Kick Butt with Kristoff St. John

I really like this video. It is something that I can motivate myself to do everyday unlike a lot of other workout tapes. Although there are a few parts where I felt my heart rate wasn't up, the kicks got really intense at the very end. He ends with an excellent stretching section. I would recommend this tape to a beginner starting out.

The cardio segment of this video is short, just 20 minutes, so I repeat it 2 to 3 times to get a good workout. The cueing and instruction are virtually non-existant, but I like this video anyway. I really sweat doing this, and the workout just flies by! This was my first kick boxing video and the easy-to-follow segments made it easy to learn, even without good instruction. This is a keeper, and a fun one at that! Don't pay much money for this, but I got it for $7 at Wal Mart. Definitely worth it!

The video itself is pretty good, but with the exception of Badrino I probably would get bored pretty quick. I try to make it a little more high energy by adding things here and there, and I usually turn my own music on my stereo while doing the video...just because I also get bored with music on the video (kinda cheesy).

I expected this video of my two weekend video purchases (the other was Stephanie Steele's workout) to be the lesser. Not so!

First of all, for me, someone who has only been working out for a month or so, it is quite challenging physically, although the sequences are easy to catch on to. The music went along with the moves, and was very energizing and fun. Although the cueing wasn't always very clear, since the sequences were not complicated, it was no problem to catch on late. There was no instructional segment, but I was glad because I am sick of fast-forwarding through those.

The cardio section, featuring lots of leg lifts, front kicks, and of course, loads and loads of jabs, is quite exciting. The moves change often enough to keep boredom at bay. I felt my abdominal muscles really working, since I pay attention to them and use them in my kicks.

After the warmup and cardio segment and a short cooldown, they move on to a challenging set of arm, chest, and back exercises. They recommend 5-10 pound weights. If you are a woman like me, 3 pounds is probably more doable. My arms were worn out after that, and each segment worked the focus muscle to exhaustion. I plan on doing this video every other day just for this muscle-building segment.

After the arms, chest, and back, Badrino moves to a series of abdominal exercises. These will probably not be challenging to people who have already been working their abdominals for a while.

Finally, there is a long, but not boring, series of stretches. That man sure is flexible. I think my body will become far more flexible in time, and that flexibility is necessary for high kicks.

I think men would enjoy this workout as well as women. There are no dancy moves, and the arms and chest section focuses on parts that men are concerned about (pecs and biceps). In addition, there are two male exercisers and only one female. I am personally not a man, so this is just my humble opinion.

Didn't feel like a really great workout, and I'm at best intermediate. Not too hard to follow, on the plus side. Worth it if you can snag it for under ten bucks and enjoy boxing for fitness.

This is an intermediate kickboxing tape. It has very little cueing, three exercisers who all seem to be following with no one leading. The cueing is fairly nonexistent. None of these are really a problem because the tape is pretty easy to follow. I wouldn't recommend this as a first tape since there is really no instructions on properly doing the moves. But if you've done aerobox or Stephanie Steele's kickboxing this shouldn't be any problem. I've seen complaints about the loud music, but I love loud thumping music, and really enjoy the music on this tape. Its well worth seven dollars, and if you are int/adv or adv, I think this would be a good tape to use to get used to weighted gloves. Its a keeper for me unless some day I become advanced at kickboxing.