, Beware and Remember Icon.

If you are looking for a nice challenge, you can do all the 15-minute workouts and make your way through all 26 toning and shaping exercises. If you want to take exercise breaks throughout the day or just want to spend 15 minutes each day - that is also an option.

The tips were interesting and Gay gives advice like using a sponge mop for balance.

The music is highly motivating, the set is uncluttered and Gay's personality and voice are pleasant and inspirational. She also uses humor throughout the exercises. Her professional attitude towards exercise makes you feel confident and you can really trust her advice.

What will you need?

A space large enough to do lunges
Two sets of weights.

You could use 3-5 lb weights or even start with smaller weights and in a few weeks you will notice you are ready to move onto heavier weights. 3lb weights sounded right to me, but they say you can use two eight-pound dumbbells. It is better to work slowly into using weights and see gradual results. I started with one-pound weights and in about 30 weeks I was up to using 3-5lb weights. I no longer believe that faster is better. If it takes you 30 weeks to get to a point where you are really proud of yourself and you are keeping with an exercise program, then that beats a quick fix any day.

15-Minute Workouts for Dummies might even become a staple in your exercise video collection. I loved it and will keep doing this workout because it is highly motivational and the exercises are very effective. You are increasing muscle that eventually helps you to burn more calories each day. If I am ever having trouble feeling motivated to exercise, I just put this video in the VCR and within minutes I'm in the mood to burn some calories.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

P.S. You might also enjoy Basic Yoga for Dummies with Sara Ivanhoe. She is also an instructor in Candlelight Yoga which
is one of my absolute favorite evening treats before bed. I feel soooo relaxed after Candlelight Yoga. It is also especially beautiful with all the candles.

Rating:
Summary: Intermediate Speed, Classic Exercises
Review: "Common don't quit!" ~Gay Gasper

Gay Gasper is an internationally known fitness presenter who loves exercise and has been teaching for over 19 years. She has appeared in 27 fitness workouts and has a high-energy style. Each movement has a purpose and she doesn't waste anytime between exercises. This is why I'm going to say this might be intermediate. If you have been exercising for a few months, and are familiar with the use of dumbbells then you might be ready for this workout.

Some favorite features:

15-minute Workouts for Abs, Arms, Buns and Thighs
The countdown clock - motivation to keep going to the last minute

Aerobic sections between the weight lifting - This makes the workout feel like an interval training style workout. If you do all the exercises one after the other.

Challenging modifications for advanced users - you can add weights at some point.
Icons - Jargon alert, Myth Buster, Tips, Beware and Remember Icon.

If you are looking for a nice challenge, you can do all the 15-minute workouts and make your way through all 26 toning and shaping exercises. If you want to take exercise breaks throughout the day or just want to spend 15 minutes each day - that is also an option.

The tips were interesting and Gay gives advice like using a sponge mop for balance.

The music is highly motivating, the set is uncluttered and Gay's personality and voice are pleasant and inspirational. She also uses humor throughout the exercises. Her professional attitude towards exercise makes you feel confident and you can really trust her advice.

What will you need?

A space large enough to do lunges
Two sets of weights.

You could use 3-5 lb weights or even start with smaller weights and in a few weeks you will notice you are ready to move onto heavier weights. 3lb weights sounded right to me, but they say you can use two eight-pound dumbbells. It is better to work slowly into using weights and see gradual results. I started with one-pound weights and in about 30 weeks I was up to using 3-5lb weights. I no longer believe that faster is better. If it takes you 30 weeks to get to a point where you are really proud of yourself and you are keeping with an exercise program, then that beats a quick fix any day.

15-Minute Workouts for Dummies might even become a staple in your exercise video collection. I loved it and will keep doing this workout because it is highly motivational and the exercises are very effective. You are increasing muscle that eventually helps you to burn more calories each day. If I am ever having trouble feeling motivated to exercise, I just put this video in the VCR and within minutes I'm in the mood to burn some calories.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

P.S. You might also enjoy Basic Yoga for Dummies with Sara Ivanhoe. She is also an instructor in Candlelight Yoga which
is one of my absolute favorite evening treats before bed. I feel soooo relaxed after Candlelight Yoga. It is also especially beautiful with all the candles.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely NOT for the beginner
Review: Dummies. The series is supposed to be for people who have no experience and want to be brought up to speed. Well, unless your an athlete and a dancer, forget about being able to follow along with these. I bought a TamiLee Title, and it is just awesome, but I am sending this back. The exercises are done at an incredible break-neck speed, and the camera angles vary constantly so it's impossible to see what she is doing. The video IS entertaining I admit, it's funny to watch someone working out so fast, but for someone who wants a serious beginners workout video, go get a TamiLee video. Because of the speed of the presenter, she has placed speed over accuracy. I just stood there ready to throw something at the TV. If you're a regular Gym bunny and are used to the super-fast dance style moves, you'll love it. If your a newbie who wants something to get them motivated, this is not for you.

Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets for a hard core couch potato like me
Review: I am the queen of unused workout equipment and DVDs. I've spent hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars on equipment that I used once or twice, if ever, however I really liked this DVD. I found it to be really easy to follow, but I felt the burn. The workouts were the perfect length for me. Just when I was thinking about giving up Gay Gasper would remind me that it's supposed to be hard and that's the only way to get a gorgeous, lean body. Frequent acknowledgement of what I was going through made me feel a lot better about it. After the first time I tried the thighs workout, my legs hurt for days, but I found a certain amount of satisfaction in my soreness. The next time I tried it it was already slighty easier, but Gay Gasper offers lots of suggestion on how to make the workouts more or less challenging. While my legs recovered I worked my arms, abs, etc. The exercises were really simple, basically just squats, lunges, crunches , curls and a few others, I probably could have figured it out w/o the DVD but I prefer having someone on the screen to follow. I know some people say the host, Gay Gasper, is annoyingly cheery, but I liked her. This would probably be too easy for someone already exercising, but if you're a workout "dummie" like me, this might be just the thing to get you started.

Rating:
Summary: Great workout DVD!
Review: I enjoy this DVD and I think its great for beginners. The exercises are very easy to follow and not too hard to do. Gay speaks clearly and explains the moves well. I also enjoy the extra tips, and it shows you ways to make the moves more basic or more advanced. You get a good workout but do not feel overly tired. This is also a great DVD for you if you're looking to do strength training and become more toned.

The only thing I dislike about the DVD is that the warm-up routines are hard to follow. Gay does them very quickly and doesnt really show you how to do them. But after you watch them a few times you catch on.

Rating:
Summary: Dummies? This dummy can't keep up...
Review: Just getting started this is the 1st video I have tried. Since the word "dummy" is in the title I figured even I could manage.

However, after using the video 4 times a week for 2 weeks I still cannot keep up with the warm up. And I repeatedly have thought the warm up routine is well beyond any beginning dummy. So, I modify and once she tosses in more steps than I can manage I just do the first couple she teaches repeatedly until she is done with the warm up.

The work out portions are much easier to follow and I like the 15 minute time frame-- that is indeed my favorite part. I just remind myself that even I can make it for 15 minutes...

So, good time frame, impossible non-dummy warm ups with easy to follow work out portions...

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Exercise Video!
Review: No matter how many exercise videos I try, I keep coming back to this one. I really like exercising to Gay Gasper as she's very motivating without being annoying or complicated. This video let's me get a great work-out in only 15-minutes which really suits my after-work schedule during my hectic work-week. I hope Ms. Gasper will make more exercise videos for us time-crunched people. I especially like how she makes the moves easy to follow without making me wait around for explanation.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely NOT for the beginner
Review: This is absolutely the best workout video I've ever owned. Broken into 15-minute chunks that fit the little cracks in my daily schedule, these workouts are fun and rewarding.

My favorite is the abs workout. I also own the Ab Workouts For Dummies video, and I figured this segment of the 15 minute tape would just duplicate the other video. I was thrilled to see that it was a new ab workout. Sure, every ab workout is going to have a few variations on crunches, there's no getting around that. But there were several new exercises included, and the presentation was completely different.

I've been recommending this video to just about everybody I know. If you want a great workout that's fun and fits your schedule, give this one a shot.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This is absolutely the best workout video I've ever owned. Broken into 15-minute chunks that fit the little cracks in my daily schedule, these workouts are fun and rewarding.

My favorite is the abs workout. I also own the Ab Workouts For Dummies video, and I figured this segment of the 15 minute tape would just duplicate the other video. I was thrilled to see that it was a new ab workout. Sure, every ab workout is going to have a few variations on crunches, there's no getting around that. But there were several new exercises included, and the presentation was completely different.

I've been recommending this video to just about everybody I know. If you want a great workout that's fun and fits your schedule, give this one a shot.

Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets for a hard core couch potato like me
Review: This series of 15 minute workouts is good for toning. There is a section each for thighs, arms using hand weights, glutes which is mostly exercises on the floor, and abs. Each session has a good warm up (better than most quick toning workouts) that lasts for about five minutes and actually increases my heart rate. The exercises are simple and easy to execute. There are modifications to make them easier as well as harder though they usually just involve either using a chair or adding weights respectively. The exercises are quite repetitive and do get a little boring, but they are effective.

I found the little tips that come up on the screen using the icons like in a "for dummies" books somewhat annoying. Then information was mostly obvious or at least things that I had heard before many times, and sometimes it comes up when I was doing exercises on the floor and had no real way to read it anyway. I'm sure that part of the DVD will get annoying quickly, and once I learn the moves I'll listen to my own soundtrack. All in all, these workouts (two or so at a time) make a great addition to my cardio routine.