Quick Fix Stability Ball

As others have said each workout has been described before, so I'll skip that. Several years ago in a fit of exercising idealism I bought this DVD and promptly never used it. Finally several months ago I decided to get in shape, and I was glad to have this on hand.

If you're new to using a stability ball this is an excellent DVD to start with. Lets face it, stability balls can take some getting used to and a faster paced workout often results on you falling on your bum. This workout doesn't move too slowly, but it's not so fast paced that you're risking life and limb to keep up.

I love that this is 3 - 10 minute sections that can be used together, or separately. Nowadays I tend to use this DVD as "add on's" to other workouts, especially the upper body and abdominal section. The other thing I absolutely love about the Quick Fix workouts, and it's not limited to this one, is the handy little count-down clock in the corner. I honestly wish all workout DVD's had this feature because it keeps me motivated.

It's really a shame that the parent company (Gaiam I think?) isn't making more of these Quick Fix workouts, or even keeping the ones they have in print. You can pick them up cheaply on Amazon used, so that's good.

This DVD has been broken down nicely in previous reviews, so I will simply add my opinion on the workout overall. I REALLY like the ab workout - quick, challenging, but there are exercises that I can complete with ease so I don’t feel totally inadequate. I have done the abs section more than any other part of this DVD and have seen improvements in core strength. After about 5 times with this workout, I was able to do more reps of the more challenging exercises - I love being able to gauge improvement. I also like that there is someone showing modifiers throughout each section.

The legs and arm sections are nothing all that special or different in my opinion, but I have enjoyed them when short on time - gotta love that feeling of getting something done even if it only took 10 minutes.

I like Keli Roberts persona in this workout - not too perky, not too stale; very professional and no jokes that start to get old after several times through. I did not notice the music, so I assume it is nothing special. The set is not distracting or particularly “wowing.” For these reasons, I can see myself using this DVD for many years to come - as long as it’s challenging that is ;)

This is one of my favorite stability ball workouts. It is extremely time efficient which for some reason seems to be rare in Ball workouts. Usually the instructor spends so much time explaining the move and you lose valuable workout time while watching. In this workout, Keli teaches the move quickly and gives good pointers while you are doing the workout.

As others have said, there are 3-10 minutes sections. Ideally, I would like a lower body and upper body workout to be longer than 10 minutes, so these 2 sections often end up being add-ons for me. However, the entire 30 minutes, does make a nice little total body workout. The upper body workout is complete on its own and covers all the upper body parts. The lower body routine, doesn't seem quite as complete to me, and this section doesn't get used as often as the others.

The ab/core routine is very nice. It is easier than Cathe's ball work, but it is not too easy. It includes an easier version of the pike, so if you struggle with that, this is a nice alternative. It also includes some planks and back work, along with traditional ab moves.

Overall, if you enjoy using a stability ball, I think this is a great workout to own.

This my favourite ball workout. I've never tried anything else in the Quick Fix series but I may now after this. This is an excellant routine that can be done in its entirety or you can choose one or even two of the segments that you want: lower body, upper body and abs.

I really love the ab and lower body sections~!

This is a great stability ball workout. It is broken up into 3 ten minute segments for Upper Body, Lower Body, and Abs and Back. I did all three segments and enjoyed them immensely. I usually do advanced workouts for my upper body and lower body. So I actually did those segments twice yesterday and I can really feel it today. I only did the Ab and Lower back segment once and I can feel it in my abs today. Since there are not many ball workouts out there I really recommend it, especially with the easy chaptering of DVD. And the price is not bad either!

This is a 30 minute strength workout on the stability ball that is very thorough and effective. It's broken into 3 10-minute workouts. The first workout is for the lower body, the second for the upper body and the last is for the back and abs. It is fairly challenging - some exercises were more challening than others. I really liked it and felt it was a nice change of pace from regular strength workouts and also, this video is good for a day when you are short on time.

This is one of my favourite ball workouts. I love the Quick Fix series, and this workout, taught by the very experienced Keli Roberts is definitely on par with the others. There are three sections: lower body, upper body and abs. Each is exactly 10 minutes, and there is a little countdown clock in the corner that counts the minutes down. This is an excellent motivational feature.

