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Karen Voight: Burn & Firm - Circuit Training

Karen Voight: Burn & Firm - Circuit Training

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Owners of Sleek Pysique Beware!
Review: As far as the workout goes, it's good. It gets your heart going and tones your muscles. My problem is with the honesty of re-packaging the exact same workout and selling it under two seperate titles! There is no indication given in the descriptin of the two DVD's that they contain the same footage and I bought this one thinking I was getting a "new" workout...a change. I guess Karen Voight needed the money. Too bad she lost my trust.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to follow circuit workout
Review: First, let me say at the outset that this is an intermediate workout. If you like high-intensity/high-impact aerobics or you usually lift very heavy weights, this workout is going to disappoint you. Also, as is appropriate to a circuit workout, neither the aerobic or weight-lifting section are very long.

Having said that, I love this video. The three aerobic sections, all low to medium impact, are done on the floor. The pace starts out slowly but then quickly picks up in intensity. While I wouldn't call these dancy moves, you may need to do the video a few times before you pick up all the moves.

The toning segments are divided into Floor Upper Body, Standing Upper Body, Standing Legs and Abdominals. For both upper body segments, light weights are used, no more than 8 lbs, but 5 lbs will probably do pretty well for most of the exercises. Why? Because the moves are very fast. It would be too much of a strain on one's joints to use heavier weights. While I enjoy both sections, I prefer the floor segment, where she has a nice combination of pullovers, flyes and presses. As with almost every tape Voight has ever done, all of the moves flow quickly into each other.

The standing leg segment uses neither weights nor lunges. If you're someone who has knee problems and usually needs to modify (or skip) standing leg work, you will probably enjoy this section. Not that it's easy. In addition to squats, she also includes a one-leg deadlift variation which immediately targets the hamstrings and buttocks. Ouch, but in the good way. While I would have preferred some floorwork (which Voight does very well), I think she used standing work to keep the heartrate up after the last aerobic session, thus extending the cardio benefits.

While I'm not a fan of traditional abwork, Voight's work here is very effective. She uses a combination of yoga-inspired stretches for the back and then Pilates-inspired crunches and bicycles for the abdominals. You may not love this section, but you will feel it.

As to the comment that Voight recycled her work, not exactly. When this was originally released in early 2003, she offered this tape and Yoga Focus separately. Both segments were also released on one programmable DVD called Sleek Physique. That release allowed you to pick and choose segments from both programs to create a different workout for each day. While it was possible to reconstruct all of the footage for both separate tapes, it wasn't very intuitive and that wasn't the original intention. While I can see why some would be annoyed, I don't believe Voight was trying to exploit or trick any of her customers.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not for serious weight work-out
Review: I actually have this tape and have done it a few times. I wouldn't recommend it for a serious workout. Not heavy enough weight is used and the set and music wasn't anything I like either. I would recommend instead the newest "The Firm" tapes which you can "up" the weight on as you improve. I have numerous Firm tapes and rotate them regularly. You absolutely have to use heavier weights as the weight becomes easier or your body will adjust and quit making improvements. You have to get out of your comfort zone if you want to reshape your body!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great DVD workout
Review: I am a first time mom trying to get my body back in shape. The nice thing about the DVD is that I can piece workouts together. The cardio section is 24 minutes long, which I was able to do during her nap. My daughter woke up while I was doing the lower body work out and she was very amused by mommy's flailing arms and legs.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not her best workout
Review: I dislike having to give Karen Voight a negative review, but ... the music was really, really bad; actually, the music is pretty much always bad (except in Cardio Circuit Training), but she's such a super instructor, and the workouts are so well thought out, that I don't notice. That's not the case with the music behind Burn & Firm. To be completely fair, this workout is perfectly well-rounded for 30 minutes, with intense bursts of high rep weights and interval cardio segments (only four, though). I just didn't have fun doing it! Her other tapes are wonderful, i.e. Energy Sprint, Cardio Ciruit Training (fun step routines), and Personal Best. All in all, Karen Voight rocks!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Workout, Hard To Follow
Review: I love Karen Voight for her laid back (not annoyingly perky) personality and her excellent cuing, but some of the routines were insane! As soon as I got into the groove of a combo, she'd keep adding on to it until it was impossible to follow! I'd either keep doing the basic combo or turn the damn thing off b/c I was so frustrated. The weight lifting segment is effective and the ab workout is killer! The stretching segment was ridiculous if you're not extremely flexible. Overall good, but definately not for beginners.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: fun but not too challenging
Review: I thought I was an beginer/inter. when I bought this Dvd but I feel like the 45min circut workout wasn't hard enough for me. I haven't worked out to a vidoe for 6+ mo. I work out with free weighs (3lbs) and do basic leg exrcises, nothing hard. It is the next day and my arms are a little sore but that's it. I want to loose body fat I don't feel like my heart rate was up long enough to do that effectly. After I was done I felt like I could go on and do it all over again. I wish that the cardio was a little more intence. I was hoping for something that would challenge me more. However, I had a lot of fun doing this dvd so I will probably just do the cardio when I don't have time to do anything else.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun circuit workout...
Review: I would consider myself an intermediate to low advanced exerciser who uses The Firm primarily. I have recently
picked up a handful of Karen's video like this one. I really
like this video for less intense days as well as some of her
other ones. Some would call this workout easy, like I do, but
it's fun. And I do work up a sweat with it. It is a circuit
workout with floor aerobics, upper body work using 5-8 lb weights, light lower body work that doesn't use weights at
all and some solid ab work. The workout alternates between
aerobic and strength segments. There are 3 aerobic segments,
simple floor aerobics combinations that progress gradually.
The lower body segment doesn't use any weights as previously
mentioned, it contains some squats, hamstring curls, one leg
deadlifts, and some pilates inspired leg lifts with arm movements. There are 2 upper body segments, one standing using
5 lb weights where you will work the back, biceps, triceps, and shoulders. The other one is done on the floor, you start
with pushups, then on to pec flies, pullovers and more triceps
using 8 lb dumbells, I usually have to go back down to 5's when
it gets to the triceps. The moves are performed quickly, therefore it is best to use lighter weights.

I like Karen's instruction, she is a lot more lively than
in some of her older workouts, and she seems to be having fun
in this video. I definitely recommend this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Pleased with this DVD!
Review: Karen Voight is fantastic. I used to work out to Your Personal Best Workout when I was in college and loved her video. I had forgotten how easy she is to follow and and simply complex the moves are. Great work out! I love that I can choose a short or long workout and if I'm really short on time, I can just do cardio. Definitely purchase this one!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great workout!
Review: Karen Voight's new DVD is very good. I am not sure what the other reviewer said about it not being new because the DVD is completely new material. Anyway, the video does a good job of balancing cardiovascular training with moderate weight training. One of the noteable aspects is the fact that the workout contains a couple of good upper body circuits. Many videos (especially The Firm) tend to overemphasize lower body toning.

All in all, Karen's Burn and Firm will help you stay in shape, with easy to follow instructions, interesting moves, and good music.


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