Walk Your Way Thin: Walk Off Even More Weight

While the full title is Walk Your Way Thin: Walk Off Even More Weight, this is widely known on the forum as just Walk Off Even More Weight.

I'm reviewing this DVD after doing all three workouts once each.

General workout breakdown: This DVD contains two two-mile and one quick bonus workouts based on walking that stress multi-muscle movement, as Leslie says.

- Classic Walk (30 min.) has an average pace of 4 miles per hour. The first two or three songs of the first mile increase pace as the workout goes on to warm you up, and the last two or so slow down in the second mile to cool you down. Leslie leaves the belt off for the warm-up here. In addition to the four basic steps - walking / marching in place, side step, (front) kick, and knee lift - other moves include raising arms overhead, walk up two and back two, reach forward & pull back, march wide, kick back (aka hamstring curl), double side step, tap out, arms up & out, knee lifts w/ feet wide (singles, doubles, and 4s), side steps up 4 & back 4, and heel dig. As always, Leslie has you do a move until she says stop, and you return to walking before switch to another one. The final stretch focuses on the hamstrings and calves, but she also includes some shoulder rolls.

- Fast Walk (32.5 min.) has an average pace of 5 miles per hour. This is structured the same as Classic Walk and contains the same steps (except for heel digs, IIRC), also adding 3 walks & a tap, 3 walks & a heel, almost boosted walking (aka jogging), rock side to side, and grapevine. Leslie wears the belt from the beginning. The stretch is a little longer here.

- Bonus - Energy Boost Walk (5.5 min.) doesn't use the belt; instead, Leslie jumps right into a brisk pace with the four basic steps plus walk up 2 & back 2, arms pushing out & pulling back, arms reaching up & down, and double knee lifts. There is no cool-down or stretch here. In addition to being a boost to pop in any time you just want 5 min. of activity, this makes a great cardio warm-up; because there's no long intro on this DVD, it's easy to pop in and get moving before you begin your main workout.

Level: I'd recommend this to beginners through intermediates. Beginners should probably stick with the Classic Walk without the belt and slowly add it for a few minutes at a time until they feel comfortable doing the whole workout with it before moving onto Fast Walk without a belt and then with it; intermediates can probably use the belt from the first time through. Leslie makes sure to explain everything to those who may be new to her programs, so you don't need to have done one of her walks before. Those closer to the int. / adv. level of fitness can find ways to boost the intensity: wearing a heavier walk vest (if they're used to it already), adding more impact (e.g. turning side steps into skater hops, doing some jogging), taking this to a piece of equipment (e.g. rebounder - although this is probably best done without the extra weight, at least at first), etc.

I consider myself an int. / adv. in cardio; I normally do hi/lo or step aerobics, kickboxing, etc., but nowhere near a puke in the bucket level. This gave me a decent enough workout, although I made sure to put some oomph into my moves.

Class: Leslie alone, with live instruction.

Music: mostly upbeat but generic sounding instrumentals, with a few vocals. A few tunes have popped up before, either in Leslie workouts or other mainstream exercise videos.

Set: For Classic Walk and Fast Walk Leslie's on a raised circular platform in her studio, although here the black curtain has been pushed back to reveal the windows and mirror along the back wall, making the space seem less like the "black cave." Patio-type furniture (table and chairs) is off to one side, and exercise equipment like tubing, stability balls, and step risers are spread around. I could be wrong, but it looks like there might be snow outside.

In the bonus the platform has been pushed off to the side, the black curtain has been drawn over the mirrors, and much of the equipment has been cleared out, so this has more of the cave look.

Production: clear picture and sound, music a tad quieter than Leslie's voice. The camera angles are mostly helpful, focusing on Leslie, although I could do without the peeks at her through the rack of tubing and other somewhat artsy sweeping views. One quibble: you can see camerapeople and equipment in the mirror behind Leslie in some of the shots, and the camera also catches the production lights and a boom.

At the bottom of the screen, a purple (or red in the bonus) stripe will appear from time to time with text reinforcing Leslie's cues (such as announcing a move - those who mute the video to play their own music will find this helpful) or points (e.g. muscles in motion). In the upper right corner you'll find an indication that you've gone 1, 1 ½, or 2 miles.

Equipment: sneakers plus a weighted belt.

If you acquire this DVD without the weighted belt, as I did, you can wear a weighted vest or grab some weights (I strapped on the weighted gloves that came with Punch Up Your Walk). Note that if you hold the weights in your hands you'll want to avoid swinging your arms around to protect your joints.

Space Requirements: You need to be able to take a step in each direction and kick front; you'll get a little more out of this if you can take a few steps in each direction, but if you can't just stay in place.

DVD Notes: The main menu options are Welcome (Leslie's intro and overview), Classical Walk, Fast Walk, Bonus - Energy Boost Walk, and When You Are Ready for More (previews of all 6 Walk Your Way Thin kits). For both Classical Walk and Fast Walk you have the option of Play All, Mile 1, or Mile 2. The warm-ups and cool-downs/stretches are not chaptered separately.

Comments: These are standard Leslie walks, with the only new element the weighted belt (different than her other booster belt, which has resistance tubing but doesn't add significant weight). The weighted belt simply sits around the waist for the whole workout; it's not used during arm lifts or anything like that.