Low Impact, High Intensity

Charlene is my favorite instructor for low impact workouts, and this one is probably her best. The outdoor setting in the Rockies(?) is refreshing & inviting. I wish I were there working out with Charlene and the crew. The choregraphy is typical Charlene, athletic & functional. Charlene moves on quickly from one combination to the next so you never get tired of what you're doing right now. Suitable for all fitness levels, and it's available on DVD. Hurry up and get it while you can. I don't know if Charlene will continue to reproduce & sell these.

If you are looking for a floor aerobics tape that is low impact, but that gives true intensity, this tape may be for you. Charlene leads a workout with different levels of difficulty and intensity and genuinely encourages you to do what is best for you. She will show a move and then show ways to make it more intense. It’s your choice which option you take. The workout clocks in at a little under an hour.

Everything you have heard about Charlene’s chattiness is true. I didn’t mind it since she was explaining fitness concepts and the interaction between her and the background exercisers seemed engaging to me. Plus, the workout happens outside with the backdrop of the Canadian Rockies, so when I was bored with the chatter, I enjoyed the scenery.

My cardio capacity did increase when I used this workout regularly. I have moved on to more complex choreography, so I don’t do this workout as much anymore. But, I recommend it highly for people who do not want to think as much or who simply do not want to do complex choreography.

I stumbled across a copy of this video at the library and decided to give it a shot.

This video is everything the title implies as it is what I would qualify as a 'sweater', without the jumping up and down.

Ms. Prickett leads the 45 minute aerobics in a carefully cued manner with aerobic segments mixed with small recovery segments. Take good use of the recovery segments because you will most definitely need them after about 15 minutes. You will be doing standard steps like grapevines, squats, skating moves, mambos and cha-chas. The tape on first look appears to be easy, but I am an advanced exerciser and found it to be quite challenging. Ms. Prickett will give modifiers as well for those who are at a different level of fitness. This tape was filmed in a mountain area and it makes a nice back drop. After the aerobics, there is a cool down and stretch segment, no abs though. This tape serves as a good introduction to Ms. Pricketts style of teaching for those who are not familiar with her.

I really enjoyed this video. I was skeptical at first as to whether low impact moves would get my heartrate up, but that first section of "high knees" taught me otherwise! In fact, doing those big, high knees pushed me into my anaerobic zone for some interval training (my favourite). There is a great variety of moves, and intensity levels, in this workout, as well as some balance work and squats and lunges (also gets the heart rate up there). I felt that I got a good, sweaty workout without killing myself (or my knees). Highly recommended.

This video is fun and gives you a good, long workout. It's a great tape for anyone who feels choreographically challenged--I was able to get the entire routine the first time through. And it's wonderful to find a workout that is truly low impact but not at a beginning intensity level. Charlene and her crew are working out outdoors in the Rockies--it's a beautiful setting. They look like they're having a lot of fun, despite the fact that it's 6 degrees Centigrade--that's cold! And explains why they're wearing jackets during the warm up! This was my first time with a Charlene Prickett video and I was very pleasantly surprised. After reading a lot of reviews of her tapes I was expecting to be turned off by what has been described as her constant chatter, but it didn't bother me at all. In fact, I actually liked it--she gives you some good information as well as conveying a lot of friendliness and warmth. I have only two small complaints about the video: the cooldown was pretty boring--endless mambos!; and the ending credits started rolling before the final stretch was finished. All in all, though, I give this video high marks.

I wish there were more videos like this...truly low impact, but gets your heart rate going. Athletic moves that you might use in real life. And it doesn't take a lot of room. I love that the other exercisers get to talk, they all seem like such nice people. Also, I like the longer length of this tape, I feel I get a full day's workout, which I don't with the shorter half-hour tapes most other people do.

I like the music, the setting, the choreography, the intensity level and low impact of this tape; HATE the nonstop inane chatter! It's a shame because if it weren't for the chatter I would love this tape, but I had to turn it off after 10 minutes and put it on the Exchange immediately.

This tape is a wonderful tape! I originally wasn't sure if I would like it since Collage rated it as an intermediate tape w/basic choreography (I'm an advanced exerciser who loves dancy, complex choreo.), but I'm glad I took a chance w/this video! It's a perfect video for those days when I don't feel like doing mixed or high impact w/complex choreography. The moves are athletic (lots of huge knee lifts, lunges, etc.) but I didn't get bored. I got a great workout from these tapes...I think the intensity could easily be increased to the inter/adv. range if you use a wide range of motion. Even though this is low impact workout, it's still a good one. This is a long workout (44 min.) which I also liked. This is my first Charlene P. tape and I intend to buy more.

I use this video when I want to work out without having to dance. Be prepared to sweat! Alternating between intense and less intense athletic moves and using the most basic of choreography, Charlene and her crew complete a seven-minute warm-up and proceed to fly through 44 minutes of low impact aerobics meant to keep the blood flowing. Collage advertises this workout as intermediate, but if you do it exactly the same way as Charlene does, making those squats and lunges deep and keeping those knees high, you can bump up the intensity into the inter/adv range with no trouble at all. Charlene even sneaks some balance work in during the recovery periods from the more intense aerobic charges. Once the aerobics are over, there is a nice nine minutes of cool down and stretch. As always, Charlene suggests less intense moves for those having an off-day or who aren't quite up to working hard. This video isn't for everyone, but if you want a long, low impact, intense floor aerobic workout, try it.

For me, this video was really hard at first. I was just outgrowing my "beginner" workouts, when I decided I wanted to try this video. I saw in Collage Video that it was low impact and the aerobics were 44 minutes long. I'm trying to burn fat, so I want around 45-60 minutes of aerobics four to six times a week. Now that I've done this video half a dozen times over the last month, I LOVE IT. Climbing that mountain at the end is great fun, because I'm working "somewhat hard to hard" on Charlene's exertion scale. I feel like I not only get a great aerobic workout, but also a great toning workout for my lower body. The moves include squats, big knee lifts, lunges, a "skating" move that works the inner thighs, and leg lifts for the outer thighs. This is a keeper -- A+.