And I'm The Nice One

Ya that's what you think going into Bob Harper's new workout DVD Pure Burn Super Strength.  You've seen The Biggest Loser on TV and have seen Jillian yell but not so much with Bob. Everyone loves Bob as he has assumed the role of the nice trainer on the show. Well you might change your mined after you do this DVD.

There are two workouts to chose from. A short 20 minute workout where Bob does a nice job in that short amount of time of giving you a total body workout. The other portion of the DVD is a 60 minute workout. Now this no in and out pussyfoot through it workout. This is one of the toughest weighted workouts I have done! So with that said lets take a look at what make this workout a killer...

Bob gives you a nice stretching warm up then gets right to work. He starts you out with weighted squats, push-ups and a bicep curl into a should press. He has you do this a few times till he adds bur-pees into the mix so you are now doing squats, bur-pee, push-up and bicep curl into a shoulder press. He alters it here and there with holding the weights up or staying halfway down in a push-up. After that Bob has you do rows and dead-lifts. He then proceeds to bring on the torture with a series that includes front raises, side raises and pinkie up raises, this is hitting all three points of your shoulders and gets tough pretty fast. He asks you to hold these raises as well! He then goes back to rows and then does the arm raise sequence again.

You are then given a 30 second water brake and can rest quickly. Bob now has covered most of the upper body and now moves on to the lower. With one weight in hand Bob has you do lunges staying on the same leg. After about a dozen or so he has you pass your weight under your legs from hand to hand. This forces you into a deeper lounge and gives you better posture during the exercise. After the lounges a single arm row in a squat is expected, then the whole lounge, row squat routine is preformed again and finished up with jumping lounges. Bob now intends to work on your biceps and triceps with bicep curls and over head triceps extensions. After that bob has you move to the floor, with skull crushers and chest presses that lead on to an ab crunch series. Your back standing now but single legged this time. You are expected to balance and do hammer curls. Next are forward and side extensions that continue in a squat position. Then still in that dang squat, you start to do weighted jump squats then chair pose expected.

Bob goes back to the triceps then brings you back down to the floor to do the skull crushers, chest press and ab sequence again. Next comes a vicious plank series. Plank rows are followed by T-stands with weights and more push-ups! This gets pretty tough with how fatigued your body is by now. You move back into lounges, but this time it's a three sided lounge, front, side and back. A standing weighted pullover is done before you start the three sided lounges on the other leg. Bob has you holding your weight out straight to isolate the arm. This is done on both arms in the front and to the side. Then Bob allows you to have another break before he makes you do one last plank series. Starting out in a lowered plank (on your elbows) he has you raise and lower your hips then twist them side to side. The last bit is a raising the knee up to your elbow (you are on your hands now) and switching slowly to the other leg. Once done a few times Bob has you speed up for the end of the workout. The cool down is so nice after that brutal workout! Your body definitely needs the stretching.

This is in fact a killer of a workout! Bob although his seems like a sweetie pie as a person is a murderous workout beast in the gym. I can promise you that sweat will be pouring from you by the end. I'm sorry but Jillian has nothing on Bob. As far as doing this with my arm it was tough at some points. I had to take mini breaks (5-10 seconds and stop then return to the exercise) to fully do this workout. It is by no means a beginners workout. Although I'd give you props to try it just make sure you modify it!






~Fitness Mama

Personal Training With Jackie Warner

I've heard lots of good things about miss Jackie. That she's a kick ass trainer, she's tough and she'll get you to where you need to be. This is the first time I have ever done anything by Jackie and I had pretty high expectations from all that I had read about her.

I picked Jackie Power Circuit Training as my first video to try her out. Jackie as a trainer is very good, she is likable and goes into depth about the moves you should do and how to do them; as well as how they should feel which I loved. It's awesome when your instructor actually instructs you! I do want to watch a few more of her videos to get a better idea of her personality, she did feel a bit stiff to me.

