Below The Belt

This is a nice,short lower body workout that uses almost all compound moves. I enjoy most Keli Roberts tapes and this one is no exception. I'm currently emphasizing "functional fitness" in my strength work rather than isolation because I think there are greater benefits for me in everyday life and health, and this workout fits the bill perfectly. There are many variations on lunges, plies, squats, etc. that emphasize balance, coordination and core strength, all things I want to improve. The length makes it perfect to add on to a cardio workout; I've also combined it with other "parts" videos to do a total body strength day. I hope the Body Bar folks continue to produce innovative, fun and interesting workouts like this one!

My general impression of this tape is that it is a good leg tape for a light day. It is a nice change of pace from the Firm, Cathe or gym leg workout. Keli incorporates the BodyBar with all the exercises.

The workout consists of a long warm-up which uses variations of squats and lunging side to side, toe raises, body roll-ups and upper body reaches. The workout consists of various lunges with the BodyBar held behind you; you do regular lunges (forward stepping) and then you add a rear leg lift to it. You do a great exercise where you stand with one leg behind you and lift the rear leg up and down with the Bar behind you; this requires balance and it works the supporting leg even more than the moving leg. There is an excellent series for the inner thighs, where you have the feet in a wide second position and do half-squats or demi-plies, and then you start to move the squat from side to side while dragging one leg in. You do a lot of variations of those. In between each exercise is a set of the wide half-squats. You are holding the Bar the whole time. There is a series of lunges with upper body twists; first to the front, then to the side, then alternating front and side. You are holding the Bar up at chest level for these. There are also several sets of deadlifts and some calf raises. There is a basic stretch/cool-down at the end with good music.

All in all, I liked most of the workout. I always feel a bit worried about doing front lunges. So far my knees are fine but I just don't trust those front lunges. If you aren't a lunge person, then skip this tape or do the lunges by stepping back or stationary. The lunges with the upper body twist also felt a bit awkward to me, not because I had trouble doing them, but because they just didn't feel like a natural movement. The whole tape is about 30 minutes long, so it's good for a quick lower body workout.

Keli is great, as always. She is a terrific instructor with a nice personality. In this tape, she is serious and not chatty. She looks great with her blonde haircut and is in excellent condition. I really like her voice and accent. Keli has been one of my favorites since the Cher tape. Any video that she does is a winner.

This workout is a short 30 minute but great workout! I did it last night and it really works up a sweat. The warmup is is great. She does alot of squats but it's not boring because she uses different arm movements to keep it fresh. I like the full body roll where you reach up with your hands and get up on your toes and then melt down to do a back stretch. There is no stretch at the beginning. The workout is all standing leg work. Keli and another girl use a shorter bar but one girl uses a long bar. I used 15 lbs at first and felt it was too light. I used my 18lb bodybar and it was fine. Keli's workout is different because she holds the bodybar in front of the body with a overhand grip or in back with an underhand grip. Never on the shoulders. This as such nice change. Especially on the squats!!

She starts off with lunges and then a lunge with a leg sweep to the back. Then long leg sweeps to the back. This takes good balance as you hold the bodybar behind you(near your butt). Then she does some fun squats with the bodybar in front of you. She adds some calf raises. Then deadlifts. She also does some excellent plie work. Regular plies as well moving plies to one side. She also has you do some plie work with a calf raise. This was great. Then more calf raises with different tempo's. She then does a lunge and you are holding the bodybar like you would do an overhead press but you keep the bar against your chest. As you lunge you twist your torso to the right as you step to the right. This really works the glute muscles. Then you do a side lunge with the same twist. Then you combine the 2 exercises. I was really sweating by this time. She finishes the workout with more deadlifts. What a quick fun lower body workout. I really enjoyed the fact that it was fast since dinner was almost ready and everyone in my family was hungry. It was just enough lower body work to satisfy me. The stretch is wonderful. Great hamstring and outer hip/glute stretches on your back. Also a lower back stretch using the bodybar. The music does have some tunes from BodyMax/Cathe but there is also some new music and the "We Will rock you"song from CAthe's PowerMax.

Keli's teaching is one of a kind. A traditional Keli Roberts workout will always have excellent form pointers, perfect form, a smiling lovely face, neat New Zealand accent and exercises that give results. She is joined by Clare Dunphy and Lisa Gaylord (I think she led a Reebok video). There outfits are maroon and Keli's hair is blonde (thankfully she got rid of the red short crop) and looks like a Meg Ryan hairdo. I love it on her. She is such a motivational instructor. Every video she leads is sure to be a winner.