Dynamic Tension

This is one of my favourite Joyce routines. It is loosely based on her book "The 12-Minute Total Body Shaping Workout" but has fewer sections. The sections here are about 12 minutes long, and each works three body parts with two exercises done for 3 sets of 12. This is the only workout I have which has sections this short which still contain enough work to be effective. One can also combine the first three sections for a 35-minute total body workout.

There is not much to say about the exercise choices here. Joyce picks old standards---biceps curls, shoulder presses and the like. No surprises :) If you are weary of some of the new-fangled 'functional' stuff and want some back to basics gym work, this would be a good pic.

It's not the right workout for everyone---Joyce is not as 'polished' as some instructors are, and has been described as a bit goofy. Her form is not wonderful. She works out alone, on a red set which some might dislike. But if you know Joyce, want a short total-body routine or a decent add-on program, or just want some back to basics gym work, this might be a good one. I know it is not her best-loved routine, but it is one I find I get a lot of use out of due to its conciseness and flexible format.

Dynamic Tension is the companion video to the book 12 Minute Workout. Joyce does supersets within body parts and just two exercises per body part and also 3 sets. I have the book along with the video and the video really is a good companion to the book from what I saw. I didn't know what Dynamic Tension was from reading the book so it helps a lot to see Joyce do it on video. I learned Dynamic Tension means to pretend someone is trying to prevent you from bringing the weight back to the starting position. What I did like was that she moves slow enough so that if you don't want to do Dynamic Tension, you can make it a slow and heavier weight lifting tape and still follow along by not doing the tension thing.

She does 10 reps for each set, takes a breather for 15 seconds between each superset and then moves to the next superset. After the 3 sets for one body part, she moves to the next body part.

The tape is meant to be broken down into 6 days (or 7) ...days 1 & 4, 2 and 5, 3 & 6. The 7th day is extra abs, hip, butt. Personally, day 7 is short so I would throw it in with day 2 & 5. Each part gets worked twice in a week or you can do the whole tape 2-3 times per week in under an hour. I like that you can skip the Dynamic Tension and make it a heavy Weight Tape. It sort of reminds me of Bottoms Up in it's speed but it's a bit slower. JMHO.

The whole tape can be done in under 45 minutes, but she does not give a stretch at the end. Also, in the beginning, she does not give a warm-up either. She does these stretches: back/chest, side bends, torso twist, and what's funny is when she says she's going to stretch the biceps and triceps, she actually stretching the triceps overhead. :o) Last is the runners stretch and then into the workout. Here is a breakdown of the exercises (these are just suggested days Joyce mentions on the tape):

DAYS 1 & 4 (Mon and Thurs)
Chest/Tricep/Shoulder
Flat bench press/Flat bench fly
double arm kickback/lying french press
side laterals/military press

DAYS 2 & 5 (Tues and Fri) Quads, Hamstrings/Hip, Butt/ABS Leg extension/leg curl standing butt squeeze/seated scissors crunch/bent knee sewn lift

DAYS 3 & 6 (Wed and Sat)
Back/Calf/Bicep
Seated reverse row/upright row
Giant set for calfs (standing) toes pointed forward, out then in
simultaneous curl/alternating hammer curl

DAY 7 (Sun)
Xtra Abs/Hip/Butt
Knee raise crunch/ceiling sewn lift
lying butt lift/saddle bag stripper

The music is soft like in her Non Stop video. This time she is wearing blue so she does not blend in with the background quite soo much which was better for me. She also counts better!! If she missed a rep, she only missed it by one. :o) One thing she didn't always do was name what the exercise she was doing and I sometimes forget what exercise I'm doing although I know what body part I'm working. But for me, it would help better for the review that I know the name of certain exercises. I have to say I like these new tapes but I guess with Joyce you either like her tapes or you don't. As for the price, it ended up costing $26 bucks and some change after the discount. Whoopie, what a discount. ;o) Well, I do like them and it'll be nice to add them in and play with along with her other vids.