Kickbutt Floor Burn

Floor Legs

I returned to this workout last night after having it in my collection for years. At the end, when Tamela says "That was fun". I had to agree. It was fun! I enjoyed it and time seemed to fly. I will be doing this workout more regularly. The workout is well-cued, and has, in my opinion, the right mix of yoga and pilates, especially from the perspective of someone who doesn't like yoga. There are three things that I particularly like about this workout. First, the mood is light and welcoming which makes it fun to workout. This mood is created by the set which is nice and bright, and the music that is appropriate to the workout. Second, I like the lily-pad move - just a bit of light jumping to get the heart rate up. It makes me feel like a kid again. Third, I like the stretch. The second portion of the stretch is done seated on the step, and I feel particularly well stretched out after this morning.

This workout has already been broken down by other reviews, so I will just add a few comments. As far as equipment, you need 2 yoga blocks (or pillows), a high step (or tall box, fanny lifter, step stool) and light to medium dumbbells.

I was fooled going into this workout, thinking it would be easy. If you really concentrate on form throughout, a lot of the lower body moves are difficult and you can really feel the burn while doing them. The table work is done over the high step (or substitute.) There is a part where you rotate your bent leg and lift in a pulsing move which really burns the outer thigh/glute area. The floor work felt effective to me and she did mostly leg work (outer/inner thighs and glutes, mostly pilates based. I thought the ab work was also good, although I read reviews that thought it was too short -- I didn't, but I generally don't like to do longer than 8-10 minutes for abs.

The ending stretch was my favorite part. She did some hip openers that felt great, and then warrior stretches (modified with the high step.)

I thought this workout was well put together, and will not mistake it again, for an easy day workout.

I actually wanted to compare and contrast both versions of Floor Burn - a tape primarily focusing on exercises done on the floor. On viewing both versions they appear very similar and there are only minor differences between the two versions.

I will concentrate on Susan's workout as I have done it 3 times vs Tamela's once.

Warm Up - fairly unremarkable - Susan does the workout barefoot and doesn't look completely comfortable.

Stretches on Tall Box - includes lunges and the pilates "Thread a Needle" move but lets the hips collapse rather than getting a good rotational stretch of the torso. Also includes stretch for the hip flexors.

Adductions on the floor: Susan encourages hip stacking which is positive - however the movement would be 100% more effectie if she lay down and the movements weren't so jerky.

Tricep/leg lift combination: performed too quickly to be properly effective

Tall Step Inner Thigh: hips not aligned properly - the movement too fast and sloppy.

Bicep Curl with Inner Thigh action: again Susan moved too fast to be effective.

Donkey Kick on Tall Step/ External Hip Rotation - although the target appears to be glute maximus/medius the only muscle group really punished is piriformis which fatigues at the expense of the other muscles. The angle of hip to thigh actually diminishes the activity of glute medius somewhat.

Jumping Move: we are encouraged to lift the glutes - this does work the core, but there are safer ways to achieve the same effect.

Bridging with Glute Pump: To be most effective, the hips must be aligned and very controlled (ie no slop) - Susan's control of her hips in this exercise was poor and the addition of weights detracts from, rather than enhances the exercise.

Roll and Hold to Front: - an advanced move which she does well.

Ab workout: Susan advises to "imprint the spine" which is not very clear. A better way would be to emphasise and demonstrate neutral spine. She does a bicycle maneouvre, but more contol is needed.

Yoga sequence - Susan starts off with a Cat Stretch with a strong hyperextension of her spine - I prefer cat stretch starting in neutral spine or a more controlled hyperextension. She moves into cobra/ up dog and then downward dog - her alignment could be much better.

This is a workout that had so much potential but is ruined by poor teaching and lack of purpose for the movements described above. Unless you have time to burn, I'd give this one a miss.

Floor Burn was a pleasant surprise; I didn't think I would like it as much as I do. As the title suggests, most of the half hour workout is done on the floor. The workout focuses on the lower body, including inner and outer thighs, glutes and abs. There is a standing warm-up, and then you go to the floor for various side-lying leg raises for abductors and adductors (inner and outer thighs). Tamela uses a small dumbbell on the thigh, but I used ankle weights, which I kept on during all the leg work. One nice tip was using a yoga block under the top leg which is crossed over the working leg during inner thigh raises. You do some bent leg raises and hydrant type moves for the glutes and hamstrings, lying over a step (I used my Firm Fanny Lifter). There is also bridge work, where you lie on your back and hold weights on your hips as you lift them. There are some abdominal exercises, such as bicycle moves, and crunches, but I felt there was not enough abdominal work. There are also some pushups on the knees, and I wondered why Tamela didn't show a variation on the toes. There are also some side-lying pilates leg sequences. If you enjoy floor work, you will enjoy this DVD. I give it an A-.

