DVD-Rev: The Biggest Loser Power Sculpt

I received another DVD through the inter-library loan this week....The Biggest Loser Power Sculpt DVD. I did this workout this morning and uhhh, yah, I like it way better than the Weight Loss Yoga.

I decided to do the Maximum Results pre-programmed workout. The entire program was led by Jillian Michaels. The program started with a 5- minute warm up followed by a 20 minute sculpting segment and a 5 minute cool down.

Now, I have to say that LOVE Jillian Michaels....love, love, love her. She used to have a podcast on KFI which I listened to every week. The show helped me understand some of her thoughts and why she treats some of her contestants in such a rough manner. She's really not a psycho masochist. She has some level of thought process behind it all...actually a lot of thought. She's very insightful with her contestants.

HOWEVER, I can honestly say Jillian Michaels may be a fantastic trainer, but she is not an aerobic instructor. When you do aerobics, there is a certain tempo...a consistency which needs to be followed...a 4- or 8-count to follow when doing your exercises. There is no tempo, no 8-count during the Power Sculpt segments. And maybe I'm just a DVD snob, but I really like my 8-count. The 20-minute level I segment went by very quickly with a mixture of lower, upper and core exercises and with the exception of the lack of a tempo, I really enjoyed the workout....but it ended too quickly.

So, I decided rather than move into my cool down I went back to complete the Level 2 & 3 segments as well since they are each only 10 minutes long. Level 2 is led by former TBL trainer Kim Lyons. This segment consisted of completing the designated exercise and then doing a power segment were the reps were completed at double time. The segment was fine. Most of the lower body exercises were just a repeat of what Jillian completed in Level 1 with upper body movement included. The main problem with this segment is the power portion were Kim wanted you to speed up the exercise....but then later in the segment asked you to slow it down and feel the burn. Hmmm, which is it? Speed up or slow down? Kim did say some key phrases just as I was ready to put my weights aside and kept me motivated to keep going.

The Level 3 segment was led by Bob Harper. This segment was full of completely different exercises utilizing upper and lower movements. The segment ended with some core exercises which I definitely enjoyed.

One of the extra features on the DVD is the inspirational stories where some of season 4 participants told the listener about their journey. The stories were interesting and enjoyable. I hope someone out there will find them motivating.

Overall, I think the DVD is a good one which I will use again and again.

DVD-Rev: The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga - Part 2

I know I've had the DVD for a week now. You would think I would have gotten more use out of it. The library was already calling for it to come back to the library, but with my cold I only got to use it once. So, today I was determined to try the DVD again. This time I customized my own workout with a 5 minute warm-up, 20 minutes & 15 minutes segments and a 5 minute cool down.

The 20 minute segment was basically the Maximum Results program. Lots of Warrior 1 & 2 poses, triangles, and plank positions. Still, a lot of time on your wrists, but I didn't have that feeling that my wrists needed to pop today so that was a little bit better.

My favorite portion of the workout was the 15 minute segment which wasn't a part of the Maximum Results program. It was actually a 15 minute core workout. The segment did use a lot of plank positions, but I really enjoyed this core workout. It was hard, but I loved all of the different positioning without doing a single crunch. I was a little dismayed though when everyone on the DVD pulled out their light medicine ball to use in some of the exercises. On most of the exercises, I was able to substitute with a light hand weight and balled up my sweatshirt to put between my knees instead of the medicine ball.

Overall, I enjoyed this DVD. It's a good workout, something different for me. However, I am still not a huge yoga fan. I know if I keep doing it consistently I will see results, but yoga will have to be a supplemental workout for me. I know I've gotten a good workout. My shoulders, arms and wrists could feel it, but I just haven't caught the yoga bug...yet. I guess I'll keep trying. I'm giving this DVD a 3-star rating because 1) I don't love yoga, and 2) I didn't like all of the impact on my wrists.

DVD-Rev: The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga

Because of the winter weather, I figured I may need to get some new DVDs in my stockpile to help me get through the winter. I did a little searching through my library card catalog and found a few DVDs that I thought might be interesting to try. If I like them, I can always buy them later, right?

Since The Biggest Loser is a hot show for anyone interested in weight loss, health & fitness or anyone who just loves reality TV, I thought I'd try a DVD by the hit show. The first to come through inter-library loan was TBL Weight Loss Yoga with instructor Bob Harper.

Now, keep in mind, I am not a big yoga buff. I've done a couple of different yoga DVDs, but have a hard time with yoga since I don't know the names of all the poses and have to wrench my neck 95% of the time to figure out where my arms and legs are supposed to be in each pose. BUT the title said "Weight Loss Yoga". So, I thought why not give it a try?

I popped in the DVD and Bob gave a little speech about the benefits of yoga. Great, got it. Let's move on. I decided to select the Maximum Results workout figuring I was already in decent shape and really wanting a challenge out of this DVD. The workout started with some easy breathing exercises and some basic moves to warm up the body. Next Bob moved into a series of poses which really challenged me. Or should I say challenged my wrists? Holy Cow! Midway through the segment my wrists felt like they needed to pop and moving from plank to a push up down to upward dog resulted in me dropping to my knees and not completing the movement. The next series involved moving from the downward facing dog into Warrior 1 & 2 poses followed by some pose I can't even remember the name.

For someone who doesn't know about much yoga, I was satisfied with my challenge from this workout. The best benefit of TBL DVDs is that they do allow you to select various pre-programmed segments to vary your workout depending on your ability. Maybe next time I need to try a different segment as my wrists did not care to carry all of my weight through 10-15 minutes of the video. I did work up a slight sweat especially as several of the poses were held for a long time. I felt a good workout in my shoulders (and wrists)! The challenge was not enough for my legs, but it wasn't easy either.

One of my issues with TBL DVDs is that the camera sometimes focuses on contestants who really don't know enough about the exercises as of yet and they are not really using good form. Beginners beware: Make sure you use proper form and identify some of the stronger contestants to follow. I kept my eyes on Ali Vincent (my personal favorite) most of the time. The taping of this DVD was apparently after her Season 5 victory and watching her strike a pose and hold it was quite a motivation for me, one of her fans.

I am going to withhold judgement on this DVD until I'll had a chance to choose a few more of the workout options.