Weight Loss Walk

I'm an intermediate exerciser, and I have a decent amount of videos by Leslie. I am having a PF flare up, and I decided to buy Tamilee's workout because I was looking for a few low-impact videos to supplement Leslie. After trying it once, it seems to me that Tamilee's DVD will be a good alternative to Leslie for anyone who enjoys basic choreography in a walking format and does not mind TIFTing.

General information: The workout is about fifty minutes long, with three chapters of fifteen minutes each and a cooldown of about five minutes. You can choose to play a one-mile, two-mile, or three-mile walk. You can also select individual miles.

The set, as is pretty obvious from the clips, is functional but not overly appealing to the eye. That said, Leslie has had some sets that I consider worse (the pyramid set from 30-Minute Walk comes to mind!), and this was at least bright. Some of the music was very good, while other tunes were forgettable but pleasant. There was a range of different styles, including typical workout beats (some with vocals) and even a touch of Caribbean rhythms.

Instructor and class: Tamilee is her usual self in this one, pleasantly motivating you without being over the top. She's joined by a class, and several of the background exercisers are clearly having a good time.

Mile One: In this mile, Tamilee introduces her basic steps without using any arm patterns. I found that this mile served as a good warm-up. Tamilee moves around the floor more than Leslie does, which helped raise my heart rate. I really appreciated the different moves, which included a basic (two steps forward, two steps in the middle, two steps back, two steps in the middle), marching forward, a wide march in an out-out-in-in pattern, a V-step, three steps and a tap (stationary, moving forward, and moving to the side).

Mile Two: Now Tamilee introduces brisk arm movements for the combo that you have just learned. A lot of the movements weren't your typical Leslie fare, but they were occasionally tricky to coordinate with the legs. It took me a while to get the timing just right. This mile did bump the intensity up a notch.

Mile Three: Tamilee now adds weights, making this the highest intensity mile. The arm movements included forward rises, overhead presses, rotator cuff work, triceps, and some back work. At this point, Tamilee introduces some new steps: a mambo move that turns in a circle around the room and a march in a circle.

Cool Down: At last, a real cool down after a walking workout! Tamilee makes sure to stretch all the major muscle groups of the legs--Leslie could take a few notes here.

Room for improvement: If you aren't a fan of TIFT, you should avoid this DVD. In the first half of each mile, Tamilee teaches her combo on the right leg, then she builds it up on the left leg during the second half. This format is perfect for zoning out, but it could get irritating because you spend the first half hour working on one combo. Also, Tamilee refers both to your base (a static march) and the basic, which I found confusing at first. And there's always that set!

Overall conclusions: This DVD is a keeper for me for now because it works well as a low-impact, long session of low- to medium-intensity cardio. I worked up a good sweat by the end, and I felt pleasantly fatigued but not exhausted. At the same time, I think this DVD doesn't reach its full potential. There is clearly a market out there for an alternative to Leslie that has more interesting steps and different moves. Tamilee comes close to meeting that need, but she doesn't go far enough. If she had spliced the right and left lead legs while teaching the combo, that would have made it more interesting. And why wait until mile three to introduce the DVD's most interesting steps? Obviously the rationale for this set up is that the DVD is aimed at beginners. I'd like to see Tamilee make a second DVD for an intermediate exercisers, with a less repetitive breakdown and more steps.