The lower body section is thorough, but relaxing. It begins with some standing extension-type work, then moves onto bridge work and other exercises on the floor. The standing exercises worked the muscle but also by their nature stretched the muscle, which would make this section a wonderful add-on to an intense strength workout. I really enjoyed these exercises.

The upper body section featured a variety of traditional strength moves done while balanced on the ball or using it in place of a bench to involve the core. For most exercises there were two sets, with the second one being a variation: either doing one arm at a time or extending your legs to increase the balance challenge.

The ab section featured a variety of crunch variations done on the ball, followed by back work. It was my least favourite section of the tape. I had trouble figuring out some of the positions, and did not feel I properly worked my abs in this section.

I thought I would use these sections as add-ons to other workouts, but I think only the leg section stands out in that regard. I am not disappointed though because the time flies by and I was very happy to do this workout all at once. This is a great routine, and I am sure I will get a lot of use out of it.

This DVD, like all other Quick Fixes, contains three 10-minute segments which can be done on their own or all together in a 30-minute workout. The workout is led by Keli Roberts and has two background exercisers (one shows modifications). The set is a clean studio with wood floors.

WORKOUT 1 - LOWER BODY
After a brief warmup, the workout begins with squats and leg curls (standing with one foot up on ball and rolling ball out and in). Next, you work quads by sitting on the ball and lifting the leg straight out while turning the torso. Next is a killer series of bridges, where you lie down with the feet up on the ball. For the first set, you lift the hips up and down. This is repeated with one foot up off the ball (one set each leg). Next, you keep the hips up, but roll the ball in and out with the feet. Again, this is done with both feet down, then a set for each leg with one foot up off the ball. Next are inner thigh squeezes with the ball between the knees and side leg lifts with the ball held on the outer thigh.

WORKOUT 2 - UPPER BODY
The upper body segment requires two sets of dumbells and includes a lot of traditional upper body moves integrating the ball. These include overhead presses, bent over rows, bicep curls, lateral raises, bench presses, flyes, pushups, tricep kickbacks and rear delt raises. Most of these are done with one set using both arms, then a set of alternating arms. The alternating sets where you are sitting on the ball include a leg lift to work stability (opposite leg from working arm). The workout finishes with a set where you kneel with the ball in front of you, roll it out and pull it back in while pushing down.

WORKOUT 3 - ABS
This segment starts with a series of crunches on top of the ball, then you roll out so only the head, neck and shoulders are supported while you push the hips up and down. This is followed by oblique crunches and crunches while lifting one leg up. Next is a series where you lay on the ball and extend one arm out and up over the head while the opposite leg stretches up and out. Next are back extensions (supermans) on the ball, then inverted V-pikes. Then you do another series of stretching one arm and the opposite leg up and out, except this time you're facedown. The final exercise begins by kneeling in front of the ball, rolling it out with the elbows, then curling toes under and lifting knees up into a plank; lift and lower.

I own several stability ball workouts and this one is a keeper. I did this DVD yesterday and am feeling it in the abs, lats and triceps. And since it's neatly split up into sections, I can tack segments on to a longer workout.

Grade: A

What a great little DVD, especially when you factor in the low price!

Three 10 minute workouts--- one each for lower body, upper body, and abs comprises this DVD. You might think 10 minutes is not enough time to get a good workout, but Keli packs a lot into each routine.

The DVD has already been broken down, but I will talk about some of the highlights for me. For the lower body, I really liked the bridge work. This one you will really feel in your hamstrings-- mine were burning! I also liked the squat variation with one leg on the ball, rolling the ball out in front of you. Very tough.

For the upper body, Keli does a standard dumbell routine, but the use of the stability ball as a "bench" gives the moves a different feel. I found the chest work pretty difficult and had to use lower weight for flys and presses than I usually do when lying on my step.

The ab work was good, but there were some moves that I just could not do. As for the V pikes, if this is the "easier" version (compared to Cathe's in the pyramid workouts)I will have no need to try anything more advanced for a long time.

I like the set up of this workout. Sometimes I just add one segment to another workout, and sometimes I do the whole thing. When I do the whole thing, it seems like it is over before I know it.