Cougar Workout

Since the other reviewer listed the exercises, I will talk about the Nonstop workout. The workout is superduper giant sets in between muscle groups. It was hard since I use lighter weights for shoulders than I do for biceps/triceps. So I had to have different size weights for shoulders. It went too fast for my taste. This was not well edited. Joyce left out some exercises in the 3rd set for triceps and biceps. She also forgets a butt exercise in the floorwork. I had to pause the dvd and do it on my own. She goes really fast so I have to use light weights. Its overall a good program if she went slower.

She makes some funny comments as usual.."So these quick fixes don't work...don't be like the foolish rabbit who went fast and got fat again." She is working out alone. Its not my favorite Joyce. If you like using very light weights and doing fast, this workout is for you. The standing leg work is all squat variations. No lunges.

This was my first experience with veteran instructor Joyce Vedral, who is so full of personality that she is nearly bursting through the screen. In this workout, she takes a term usually thought to have a negative connotation, cougar (ie, as most people consider a cougar to be an older woman on the prowl), and makes it her own, insisting that a cougar is a woman who has decided to look good no matter how old she gets. Along that vein, Joyce performs the workout with two female background exercisers, and she states that between the three of them, their average age is 53.

While Joyce's personality is definitely a bit over-the-top, the workout itself is solid. It is intended to be used as either a 2-Day or a 3-Day split. For the first option, you would do Upper Body the first day (28.5 minutes), Lower Body the next day (35 minutes), repeat twice, and rest on Day 7. For Option 2, you would do Upper Body on Day 1, Legs & Back on Day 2 (15.5 minutes), and then Hips & Abs on Day 3 (19.5 minutes), repeating the sequence once. All of the weight work is performed in a pyramid style--ie, you repeat a sequence of exercises for 12 repetitions each using your lightest weight, then pyramid up to a mid-weight for a second set of 10 reps each, and finally, you use your heaviest weight for a final set of 8 reps per exercise. Joyce encourages you to start light or even use no weights at first if needed.

All of the exercises for each segment are listed below. Joyce moves quickly from one exercise to another without pausing for rest between exercises or between sets.

UPPER BODY

First 16.6 minutes, standing:

Arnold press

double arm tricpes

reverse Arnold press

concentration curls

single arm kickback

alternating biceps curl

alternating kickback

simulataneous hammer curl

simulataneous kickback

side lateral

shoulder press

Pee-Wee lateral

front lateral

Final 12 minutes, performed on a bench:

flat press

flyes

curl press

triceps press

cross-face

close bench press

single dumbbell extension

(For the second set, Joyce adds a biceps curl and changes the order of exercises; the third set returns to the original order, no biceps curl.)

LOWER BODY/Legs & Back

seated back lateral

seated bent lateral

squat (alternate: standing leg extension)

front squat (alternate: seated leg extension)

bent lateral

hack squat

regular row

side row

palms up row

squat (alternate: seated side leg lift)

one dumbbell squat (alternate: lying leg lift)

upright row

leaning 1-arm dumbbell row

(NOTE: the alternate exercises are explained briefly on a separate chapter of the DVD entitled "Special Thigh Work.")

LOWER BODY/Hips & Abs (floorwork)*

Lying on one side:

saddlebag stripper

lower butt side kicks

lower butt curls

Lying on back:

crunch

bent knee lifts

clamshell front

ceiling stone lift

toe reach front

side reach front

bent knee crunch

elbow-to-knee crunch

leg raise

knee ins

Lying on other side, same exercises

*15 reps of all exercises; repeat entire series twice

The Warm-Up is a very brief (1.5 minute) segment that has Joyce and crew performing muscle stretches without sufficiently warming up the body first. For the "Cool-Down," Joyce and pals spend approximately 30 seconds lightly punching the various muscles worked while repeating over and over "Ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha!" Obviously, this is supposed to be fun, but as with the warm-up, the lack of a decent cool-down really detracts from what is otherwise a very solid workout.

Clearly, Joyce's personality is not going to appeal to everyone. She is really playing to the camera here, and some might even find her style to be a bit on the cheesey side. However, I could also see Joyce really connecting with certain women--particularly older ones--who are prepared to fully embrace the idea "I'm not getting older, I'm getting better!" If you have never worked out with Joyce before, I would suggest that you view a clip before purchasing this workout. But if you already know and love Joyce, this workout might be a good addition to your collection.