10 Minute Solution: Carb Burner
Reviews from VideoFitness
I’m reviewing this workout after doing the three cardio segments several times each and the other segments once each.
N.B. This video has been re-released as 10 Minute Solution Carb & Calorie Burner. As far as I know, the only real difference is the couple of extra words in the title.
General workout breakdown: This video has five 10-min. segments, of which three are pure cardio; one is partly cardio, partly boot camp-style body weight exercises; and one is sculpting done for light toning and cardio. See Candi’s review for more details on each segment. Each has a short warm-up and cool-down / stretch included in the 10 minutes. Michelle’s choreography tends to be more athletic than dancey, and her combos are on the simple side.
Level: I’d recommend this to an experienced beginner ready to move up to intermediate through high intermediate.
Class: Michelle alone.
Music: upbeat instrumental.
Set: brightly lit interior set with neutral colors and some plants and a little furniture off at the sides.
Production: crisp picture and sound. Camera angles overall are helpful and not distracting, usually showing all of Michelle.
Equipment: sneakers; a mat (or equivalent) for Interval Burn and Metabolism Booster; 1 pair of (light) dumbbells for Metabolism Booster.
Space Requirements: If you can a couple of steps in each direction (side to side as well as front to back), you’re fine. This isn’t a huge space hog.
DVD Notes: Michelle’s introduction can be skipped. As with all of the 10 Minute Solutions, you can play all of the segments in the order they appear, choose one, or create a personalized workout by picking and choosing between the two segments.
Comments: These segments do make good warm-ups and/or cardio add-ons before / after weights or something of that sort.
There is some impact here, especially in the Power Blast and Interval Burn, but it’s fairly controlled. There are some slight twisting moves, so be careful on carpet if your knees are sensitive. Also, there are some of my least favorite exercise ever - burpees - in the Interval Burn. Ick! There have been some threads on how to modify these, for example by using a step under the hands.
I recognized some of the moves from Michelle’s other workouts, like Prevention Walk Your Way Slim and some of the Shape workouts, particularly Transforming and Redefining.
Michelle, as always, is upbeat and encouraging. Michelle cues decently, gives you advance notice of move changes, and mirror cues, but somehow it does take a time or two to get her moves and transitions down smoothly.
Yes, there’s some talk about burning calories and carbs. Michelle usually doesn’t throw in a ton of these, however. Except for that, Michelle is focused on the workout itself.
Candi has done an excellent job of breaknig this down, so I'll just add my overall impressions.
The power segment and the interval segment were MUCH tougher than I thought they were going to be! The Power segment reminded me a LOT of Cindy Crawford's Next Challenge. Lots of sports related plyo type drills. I liked the first two segments the best and see myself using them more than the other three. All in all, this was a great dvd at a reasonable price that has great flexibility in my collection.
She's pleasant, cues well.
I love this video! I consider myself intermediate, and it is a challenge. Since someone already listed the breakdown I'll just list some general comments. This video flies by, I never once looked at the clock. It is very high impact so those who don't like that would have to modify a lot. If you want a high intensity cardio rotinue you'll find it here! Oh yeah, the music is the best I've ever heard in a video. Pick this one up for a challenge :)
Michelle is very personable, with out too much chatter. She gets down to the point and encourages you to keep going when it gets tough. She is very friendly and she did a great job with this video!
I really like this workout. I did it for the first time today. It is only available in DVD and opens with a customizable menu. There are five (5) 10-minute segments and you can choose any combination up to a total of six (6) for a 10 to 60 minute workout. I opted for the Play All option (all five segments in the order they appear on the cover) for my first time.
Each workout segment starts with a creative warm-up that is specific to the type of workout. The warm-ups were a little higher intensity then I am used to as a warm-up but they were not out of my range. And if I was using multiple segments I would not want to go to a really slow warm-up in between. Each segment also has a minimal stretch at the end.
Slow & Steady Burn
This segment is supposed get your heart rate up and keep it steady. It accomplishes that goal. Michelle does several short combination with bouncy and spirited moves. While she encourages adding air, the moves are not plyometric. The moves tend to be athletic inspired and not dance-y. It’s enjoyable and easy to learn.
Carb Killer
This is a kick boxing inspired workout. I really liked the detailed instruction Michelle did for each of the moves. She really encourages purposeful movements not just flaying around. Her instruction of the roundhouse kick particularly helped me in that I never could get my legs to move right before.
Power Blast
This segment uses plyometrics. I really enjoyed it. I consider myself beginner/intermediate in part because of endurance issues. In this segment I had to pause once to catch my breath although I wasn’t panting yet. I think in the future I will be able to do it all the way through.
Interval Burn
This segment is bootcamp inspired. I found this fun and full of moves I haven’t done before (I don’t have any bootcamp workouts). There are a lot of moves in which you twist or bend as part of a larger movement and she did them quicker then I thought I could but was able to do them. This segment also has some floor moves that use a mat.
This segment had the one instance of Michelle modifying down after adding a move (jumping jacks to half jacks) and I was grateful for the break.
Metabolism Booster
This segment uses small dumbbells, Michelle does not even suggest a poundage and does not say what weight she is using. I think she was using five pounds and choose to use three because I wasn’t looking for a strength workout today. There are a lot of compound moves combining lower body movements with upper body movements. Many of the lower body moves reminded me of Tamilee’s I Want Those Buns. The segment finishes with ab work and stretches on a mat.
Overall I really liked this workout. I got a good workout and I had fun. I can see using the various segments as add-ons or doing one or two repeated for a specific type of work. I can also see using the play all option again for variety.
I really liked Michelle. She was clear, upbeat, and encouraging. She gave modifications first but encourages your to try the tougher version. I was also happy with her cueing.
This workout was fun to do and left me feeling pleasantly worked out.
I'm probably a high intermediate. I can do Cathe Friedrich's KPC without stopping but I can't do her MIC (hurts), nor do I run.
I used 5 pound weights for the final segment and didn't need to put them down or skip reps.
This workout also reminded me of Cindy Crawford's in some of the moves. The sports drills reminded me of Mindy.
The music was innocuous - not really fun like Cindy, or really beautiful like WHFN (FitPrime) - rather, there, without annoying me.
Very warm, friendly and encouraging while also professional.
She kind of reminds me of Mindy Mylrea, but she's not so stream-of-consciousness as Mindy when it comes to talking.
This one seems to be fairly popular, but I would have to rate it "nothing special". I found the moves fairly boring, but my real problem with it was that it was hard to string several segments together because each one had a short warm up and strength.
I much prefer Michelle's Prevention workout. That one has basic choreography too, but it seems more fun. Also, it is so well chaptered that it is easier tomake it shorter if you wish.