10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp

I love Keli's Kickbox Bootcamp 10-Minute Solution. I would describe it as a kickboxing-flavored toning workout, intermediate-level.

I do this workout a lot! I work up a real sweat in the 'Fat Burning Blast' section which is truly bootcamp moves. I love the kickboxing combos in 'Basic Training' which is about the same level of intensity as Janis Saffell's Quick Fix Cardio Kicks. Although Keli's compound kick moves really make me sweat!

I think the upper body segment 'Arms & Shoulders' is the workout Katalin Zamiar should have made - upper body toning in true kickboxing style. It makes me feel like a real martial artist with buff shoulders when I do this one.

My fave segments are 'Buns & Thighs' and 'Washboard Abs'. TOUGH! Whew. Keli can sure motivate you. In BT she has you reaching lower & lower in your squats and lunges by having you reach for a target - crossing over with your hand to touch your opposite knee, then beyond your calf, then your ankle. It makes me work harder & longer everytime.

'Washboard Abs' has some tough plank & obliques moves, great lower & upper body combos, and a couple of Pilates moves to boot. Awesome workout, I do this segment the most frequently.

My favorite combo is 'Basic Training' + 'Fat Burning Blast' + 'Buns & Thighs' for a great cardio lower body burner. I tag on 'Washboard Abs' if I have the time.

As others have said Keli is fantastic, her cueing and encouragement are perfect and her form is admirable. The music is good, a bit soft, but it enhances the workout.

I think this is my 'sleeper' workout of 2005 - others were disappointed because it wasn't a pure kickboxing workout. But I tag on the 10-minute segments onto other workouts frequently. Nothing makes me feel more macho then doing her buns & thighs segment after a Powerstrike workout or adding her abs section onto a Kathy Smith or Mindy Mylrea cardio workout.

Not a bad workout from an intensity perspective. It's certainly tougher than the other 10 Minute Solution DVDs.

The problem is the cuing is exceptionally poor. Keli refuses to tell you what side you're working. As the exercises often alternate sides it gets frustrating. She doesn't demo moves (and I don't expect her to do so in a 10 minute quickie), but you can usually figure it out quickly. She does the move once or twice slowly then picks up the pace. Also, when using dumbbells she doesn't give any indication of the weight to select. Normally, I really enjoy Keli's workouts. In fact, I bought this because it was a Keli DVD - but this one is frustrating to follow.

A decent tape for adding a bonus onto other workouts - the "arms and shoulders" and "buns and thighs" are especially good.

It's worth owning, but the lack of cuing makes the tape more frustrating than it needs to be. It also reduces intensity while you're trying to follow her. A near miss...this tape could have been exceptional.

I'm reviewing this workout after previewing it and doing it once each.

General workout breakdown: This workout combining kickboxing, standard strength training, and bootcamp moves has 5 distinct segments, each lasting 10 minutes and containing a tiny warm up and cool down. Keli moves into the warm ups and cool downs very quickly, so in the future I may march in place before beginning and perhaps skip Keli's stretches to take my pace down on my own. Except for the first segment, Keli ends by telling you that you burned a lot of calories and/or how great your results will be.

The five segments are the following:

*Basic Training begins with dynamic upper body stretches and marches. Then you tap to each side and do a cross punch, first only one and then double, adding a knee thrust to the combination. Keli then builds a jab-cross-bob & weave/duck combination, speeds it up, and repeats it on the other side, with a jump rope / run / single-single-double run combination in between. She repeats the whole series with hook-upper cut-duck combination, adding "running man" to the in between combination and then the jab-cross to the hook-upper combo. She then builds a tap up into a forward chamber (knee up) and finally a front kick. The final stretches are mostly side lunges.

*Ultimate Buns & Thighs requires a pair of dumbbells. Keli starts right off with squats. You then pick up weights and do alternating forward lunges, building up the following combination: forward lunge-tap-back kick-tap-reverse lunge-raise-lunge-stand up with feet together. Next comes a lateral lunge going down in a 3-count; this becomes side lunge-tap-side kick-tap-side lunge-raise-lunge-stand up with feet together. Then Keli works up to alternating front kicks, taking the last part of Basic Training a step further. You put down your weights to do alternating roundhouse kicks from a plie squat; Keli shows a jump kick option at the end. The final stretches are fast shoulder presses while squatting and rounding the back up from that position and standing hamstring stretches.

