Karen Voight - Strong & Streamlined

Rating:
Summary: This one's a winner!
Review: This was the first Karen Voight DVD I'd purchased and I have become a huge fan. Karen is an excellent instructor and very inspiring - if for nothing else than her own personal fitness and sculpting. Her approach is encouraging and motivating without the self-absorption I've been turned off by in other DVD instructors. While I admit that the "Strong and Smooth Moves" portion is challenging at first, it doesn't take long to catch onto her routine and it has had the added effect of improving my coordination. With a little persistence and practice, it is a good workout. My favourite portion of the DVD, however, has become the "Streamline Fitness" workout - a routine I really look forward to. I started without any weights at all (using body resistance) while traveling and continually in hotel rooms and yet still saw results. At home, I use weights and the new sculpting I see of my body energizes me to keep with the routine almost daily. I have worked out a lot in my life, but never have I attained the streamlined sculpting that Karen's workout has brought me to. At 41 I look better in a bikini than I did at 20! Abs...arms...legs...bum...if you stay with this, you will see results, too. Perhaps that is why I haven't gotten tired of this DVD...that, as well as the good pacing and Karen Voight's matter-of-fact, get-down-to-business, yet patient and empathetic style. This is my #1 choice for my workout routine and I know I look better now than friends who go routinely to the gym - and in less time. The "Streamline Fitness" chapter begins with a 7-minute warm-up then moves into arms, legs and buttocks with weights. If you are pressed for time, you can stop here after 30 minutes and do the 30-minute abs and yoga stretches later in your day or continue on with the abs - a most excellent routine that produces real definition. This is followed by a good yoga cool down (although still challenging). A real winner all the way around!