This video is broken down into four, 15 minute workouts and one, 40 minute total body workout. I did the total body to get an overall feel for the program. The circuits are broken down by specific body part.

1st Circuit works your quads, 2nd your hamstrings, 3rd glutes, 4th chest, 5th back, 6th biceps/triceps and shoulders, 7th upper abs, 8th lower abs and 9th obliques. Jackie does each exercise for a minute with the circuit containing 3 exercises in total then doing all three in the 4th minute.

All in all this was a very good and challenging weight/strength workout. Jackie does most of the exercises with you but does go into teacher mode on part of them. I was expecting a bit more cardio mixed into the moves and kinda felt like I only half worked out. You know I didn't have that out of breath feeling you get when you mix the two workouts together. Next time I do this I will probably only do half the workout and mix it with a cardio video to get a more complete workout.

~Fitness Mama

Rock Hard Body By Jake: Total Body

I'm sure you've heard of Body by Jake before. I mean common the guys been around for forever! One thing that people associate with his name, is a good quality workout! Jake is known for making programs that work and get you results. Exercise TV and Jake have teamed up to give you 3 awesomely tough and effective workouts. In the next 3 reviews I'll be going over each program for you and how I felt doing such hard and physical workouts as a disabled woman.

Total Body Workout is taught by trainer Marco Reed, who you can follow on Twitter if you want. Marco is no nonsense in his training, he pushes you and pushes you hard. If you are looking for working hard and being in and out Marco is your man. He's tough but not unlikeable, which as you know is very important to your training. He starts out by doing the exercises with his group then stops to do some instructing and joins in for the last 20 to 15 seconds or so.

This workout is 40 minutes of intense training. It is made up of two 20 minute sets of exercises, each one is done for 45 seconds with 15 seconds of rest time in between while Marco demonstrates the next one. You will need a set of dumbbells to complete this workout to it's fullest. The first 20 minutes is made up with lots of push-ups and weighted anaerobic exercises:

"is exercise intense enough to trigger anaerobic metabolism. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength, speed and power and by body builders to build muscle mass," Wikipedia.

So you are doing lots of jumping (with weights) and ab work with the push ups. After you complete all the exercises Marco has you go through them backwards before moving on to the last 20 minutes of the program. The last 20 minutes were almost easy in comparison except for the Burpees which ended with an explosive jump just to make them that more painful.

I thought that this was a great workout for intermediate to experienced people. Given my disability I had to do a few alterations in order to complete the workout. When doing weighted jump squats I had to keep my arms at shoulder height, I had to stay on my knees for the push-ups and I had to completely omit the last burpee in the last 20 minutes (although I did jump rope in it's place). Things to note about this program:

• There is no warm up or cool down so you will have to do them on your own
• Marco skips a few of the exercises in the reverse section of the last 20 minutes in order to finish within the given time. So it's up to you if you want to do them or omit them.
• Marco also gives you no modifications for any of the exercises. I'm sure if you want to give this a shot you can figure out a way to do them but it's at least nice for the instructor to have a non advanced option.

Overall this is one hell of a workout! You will sweat, you will cry and above all you will get into shape if you stick with it! Stay tuned for the review of Rock Hard Body By Jake: Xetreme with Steve Maresca!

~Fitness Mama

Walking At Home

 Leslie Sansone is a renown fitness expert. She has become famous for her Walk At Home programs. She makes it possible for you to get miles of walking done in your own home. She proves that walking even when your not on a treadmill or outside is still one of the best workouts for your health and your body.

Leslie has a few free workouts on Exercise TV:

Cardio Slimdown

Start Walking 1 Mile

Start Walking 2 Mile

These workouts are great for someone who is beginning to workout and needs a lower impact workout. Leslie keeps more moving and grooving through her workouts. She doesn't let you get board either by just walking in place for 20-30 minutes. No she incorporates, kicks, side steps and even some dance moves into her workouts. I think that this is a great idea if it's winter and you don't have a treadmill. Leslies videos are recommended by the American Heart Association. 

