Low Impact & Stretch Challenge

WARNING: Totally biased review coming up. I really, really liked this workout. On cardio work, I am an intermediate exerciser who is playing with advanced choreography, but I do enjoy finding a less complex workout that still gives me intensity and a lot of fun. This workout delivers that.

Jay Blahnik and Linda McHugh lead this workout with four background exercisers. The set is plain, but not bad - it looks like a workout space with wood floors and plain walls. The music was a lot of fun and drove much of the fun of the workout for me. I couldn’t tell you what the songs were, but they had words to them, so they weren’t the usual Dynamix type stuff. It does take a fair amount of space side to side and front to back.

Jay and Linda teach this workout tag-team style and bounce the lead between them. Sometimes, it was hard to remember who was leading it as they bounced it between them. However, it was an easy workout to follow, with the exception of a few times when the camera was showing their feet and they were emphasizing the arms. The way they would teach the combos and then cut them down, rearrange them some, and combine them was just so much fun and fairly easy to follow. I can take quite awhile to learn complex choreography, but I did this one on the first time through.

The basic breakdown of this workout is as follows:

Warm-up - 7 minutes

1st and 2nd hi/lo combos taught and combined.

3rd and 4th hi/lo combos taught and combined

The entire workout done twice

Hi/lo cardio session - 30 minutes

Cool down - 4 minutes

Stretch - 10 minutes

This is an older workout, so it is not available on DVD. However, I don’t see this as a minus since I will do the entire workout whenever I do it.

I enjoyed this workout very much. There is a 41 minute mostly low impact aerobic workout with great music and easy, though not boring, choreography. I think both Jay and Linda are good instructors - friendly and they cue very well. The aerobic section is followed by a standing 10 minute stretch. The stretches are nothing different, but the stretch is done completely standing, which is a little unusual - I enjoyed it. I think this workout is older and may be harder to find, but if you run into it somewhere, it's definitely worth purchasing.

I second Joni's recommendation of this tape. I got this to have a good cardio workout, easy on the knees, to alternate with my Firm days.

Very basic production--just like being in a class at a gym. You see the instructors miss a step or two, and Linda McHugh is dripping by the end (and so am I). The choreography is simple enough for a novice to learn, but interesting enough that the time goes by fast. Gets my heartrate up; I'm still panting during the stretch. I also agree with Joni that while this workout is do-able in a small space, it would be even more fun if you had more room.

The stretch segment is unusual--lots of moves involving balancing on one leg. (You can use a dowel for balance, as one of the participants shows.) I especially like the ending stretches, that spread the back and open up the chest.

(By the way, this video is available from Collage. They don't have a description of it in their catalogue, but it's on the list of "other titles available" in the back.)

Finally, a floor tape I can follow and that's fun!!! It has a warm-up, about 40 minutes of cardio and a 7-minute stretch. The combos aren't terribly complicated, yet challenging enough to be fun and make me sweat! They're not dancy at all; lots of grapevines, hamstring curls, lunges, etc., -- but interesting combos. Mostly low impact with a few higher impact moves thrown in. The music is good and there's a bit of whooping and hollering, but not enough to irritate me (I hate whooping!). This would even be more challenging if I had a bit more workout space and could really get into it. The stretch is thorough and really. relaxing. I really like this video, and will definitely put it into my regular rotation.