Essentrics Full Body Toning

I enjoy Essentrics--and its parent workout, Classical Stretch--for the combined toning and stretch benefits that it provides. Essentrics Full Body Toning is definitely the most intense of the series that I've tried to day. Instructor Sahra Esmonde-White notes that this routine is a favorite, and one of the first ones that new Essentrics teachers learn.

The Main Menu of the DVD offers the following options:

*Play Workout, 60 minutes

*Standing Exercises, 30 minutes

*Floor Exercises, 30 minutes

The times are a little off, as the total time for the DVD is only about 56 minutes. I have provided actual times for each segment as well as some additional details below.

Standing (33 minutes)

Sahra, instructing live on her own, begins here with about a 3-minute warm-up. This is a typical CS/Essentrics warm-up and includes moves such as reaches, kicks, and knees set to upbeat music. This is followed by a shoulder blast segment to thoroughly stretch the upper body. Next, Sahra moves to the lower body, first for side-to-side lunges, adding in arms work, then to Tai Chi plies, also adding arms work to the end. A pure arm toning segment follows, about 3 minutes. Sahra then performs windmills, first to the front, then side-to-side, adding reach-and-pulls. She finishes the standing work with airplanes, calf/Achilles stretches, and hamstring stretches.

Floorwork (23 minutes)

Sahra begins on the floor with side leg lifts. She performs double leg lifts first and then works inner thigh, outer thigh, and glutes. Next is a series of abs crunches. Sahra continues with some seated toning work by doing leg lifts for the quads. Finally, she finishes with about 10 minutes of final stretches, including both lying and seated.

I really enjoyed this workout. It's great to have the option of doing a full 56-minute workout or easily breaking it into two separate segments. I would highly recommend it for fans of Essentrics or anyone interested in a non-weighted toning workout.