*Arm & Shoulder Sculpting also requires a pair of dumbbells. It begins with dynamic upper body stretches before picking up weights. The first few moves are standard weights moves: triceps kickbacks with lunges, straight arm pulses for your lats, and biceps curls with lunges. Next come jabs done in a horse stance. Then come slow jabs and crosses on each side; after putting down your weights, you do jabs and crosses at double time. The same thing is done on both sides, and the whole series is repeated with hooks and upper cuts. Keli finished with standard chest, triceps, and shoulder stretches.

*Fat Burning Blast begins with dynamic calf and upper body stretches followed by squats. Keli then builds up a burpee series, which becomes squat down with hands on floor-jump back into plank position-drop knees-lower down-push up-raise knees to plank-lift each leg to side-?jumping jack? (still in plank position)-jump forward-jog (?football?). Next comes a "lateral agility training" combo: step touch (sort of a speed skater move), lateral hop, "one two three" (3 quick side steps with knee raise), shuffle with elbow strike, shuffle with knee up and punch (optional hop), and jab-jab-jab-cross. The final stretches are squats with shoulder and arm circles and then calf stretches with arm movements.

*Washboard Abs is done entirely on the ground. In seated position, you move your spine forward and back, then side to side, and then twist?all at lightning speed. Keli begins with an elbow side plank with a side kick, which is later sped up. She then does a regular elbow plank with leg raises. Next come side crunches, later with legs, and then regular crunches, included lower crunches (sort of). All of this is repeated on the other side before moving on to the Pilates double leg stretch, single leg stretch, and criss cross. Keli ends with stretches for the hamstrings, hips, obliques, and neck.

Level: I think this might be best for an experienced beginner through mid-intermediate. It?d be too intense, particularly with all of those planks, for someone just starting to exercise, but anyone beyond a solid intermediate level would probably find this easy. (Not that it?s a bad thing to have lighter workouts hanging around.) You must have some knowledge of kickboxing and weights; Keli does not break down moves at all or provide modifications or form instruction, although she does include a number of form pointers (many of which don't come until the move is almost finished). I consider myself a high intermediate with respect to cardio but only have kickboxing experience through videos (which I've been doing on and off for the past 1 ½ years or so). I found the moves easy to pick up once I figured out what Keli was doing. I didn't feel that my heartrate was exceptionally high during any of the segments, and the weights work was not sufficient for me to be more than a light day. I did combine this with some Cathe, however, and I sure feel my legs, especially in my hips.

Keli does leave most jumps as an option, but between the shuffles and burpees I wouldn't rate this low impact. It's not particularly high impact, though.

Class: Keli alone, with a different outfit for each segment.

Music / Set / Other Production Notes: The beat-heavy music is nothing special. The room has light colored walls, high windows, and hardwood floors. Yoga mats and dumbbells are stacked in the back, and plants and a stability ball also line the back wall. The picture and sound quality are very good.

Equipment: sneakers. You'll need a pair of dumbbells (I'd recommend something fairly light, like 3 lb.) for the upper and lower body segment. Keli uses a mat for the fat burning segment, but I find it difficult to keep my mat in place while doing burpees. A mat (or equivalent) is good for the abs segment.

Comments: You don't need much space for this workout. You should be able to take a step and kick to each side as well as kick front and back. I like that Keli does some of the side kicks into the center of the space rather than out to the side; it keeps the workout more compact.

DVD Notes: Like all of the 10 Minute Solutions DVDs, the menu allows you to play all five segments in the order I listed above, choose just one segment, or program your own routine.

FYI, there's a short booklet called "7 Day Bootcamp Meal Plan" included with the DVD.

Conclusion: I'm going to have to do this a few more times before I decide if it's staying or going. I was expecting 5 10-minute cardio kickboxing segments that I could use as warm ups or add ons for other workouts or create my own cardio routines. I was hoping for something a notch up in intensity from Janis Saffell's Quick Fix Total Cardio Kick. Alas, neither wish came true, particularly the latter. And this workout dares to have burpees, which neither my knees nor my downstairs neighbor like.

Can I learn to like this workout on its own merits? It'll be hard to work it into my regular rotations, especially since I had assumed it would fit into a cardio slot. The only way I see myself regularly using this video is during a month-long kickboxing rotation, when I'd use it with Janis Saffell's Hardcore Kickbox Circuit to maintain (or at least not lose much of) my muscles until I went back to weights.

That said, someone who wanted to add strength training in but is reluctant to give up cardio (as I was when I first started out) might find this video much more useful.
I know a couple of people want to know how this compares to 10 Minute Solution Carb (& Calorie) Burner. CB has more cardio and less strength and in general is more intense, especially in the Power Blast segment. Overall I'd consider CB an intermediate video while KB BC is a lower intermed. video. Off of the top of my head I seem to remember more high impact moves in CB than in KB BC.