She starts you out slow with a warm up walk and then depending on your workout she'll pick up the pace to power walking speed. Even though these are going to jack your heart rate up to the max your still moving and that is key. As long as you keep moving your helping your body and mind.

As a trainer Leslie is very motivating all though I did find her sugary sweetness a bit annoying at times. Too much of a good thing isn't always good. I still think beginners should give these videos and other programs Leslie has to off a try. Walking is my favorite outside fitness activity of all time! All in all beginners I ask you to check out what Leslie has to offer you. More advanced fitness freaks will probably want to pass for a harder workout.

~ Fitness Mama

Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown

Lets say you want to try some yoga, lets also say you want to get a good aerobic exercise at the same time, then Jillian's Yoga Meltdown is for you. This is not your typical yoga practice at all. In fact many reviews of this DVD don't even put this in the yoga category just a interval workout using yoga moves.

I love a good vinyasa yoga practice once in awhile, but to tell you the truth I like a good hard sweaty workout better. So in my opinion this DVD was AWESOME!!! Jillian states at the beginning that this isn't a "real" yoga practice. This workout incorperates repetitions to burn fat and calories while doing yoga poses. What I love is that she mentions that she is new at this, so it's kinda fun if you've done yoga to be one up on Jillian for a change he he he.

The workout is split into 2 segments, practice 1 and 2, each workout is 30 minutes. I did both of them to create a full hour of torture fun aerobic yoga! In practice 1, Jillian starts you off by slowly explaining the poses. I did notice that her Sun Salutation was a bit off in the beginning segments, but it didn't bother me too much. For each new pose Jillian teaches, you have to do it once, then you do a rep of it and then... you hold the pose for 15 seconds. As usual Jillian does a lot of teaching rather then working out with you so just be aware of that. The first workout is more for a beginner to yoga but will also give more advanced yogies quite a challenge.

Jillian doing Crow Pose; Exercise TV.

Workout 2 is for the more advanced yogies. Jillian does some poses that I was surprised she put in there, like the crow, which is a very advanced pose. You know I had to try it even with my arm and I was shocked that I was able to do for the 15 secs of holding! Yes it was very reckless of me to do since I was in a lot of pain but I had to at least try, (do I as I say not as I do disable readers lol). I can truly say that I worked up a sweat with this workout and I LOVED it! There was only one pose through the whole hour I wasn't able to do and that was a full bridge, my arm can't go over my head, so I did a modified version (always try and do a modified version of poses to keep the flow of the workout guys). When Jillian started the cool down I couldn't believe how fast the workout went, I had so much fun. I don't recommend doing both workouts unless you think you can take the challenge and be careful with some of the poses, but I assure you this is an incredible workout!

Jillian doing Camel Pose; Exercise TV.

~Fitness Mama

Biggest Loser Boot Camp

I like watching the biggest loser. I mean I'm not obsessed with it, but I'll record it so I don't miss it. Now I've reviewed some Jillian workouts but what about poor Bob?! We should give him some love too don't you think? So Bob here's some loving from all of us.

The BL The Workout: Boot Camp stars Bob Harper as your instructor. Alum contestants of the show are used as workoutees. Like Jillian, Bob does more instructing than joining you for the whole workout. The DVD is split up; Warm up, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Cool Down. I did the all of the DVD so I could share with you my thoughts about it. To get this over with warm up and cool down are just your basic stretching and low activity moves to prep you for what is to come and stretch you out for your recovery.

Level 1 is a 20 minute workout (which is the longest of the three). Bob does a good job of throwing in some hard moves to get your body sweaty in a short amount of time. You are suppose to do this workout for 2 weeks to build you up for level 2. Bob makes you use weights on and off through the whole workout focusing of upper and lower body moves. Level 2 is only 15 minutes but it is the toughest workout of the three. Bob uses much more cardio in this segment and adding core work at the end. I found this my favorite of the three and this is where I was really sweating hard. Bob introduces the medicine ball in this level which he says is fine to replace with weights (which is what I had to do). Level 3 is the shortest with a run time of only ten minutes. It was mostly upper body weight lifting using stretch bands (again I substituted and used my weights). There was not cardio in this level at all which I found strange for a Level 3 workout. I personally would have made this the Level 2. Next time I do this DVD I might reorder the Levels.

