Rating: Summary: Great "traditional" work out Review: I initially did not like this video upon first viewing. It looked slow, and boring. However, I actually tried it, and was pleasantly surprised. The workout is not like a lot of today's Power Yoga DVD/VHS tapes where the pace is fast and furious. Here the positions are held for a fair amount of time, and repeated several times. The Yoga instructor starts out by throughly warming up the right side of the body and then the left. Most of the poses are not pass the intermediate level. The body is given a through stretch through slow repetition versus speed (i.e. MTV's Power Yoga and Rodney Yee's Power Yoga dvds). Overall, the workout is slow and intense. Please note that by slow I mean that the poses are held for a while, and the pace is not as aerobic as some of the other popular Power Yoga tapes, but you will still build up a meaningful sweat. The cool down is also pretty rewarding. If you are the type of person who loves a slow pace, this is definitely the dvd for you. This is a great dvd to practice yoga to, and definitely makes me believe that you cannot judge a tape until you try the work out.
Rating: Summary: Great "traditional" work out Review: I initially did not like this video upon first viewing. It looked slow, and boring. However, I actually tried it, and was pleasantly surprised. The workout is not like a lot of today's Power Yoga DVD/VHS tapes where the pace is fast and furious. Here the positions are held for a fair amount of time, and repeated several times. The Yoga instructor starts out by throughly warming up the right side of the body and then the left. Most of the poses are not pass the intermediate level. The body is given a through stretch through slow repetition versus speed (i.e. MTV's Power Yoga and Rodney Yee's Power Yoga dvds). Overall, the workout is slow and intense. Please note that by slow I mean that the poses are held for a while, and the pace is not as aerobic as some of the other popular Power Yoga tapes, but you will still build up a meaningful sweat. The cool down is also pretty rewarding. If you are the type of person who loves a slow pace, this is definitely the dvd for you. This is a great dvd to practice yoga to, and definitely makes me believe that you cannot judge a tape until you try the work out.
Rating: Summary: WOW!!! Review: I just did this for the first time this morning and all I can say is WOW!! I loved it!! I sweated and trembled, but really felt like a million bucks afterward. I didn't think I would like power yoga, Yoga Zone has proved me wrong!
Rating: Summary: One of my favorites - challenging! Review: I love this DVD - what a great workout! Straightforward poses (Warrior 1, Warrior 2, right angle, triangle, etc) are held for a long time for building heat, deep stretching and intense strengthening. The tape is a bit slower than some other power yoga tapes, which actually leaves me feeling like I've gotten a more thorough and challenging workout. The routine takes you through a series of sun salutation poses with long held awkward chairs and some great twists. I have tried and will continue try out other Yoga DVD's, but this will ALWAYS be one of my regulars!!
Rating: Summary: One of my favorites - challenging! Review: I love this DVD - what a great workout! Straightforward poses (Warrior 1, Warrior 2, right angle, triangle, etc) are held for a long time for building heat, deep stretching and intense strengthening. The tape is a bit slower than some other power yoga tapes, which actually leaves me feeling like I've gotten a more thorough and challenging workout. The routine takes you through a series of sun salutation poses with long held awkward chairs and some great twists. I have tried and will continue try out other Yoga DVD's, but this will ALWAYS be one of my regulars!!
Rating: Summary: Just what I was looking for Review: I LOVE yoga zone videos, particularly the ones with Alan Finger. However, I consider myself an intermediate and have practiced yoga for a few years, and most of Yoga Zone's videos are for beginners. I wanted a challenging workout, and also a more Vinyasa (flow) style workout. This was perfect. This workout isn't led by Alan Finger, but the instructor is great. The instructor goes fast, so it's great if you don't like to hold poses forever while they explain basic poses, maybe not the best tape to start out on. You move quickly from pose to pose, mostly warrior, right angle and chair poses. Half way through this tape, I was literally dripping with sweat. However there's rests (long down dogs or forward bends) in just the right places to recharge you so you can do more. I definitely couldn't do the whole video, especially some of the balance poses (like half moon, revolved triangle and reverse right angle that also require strength), but I'm glad I have something to work towards. Extremely invigorating and relaxing!
Rating: Summary: Very hard, but excellent! Review: I started doing yoga about a year ago, with "beginner" videotapes and some classes as well. I really like this tape a lot, for those days when I want a more strenuous practice or want to work on getting in shape. I usually don't do this whole tape two days in a row, because I find it VERY tough, and I am often sore the next day. Even though I like to think I'm in pretty good shape, and I have always had strong legs, I can't get through this video completely without stopping to rest or doing modified versions of some of the poses. After the warrior/chair series, they go straight into balancing poses, and this is where I usually have to stop for a minute -- by this time I'm sweating like crazy and my legs are burning, and you don't really get a rest before switching gears. By the time they get to the floor poses, I'm so ready to rest my legs that I don't even mind the "screaming pigeon" pose! I agree with the other comments about the lack of warmup on the tape. I don't think this is a tape for real beginners, even people in good shape because although they do describe the poses pretty clearly, they don't go into the details of the breathing, except to remind you to keep doing it. And the instructor is a little chipper for my taste. But I find her very informative about the poses. Right now, I am currently rotating this tape with Fat Burning Yoga by Crunch (which is excellent, and deceptively hard) and Yoga Mind & Body with Ali MacGraw (which is also terrific in a totally different way). Both are good "active" tapes, especially compared with many of the Yoga Zone tapes (Flexibility & Tone, Stress & Conditioning) which are good for stretching and de-stressing, but you don't feel like you've had a "workout" after doing those the way you do with these. I have about 9 or 10 yoga tapes and this one is by far the hardest -- although I am about to get a Baron Baptiste and a Brian Kest power yoga tape, and we'll see how those compare.
Rating: Summary: Challenging in a Good Way Review: I took basic yoga for a year and a half before moving on to power yoga. I bought this DVD to supplement a power yoga course I am taking. This is HARD for me, but nice because it is so long (about an hour I think) it takes awhile to do the whole thing, so I have something to work towards. I am about 2/3 of the way after a month or so. I would recommend doing basic yoga for awhile before trying this unless you're used to working out a lot. But once you're ready this is the DVD to buy. The instructor is really good and the exercises really work your leg and arm muscles.
Rating: Summary: Challenging in a Good Way Review: I took basic yoga for a year and a half before moving on to power yoga. I bought this DVD to supplement a power yoga course I am taking. This is HARD for me, but nice because it is so long (about an hour I think) it takes awhile to do the whole thing, so I have something to work towards. I am about 2/3 of the way after a month or so. I would recommend doing basic yoga for awhile before trying this unless you're used to working out a lot. But once you're ready this is the DVD to buy. The instructor is really good and the exercises really work your leg and arm muscles.
Rating: Summary: Difficult but worth it Review: I was surprised how relaxed I felt after doing this--I thought Power Yoga would be more like calisthenics than like stretching. You get stronger and more flexible at the same time--what a deal! This is more difficult than Bryan Kest's first video--more poses, more quickly.
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