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Tae-Bo Live

Tae-Bo Live

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Tae Bo is Excellent, but skip this one
Review: Tae Bo is an excellent way to get fit and Billy Blanks is a master motivator, but skip this one. Billy often times seems like he's making it up as he goes and loses track of his count and excercizes. Moreover, the constant yelling of his assitant with the headset gets very annoying.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: LIVE verses Original
Review: Tae-Bo LIVE seems to have been designed mostly for experiencedTae-Bo enthusiasts rather than beginners, because it's a bit morechallenging that the Original version. The basic moves are the same, but many of the new moves require more balance and coordination than anything found on the Original tapes. For that reason, newcomers may want to try the Original version first. Others will find some improvements in LIVE, along with a few drawbacks. The Instructional LIVE tape is far superior to its Original counterpart (it's also almost twice as long). On it, Billy gives you several helpful safety tips and pointers to make you a better Tae-Boer -- like how to kick over the seat of a chair to keep from overextending your knees. Unfortunately, on the tape I have, the sound fluctuates erratically and continuously, forcing me to constantly adjust it with the TV remote. Then, we move from the slow and careful Instructional tape, to the fast and furious Basic tape. The Original Basic may have been too easy, but the LIVE Basic is too hard! Billy throws new moves at you so quickly, that by the time you get in the correct position to execute one move (making sure your knees aren't over your toes), he's on to the next move! I eventually got used to it after doing it several times, and pausing the VCR a lot, but I still mess up some of the steps. Another frustrating sound problem: at the end of my Basic tape, the sound drops to a whisper during Billy's closing speech. Now on to the LIVE Advanced tape, which is especially grueling, mostly due to the agonizing floor work midway through. Billy Blanks proves one thing here: you don't need to buy any of those gimmicky machines to exercise your abdominal muscles! Once you get used to doing the LIVE Advanced workout, you'll be ready for almost anything! I didn't notice any sound problems on this tape, except that some of the music used is extremely irritating -- to MY ears anyway. I like the fact that Billy includes more warm up and cool down exercises this time (the Original Advanced tape lacks these), and I like how he admits at the end of the tape that it's a tough workout (really! ). Plus, LIVE's "double times" seem a bit more realistic than the ones on the Original tape. Also included in the set is an 8-Minute Workout tape (I never used this because I don't believe 8 minutes of exercise is long enough to do much good -- just my opinion). Overall, Tae-Bo LIVE is a pretty good follow-up to Original, but the technical aspects could stand some improvement. I think LIVE works best if you buy "Tae-Bo Gold" (sold separately here at Amazon) and use that tape after the Instructional tape, and then go to the Basic and Advanced tapes. Also recommended: Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo guidebook entitled, "The Tae-Bo Way."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best
Review: Taebo just keeps on getting better. I love the rush I get when I am doing it. If you want to lose the weight..then tae bo is the way...It really melts the fat. I finally found what works for me...tae bo of course... I have tried others and now I don't even bother to look at other tapes.
You have my word...choose ANY tae bo tape and you'll love it!!!
I guarantee you'll love it...You'll also feel better about yourself and the results are quick...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Too Easy and Too much Advertisment
Review: The major drawback of this DVD is that before the advanced work out there are many advertisments you have to sit through before the video begins. This is extremly annoying and makes me mad everytime I do the workout. I have only done the advanced workout and it is not as intense as his other advanced work outs. One positive thing about it is it has a really good ab workout. I would not have purchased this video if I had tried it first.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You'd better have commitment...
Review: Well, our family isn't the most physical, so my parents decided we needed something to keep us in shape. My dad had heard a lot about tae-bo, and wanted to try it. I had a feeling in the back of my mind that we would watch about 1-2 videos and then forget about it. well, we started with the instructional. It gives many good stretches and teaches you the basic kicks and punches. Ok, not too bad. A little hard, but not too bad. The main problem is getting your directions messed up. I mean come on, this is tae-bo! We paid 50$ for this! The least you could do is not confuse us.....All they had to do was put billy facing forward, and everyone else turned around. But oh well. This just adds to the complexity of the already hard moves. It may seem as if I have just been putting this program down, but trust me, these are just small quips. The complexity actually gives you reason to come back and try it again. Like the title suggests (as does billy himself) you need some commitment. So after punching our way through the instructional video, we decided to preview the "basic" work out. uh, yeah, I got tired just watching them, let alone trying to keep up with one of the exercises. After giving the advanced workout an evil look and throwing it in the corner, we popped in the 8 minute one. Now this one I liked. It was intense, yet not too hard to follow. I almost made it through. (It's actually a 10+ minute workout, but don't tell billy that...) Once again these are more minor quips coming from a person that just got the video series today.

Overall- despite my bickerings, I really do believe this is a great workout. I'm going to watch the instructional video a few more times, learn the moves, and hopefully be able to make it through the basic workout alive. I'll keep the advanced workout in the corner for now, thanks. So if you want a workout and are willing to commit, go buy this.

The funniest part of the video(s)? The fact that you pay 50$ for them and the first 10 minutes are about buying tae-bo gear, including water bottles, pants, punching bags, gloves, arm wraps, and more. Sorry, I'm not that commited.


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