Women's Health: Perfect Body Workout

I was almost afraid to get this DVD, having heard that the whooping of the backgrounders was still in evidence. They were almost unbearable in the first two WH DVDs by Amy. But actually, they seemed less annoying in this DVD -- maybe because the music was louder. I could hear the whoops and "uh-huhs" but not so much of the inane comments like "Oh yeah, that's right!" or whatever. Overall, that factor was no worse than in a typical Crunch video.

Amy's 20-minute cardio section starts with "ski" "tennis" and "swimming" moves. All involve step touches-cum-lateral leaps side to side, just with different arm movements. The tennis also has a sort of little leap forward, then back. I thought the attempts to compare these to sports moves a little strained, but it gets the job done -- get your heart rate up. Some jacks, too.

The second 10 minutes is kickboxing. Although Amy's form on the kicks leaves something to be desired, it was a perfectly fine, fun little intermediate routine. Mostly front kicks and punches.

There are a lot of interim squats between cardio moves.

I liked the strength portion. It's 20 minutes of basically aerobic weight training. You do lots of compound moves, like lunge forward while lifting weights in front of you, then torso twist. Also side lunge with tricep kickback, then back into neutral stance with tricep extension.

Core includes crunches, lower body lifts, planks with leg lift and tuck, and back work lying on your stomach. Also side planks.