Bob as an instructor is much more upbeat than Jillians military style. He supports you through the whole process and when it gets tough and you want to put your weights down, Bob will pick his up and do that last few reps with you to make you finish! His fun upbeat personality just radiates through the screen! As far as the alum contestants go, they were just so so. They're form on the exercises was pretty poor and I'm just kinda shocked they didn't get other workoutees or re-taped the alum in better form.

Over all this is a great full body workout. I was expecting a little more out of it, but any workout that gets me huffing and puffing is freaking awesome! Way to go Bob! I am looking forward to working out with you again!

~Fitness Mama

Workingout With Jillian

These days you can't go into the fitness section of a store without seeing the epic trainer, Jillian Michaels staring back at you. Jillian is so big from being a staring trainer on the Biggest Loser that she has her own brand of diet pills, a treadmill designed with her training in it and of course her killer training DVD's. Jillian's three most popular workouts are 30 Day Shred (DVD), Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism, and my favorite No More Trouble Zones.

Jillian's workouts are no pushover by any means. Most of her workouts are comprised of circuits, this way she can torture train you to get more of a workout without resting. In the 30 Day Shred Jillian has 3 different 20 minute training sessions. Each training session is to be done in sequence as you grow stronger and progress. The circuits are made up of cardio, strength and core workouts. My only problem with this DVD was that I like to workout for 40 minutes, so I put workout 1 and 2 together to make a 40 minute routine. Workout 3 is best to either put with workout 1 or just by it's self because of its intensity. They are great for someone who is only starting out at 20 minutes a day, although doing the same workout for a week at a time as Jillian suggests can get quite boring and your muscles will eventually get use to the workout.

Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism is a pure cardio workout. It's a full 40 minute video made up of seven six minute circuits. Jullian works you through kick boxing, calisthenics, core and other intense aerobics. She jumps from one exercise to the other with very little play room for you to catch your breath, which is a good thing. Jillian also uses lots of jumping in this workout to jack you heart rate up. and burn that fat.

My favorite workout is No More Trouble Zones simply because I love getting more bang for my buck and this DVD definitely does that! Again Jillian uses her famous circuits to create a 40 minute session. This time though instead of just cardio she pulls out the weights too. So instead of just doing squats your doing squats while doing shoulder presses or doing lounges with arm raises. As she states in the workout, "just working your arm burns no calories or fat," so by adding some cardio to it your doing twice the work. I love this workout the best because it works your entire body from your arms, abs, butt down to your legs. You will definitely be sweating after this workout!

As a trainer in whole I was hesitant to try her workouts. I was worried that she was just so big and everyone was boasting about her because she's on the Biggest Loser not because of her training skills. But that isn't the case she's so popular because she's a great trainer. I love it when I get pushed and challenged in a workout, to know I earned that sweat dripping off my body and that feeling of being exhausted when done. Jillian goes in depth to describe the moves you should do and explains how they benefit your body, so your learning while she's kicking your butt! The one thing I don't like about the videos is Jillian doesn't do the whole thing with you. Now this could be because she needs to talk through the whole workout or it's just easier for her to teach demonstrating on one of her workoutees, but I still would have liked her to do the whole thing with me instead of saying how hard her workouts are and not having the wanting to do them herself with you. None the less this is no reason if your up for the challenge to try Jillian Michaels!

My favourite Kickboxing workout!

