Karen Voight: Burn & Firm - Circuit Training

Rating:
Summary: Recycled Material
Review: My experience with other Karen Voight DVDs and videos has been very positive, especially with her "Sleek Physique" DVD. Unfortunately, I felt a bit cheated having purchased "Burn and Firm", since the segments on it are identical to the "Sleek Physique", cut and pasted into different combinations and missing the very well done yoga strength and yoga stretch segments. I recommend "Sleek Physique" instead of this one.

Rating:
Summary: Gets a Sweat going
Review: Pretty good cardio routine..once you get the steps down, its no problem. Excellent for all levels.

Rating:
Summary: Buy the Combo Instead
Review: The rountines are easy to follow and worth the purchase, but save yourself some money and buy Sleek Physique instead. Sleek Physique includes the material from this DVD plus the material from Yoga Focus (yoga strength and stretch) and is only nominally more expensive.

Rating:
Summary: One of the only videos you will need!
Review: The trouble with most videos these days (yoga, pilates, etc) is that there isn't enough cardio, so all that beautiful muscle could stay hidden a layer of fat! And many of the videos that claim to be "cardio" are only about 25 minutes long.
My first Karen Voight video was 'Your Personal Best' (w/ Elle McPherson) and I really liked the circuit training approach. She carries that through into this video. Circuit training is great because just when you're about to collapse, it's time to stop and do weights. This is an excellent intermediate workout!

Rating:
Summary: One of the only videos you will need!
Review: The trouble with most videos these days (yoga, pilates, etc) is that there isn't enough cardio, so all that beautiful muscle could stay hidden a layer of fat! And many of the videos that claim to be "cardio" are only about 25 minutes long.
My first Karen Voight video was 'Your Personal Best' (w/ Elle McPherson) and I really liked the circuit training approach. She carries that through into this video. Circuit training is great because just when you're about to collapse, it's time to stop and do weights. This is an excellent intermediate workout!

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly dissapointing
Review: This is not the best Karen has done. First of all, the music is horrendous. The workout itself is okay, not anything to write home about. I like The Firm much better. Will be sticking with that..

Rating:
Summary: Great for your heart
Review: This is the second video of Karen's that I own, and I am impressed. As for the music- who cares! All workout music is corny. As for the workout, I love that it's broken out into sections. If you're rushed for time you can do one of the 20-minute workouts; if you have an hour you can do the full-circuit workout. Whichever workout you do, it will get your heart going. At first, I didn't think it was working my muscles, but by that evening and especially the next day, I felt it! This is a great video for beginners who are ready to take the next step. It's fairly low-impact, it works a variety of areas and it really gets you going for the day. My only "beware" is it's very fast-paced and might take a try or two to learn all of her steps. But once you catch on, it's a great workout. For only owning two of her videos, I fully commend Karen's workouts. They're fun and they really get you going.

Rating:
Summary: k/v is the best
Review: This workout stacks up to every k/v workout - the cardio is low impact, meaning you will get a harder workout by making your moves bigger - and the strength portions continue to challenge me as I increase the amount of weight I'm using. BUT what I LOVE about karen is that her transitions are so natural, her movements are total body movements, nothing "jerky" or "bouncy." Her instruction is absolutely the best I've found, she tells you exactly how to get the MOST out of every move ... and the epitome of every Karen Voight workout is a deep muscle stretch at the end that makes it all worth it. This is a good workout - it's not as challenging as Energy Sprint, but it's challenging in a different way. This is a great total workout that requires only some free weights and good shoes.

Rating:
Summary: good overall workout
Review: When I first used this DVD, I was disappointed by the dull, elevator-type music and I found a couple of the steps hard to follow. After using it regularly, I picked up the steps and learned to tune out the music.

Karen Voight is a great teacher, inspiring without being condescending, positive without being saccharine. The workout is a good 45 minute routine, combining three cardio segments with a warm-up, four strength training segments, and a cooldown. There is a longer double circuit workout but it just repeats the segments from the standard routine

I might like a bit more of a challenge, but it does get my heartrate up and feels like a good balance between cardio and strength. I definitely plan to try other Karen Voight workouts.

Rating:
Summary: Burn Fat with Aerobics & Firm Your Muscles with Weights
Review: Workout Description: about 35 minutes of circuit training (5 minutes of aerobics followed by 5-6 minutes of toning-2 segments focusing on upper body and 1 segment focusing on lower body) and 6 minutes of abwork with 4 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool-down stretch for a total of 45 minutes
Workout Level: high beginner to mid-intermediate
Instructor: Karen Voight (fitness instructor since 1978; IDEA Instructor of the Year and Business Person of the Year; an IDEA's 5 Star Presenter; certified ACE Group Fitness Leader). Karen is an excellent cuer and very focused on proper form and technique. She exercises each side evenly.
Class: 1 other woman who occasionally demonstrates slightly more advanced moves
Music / Set: The instrumental music is fairly non-descript. The set has bright yellow walls with screens in front and various artsy lamps and other sculptural pieces scattered around the screens.
Equipment Needed: sneakers, 1-2 pair(s) of dumbbells (your choice of weight), optional stepstool for higher level modification in 1 toning segment, optional mat for abs segment & cool-down stretch
Caveats: Karen offers many technique pointers, which you should listen to carefully. Be careful with the aerobics portions if you work out on carpet. Instead of pivoting, I do a quick hop to turn myself.
Additional Comments: This routine does not require much space. You need to be able to take one step front and back and two fairly big steps to each side. Also, you should also be able to lie on the floor with your legs flat and arms extended overhead.
The aerobics portions do not have many complicated steps, but Karen changes her combinations fairly quickly, so it may take you a couple of times to pick them up. Unlike many aerobics programs, the arms are carefully coordinated with the legs so you don't feel like they're flapping around. As Karen says, you have to exaggerate the movements in order to get the most out of them. Even then, however, as an mid- to high intermediate exerciser I found that they do not get my heart rate up very high.
People who have been exercising with weights for a while will find the toning segments too easy. In contrast, this is a good video if you have not been working with weights much or even at all. Personally, I had not done much free weight work before this video, and I found it just right. Karen has very buff arms, especially for a woman, and she focuses more on upper body here than lower body. (For that reason, I like to alternate this with Minna Lessig's Fat Eliminator, another circuit training video that focuses more on lower body.) You will work your shoulders, triceps, and biceps, and there are some push-ups for your chest, too. The legwork focuses on the buttocks and hamstrings, with some attention to the calves and quadriceps. Even though the ab segment is not very long and is based on the basic crunch, it is effective. Somehow Karen explains the technique and varies the crunch so that you feel the burn, no matter how many crunches you've done.
The DVD has the option of doing the entire circuit once (45 minutes), the entire circuit twice (77 minutes-I use this now that I'm more advanced), just upper body (12 minutes), just cardio (24 minutes), and abs / thighs / butt only (23 minutes).