Women's Health & Fitness Network Floor Burn is part of the KickButt series and is a fusion workout with 21 minutes of Pilates, 6 minutes of cardio, 10 minutes of yoga and 6 minutes of weights. It's a little over 40 minutes long total. Tamela Hastie leads, dressed in a bright yellow top and black pants, and looking fit, healthy, and a bit more serious than she did in Cardio Burn, but not somber by any means. She looked very mature and relaxed, and I hope she leads more workouts in the future! She was flawless in her form and instruction, and her Pilates training really shows!

The warm up is fun, energetic, and dynamic. As with all the WHFN workouts, the colors are vibrant and alive, the production quality is perfect, and the workout draws you right in from the start.

Outer thigh work on your non-dominant leg is next, using a small weight/ I used a 5# dumbbell and I know I will feel this tomorrow! A brief stretch in between the sets, and a mermaid stretch at the end of two sets follows. Next comes inner thigh work, using two yoga blocks as props. If you don't have yoga blocks you can use thick towels or even a sofa pillow. Two sets of inner thigh work are done, and I used a 5# weight during the second set. I felt I could have gone heavier, and you could even use ankle weights here to increase the intensity if needed.

Table work is next, using the tall step. OUCH! No extra weight needed here! We then do leap frogs which were very fun!! Next is bridge work using small weights and focusing still on the non-dominant leg. I used 2 5#'s and could have gone heavier. We flip over to do push-ups, them move onto ab work. Tamela takes us through pulleys and slow crunches, and if you pay attention to form and her instructions to breath, you will really feel these!

Yoga poses are next - downward dog, cobra, child's pose, pigeon, and planks. Very soothing and just enough! Tamela shows great form and gives solid instruction throughout.

We then repeat the outer thigh, inner thigh, table work, and bridge work focusing on the dominant leg. She uses yoga blocks as props this time for the table work, although I think you can not use them and still get the same work. The push-ups again follow the bridge work.

Ab work then follows, using the yoga block as a prop behind your head. Again, I think a thick towel or pillow will work as well. This time we focus on the transverse abs, and again if you pay attention to form and breathing, you will really feel this work.

Pilates leg movements are next, and my only complaint is I wish there had been more of this! I don't usually care for Pilates work, but I really enjoyed this segment.

A towel stretch follows, with more Pilates movements. We then stretch using the step, into modified and then full Warrior poses.

My only complaint is it wasn't longer! I really enjoyed this workout a lot! An solid A!!

I got this free from whfn. I didn't like the original version of this with Susan Harris, and I didn't like this version either. The box describes a cardio workout with pilates and yoga. What it is is an old school floorwork routine with pilates and yoga moves incorporated. There really is no cardio to speak of, except some leap frogs (bent over jumping moves).

The floorwork is very paced, I personally prefer slower floor work, with more mellow music. At times, the pace of this seemed so fast, and not in a good, heart pumping way, but in a frantic, hyper way.

Overall, this is your run of the mill floorwork with push ups, abs, table work, pelvic lifts and stuff on your side- all the usual suspects. very little is original. If you like floorwork, you'll probably like this. If you don't, well, you probably won't.

What really bothered me about this was Tamela. She really apes for the camera. Her utter awareness of every camera made me uncomfortable. I can't describe but it really bothered me. Also, some of the camera angles were inappropriate. the constant tight shots of her rear end really got on my nerves. The focus tended to be when she was doing push ups, which don't really use the buttocks, so the angle seemed to be just sleazy instead of helpful.

I also didn't like doing jumps with blocks on the step. Obviously, you can just do these without, but Tamela mentions its helpful for people with tight hams or tall people, so lots of exercisers will try this and may end up tipping or sliding. Obviously you have to be careful, but its takes some practice to make this safe, practice Tamela has had as a professional or just preparing for this workout, but that most exercisers won't have. I think this move may be an injury waiting to happen.

I also was really uncomfortable doing table work with an arch in my back. For some of the work she has you lift your shoulders and look up, arching your back. It felt really uncomfortable. I think this move may really bother some backs. It didn't do me any favors.

Overall, this is a real disappointment to me, as was the first version. Manic floorwork, a description that doesn't match the workout and outdated butt shots add up to trade pile.

It was a decent workout, but it would not, on it's own, compel me to want more WHFN workouts.

The music was fabulous and the hip and glute work burned. The inner thigh work did not. Next time i'll use weights.

Some plyometric moves were in here, and I liked how they zipped up the workout for me.

I did not enjoy the yoga section, but i'm becoming particular about my yoga instruction. It was harder to skip it in this workout since it seemed to do so would make the workout too short.

The ab work did not toast me like some other workouts do, so part of me was wondering "why bother?"

I may tweak this workout so I just avoid the stuff I don't really like and switch in Naval power (Ravi Singh/Ana Brett) or some other workout.

I'd give it a B.