I've done quite a few kickboxing workouts by far and my favorite is 10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp. Taught by Keli Roberts, a renown Aussie trainer. This workout is broken up into 5 10 minute segments that can be done as single workouts, mixed and matched or put together for a killer workout 50 minute workout. The first segment introduces you to the punches and kicks you will be using through out Keli's training, the second is focused on working your legs and butt. Third works your arms as well as back forth is a killer all round cardio boot camp workout and last works your core.

In Basic Training Keli is fabulous at how she instructs and explains each movement that you will be using. Jabs, cross punches, front back and side kicks warm you up for the tougher segments if you so chose to proceed. This is perfect for beginners to learn the moves of kickboxing. Ultimate Buns and Thighs is where you'll definitely use those legs to kick and lounge through some calories. Keli incorporates weights to add some challenge and to take it up a notch. She also gives you some more advanced options if you chose to take them like adding a hop in between some kicks. In Arm and Shoulder Sculptor Keli trains you with some weighted reps and lounges to get more bang for your buck. She then uses the weights to train with the punches you learned earlier in the video. Once done slow with the weights she pushes you to really throw those punches without them at a high speed. Fat-Burning Blast is a cardio circuit training which includes jumps, planks, plank jacks, push ups and a fast paced agility portion which will have you sweating. Last is Washboard Abs where Keli uses side planks, regular planks and different verities of crunches to work your core and really appreciating that stretch at the end.

I always do all the whole dvd to give me my daily workout. Keli's cute personality and her teaching style makes me come back to this video again and again. This dvd is offered to my as a Netflix live stream and is permanently stuck in my queue. While waiting for each segment to start up I will jog in place or jump rope to keep my heart rate up. I would at least do two segments so you get 20 minutes in, ten isn't enough to burn any calories. If you are new to kickboxing and want to try it out Kel is a great choice.

As you may know Erin has an arm disability, but let me tell you this does not stop this girl from getting her workouts done!  In fact, she wanted to share with you how she alters her kickboxing workout in order to fit her needs, much like I have do with pushups and weights due to my wrist injury from when i put my arm thru a window pane.  So you know what Erin did for all of you!?!  She video taped her workout just so you can see that just if you have a physical set back doesn't mean you can't manage to find a way to follow along!  

 ~Erin "Fitness Mama"

40 with Kendell and Stephanie

I workout for 40 minutes 5-6 days a week, so when I chose to use Exercise TV, I love to combine workouts to get the most out of my time. Today's workout was a combination of two of my favorite trainers, Kendell Hogan and Stephanie Vitorino. I find that both these trainers create great strength and cardio videos that really get your heart pumping. Combining both of strength and cardio is a great way to get the optimum results!

I chose to do a 29 minute cardio workout with Kendell. His Power Cardio Burn will definitely make you sweat. The one thing that I love about Kendell is his personality. Not only is he not fake or annoying but he is so fun he makes you want to workout. He is also human, which is apparent in the few mistakes he made making this particular video. I noticed that he skipped a few moves he taught in the circuit and switch some with others. Some people might be put off by this but I find it refreshing that my trainer isn't a robot. If you are new to working you may find this cario circuit a bit too much, but I encourage you to giv it your best, even if you have to take brakes by just marching in place at least your moving and that is key!

I chose to finish up my workout with a bit of strength. Stephanie's Sexy & Strong video is awesome! She uses a combination of weights, bands (I didn't have bands and just improvised with my weights) and cardio to jack up you heart rate and make you feel your workout. Like Kendell Stephanie shows her human side to her viewers. She pushes you and encourages you the whole way. This is a great mix for a newbie who wants a challenge. The cario is in short bursts and you can easily catch your breath during the strength training workouts. I say give this a shot if you want to mix things up!

With both of these workouts combined I felt it. I noticed that I was sweating everywhere even my shoulders (yes gross but a sure sign that I am working hard). If you just starting to get into the fit groove do one of these at a time. Both these trainers will make you feel like your workout is a game and make you want to finish. I look forward to continue my workouts with Kendell and Stephanie and to bring their great workouts to you!

~Erin "Fitness Mama"