Knockout Workout Round 3

Pitched at a brisk 152bpm (until the cooldown), Kick-It! Knockout Round 3 seems like yet another Tae Bo knockoff, minus the constant counting but with the same problem of unbalanced repetitions on each side. Except for the warmup and cooldown, the workout performs all of the routines on the left, then all on the right. This structure tempted me to wonder whether Terrie might do the entire workout on only the left side, or whether she might inadvertently forget a few combinations if she ever got around to the right side. She did eventually move on to the right side, but by then I wasn’t interested in bothering to check if she repeated every sequence accurately.

The warmup is just a bunch of preliminary combinations followed by some stretches, rather than smaller-range-of-motion movements designed to gradually warm up the muscles in the eventual movement patterns that will be needed. Throughout the workout, Terrie keeps us moving constantly with combinations that go back and forth across the room, predominantly to the right and left, with so few other direction changes that I felt like the ping-pong ball in an uninspired practice session. The workout includes a lot of repetitive front knee lifts and jabs, but not enough lower-body work. The kicks tend to happen in fast sequences, then not at all, which I found unhelpful.

Terrie relies on “watch-me” cueing, unfortunately indulging too often in a gimmicky “eyeglass” gesture with the fingers of both hands held in two V’s pointing to her eyes. I don’t find it helpful to be encouraged to look at her eyes as a reminder that I need to watch her hands and feet, especially not when verbal cueing would have been simpler and more effective. She often fails to provide the names of moves until after we’ve repeated the combination a couple of times, prompting me to wonder if she knows she ought to call them out in advance but just can’t remember their names right away. A few times, the combinations begin on the backbeats rather than the downbeats, which distracts me and interferes with the flow of the routine. Repeated yells of “Are you feeling it?” simply reminded me that what I was feeling was annoyance, not muscle soreness and most certainly not exuberance from a great workout.

In Terrie’s case, her kickboxing movements betray her dance background unfavorably, whereas Patricia Moreno’s and Katalin Zamiar’s dance training never interferes with their kickboxing form (and might even help it). I keep thinking “Broadway” when I watch Terrie, with her jumpy movements and straight-leg high kicks.

Verdict? While it’s not a terrible workout, I wouldn’t put in the effort or funds into searching out this less-common video / DVD. The fitness video market has plenty of other options that are better and more economical.

A bit about me...I am high intermediate to advanced at cardio, but do NOT like dancy routines and complex choreography. My fave cardio workouts/instructors are Cathe, Gilad, P90, P90X, Slim Series, Hollywood Trainer, etc.

This workout is like a combo of a high- energy hi/low/kickboxing workout. Although it was all kickboxing moves, the way it was choreographed & presented felt somewhat like a hi/low routine. Also, the music was what a would call high-energy vocal tracks typically used in aerobic routines rather than the techno-thumping that is common with kickbox workouts. Terrie has a large group of people working out with her...all shapes, sizes and ages. There is a lot of "wooping" in this workout, which will bother some, I am sure. I found it motivating rather than irritating. It is very fast-paced. The entire routine is built up on one side, then you move on & rebuild it on the other. I liked this because it was a nice change from the "mini routines" that are presented in most kickox workouts I have tried. It was a 60- minute routine that I would consider higher intermediate. (though I did wear weighted gloves throughout. I'm sure it's lower intensity without added resistance.) I really enjoyed it, and look forward to doing it again, but I got distracted with all of my new Cathes! and have only done it once!

Just wanted to note: The workout came in a generic CD jewel case, and is a DVD-R? Is that the format that many DVD players cannnot read? Anyway, I was annoyed by these issues at first, but once I did the workout I didn't lit it bother me anymore. :-)