MTV Yoga

First off, I expected something wild and crazy from MTV. And the girl on the front cover is NOT the instructor or the one leading the practice. I think she's an MTV 'star' and acts dingy with her questions but thanks to her Kristen has someone to ask for the rest of us and at the end she shows the poses in greater detail and explanation so if you're a beginner you may want to go there first and see.

ok, Lori (think that's the mtv girl's name) is the skimpiest dressed of the bunch but she's putnear the back to show beginner modificatons (whenever Kristin thinks to remind her- seems like she's not really a beginner but has to pretend she is!) anyways, into the workout a ways kristin goes back to her and adjusts some and gives her a brick as a prop. ok, there are 2 others showing modifications and both seem very serious and professional and are wellcovered (if you're not wanting to see a bunch of skin!) so is the instructor Kristin. the guy shows advanced and the other girl shows a mixture of advanced or intermediate although neither of these is shown up close a whole lot (not that you can see anyways since you're usually bent in a pose).

this starts off with sun salutations and she does them slowly. I'm overweight and not very flexible and not strong (although getting better) so I had to really modify beyond what she shows (I have to go to knees for the pushup and instead of updog I did cobra with my legs on the floor) also my foot does not go all the way to the front of the mat on the step forward so I'd get a bit behind on those which was no problem until the 4 or so quickies thrown in! there's a sequence of chatagaranga(pushup) to downdog to step up immediately go to warrior I on one breath and warrior II on next then back down and repeat ove rand over. I was out of breath and about ready to collapse! (almost reminded me of mtv power yoga for a brief few minutes!) then she goes to a standing pose like extended side angle then would go into a stretch. there were some standing lunge twists (I modified farther and put knee on the floor which she didn't show to do I don't think). also included are pigeon with the back leg pulled to stretch (she forgets the 2nd side though so you'lol have to pause or skip it cause there's not much time before the next move). also does some balance poses like tree then moves immediately to warrior III and there's a standing one where you grab your toes and straighten legs in front then side then front then hold in front without hands. she shows one modification on this with knee bent (I STILL couldnt' grab my toe with my knee bent without getting completely out of alignment so used a strap then bent knee and held at the knee). Ican't remember all the poses but there's usually a standin pose like triangle, ext rigt angle then a stretch after it before the vinyasa sequence(downdog pushup thingie) and repeating on the other side. there's a nice stretch that I just love where you stand with legs wide and bend forward then twist up on each side (think it's called fan pose) and one where you put one leg in front and bend forward with arms behind and over head (again grabbed the strap).

this is about 45 min but I think the actual workout itself is around 30 or 35 and the last 10 min are on the floor for locust, cobra, bow, a nice seated spinal twist, boat/canoe for the abs, and a seated forward bend with both legs out and with one leg and she explains the oneleg stretch really well about the twist and bend both needing to be done. the savasana is very very short and I'm not sure why she put it there since you dont' stay there long enough to do anything but stretch the arms above the head.

overall I really like kristin and the 2 (not Lori too much!) and think she's pretty professional as well as the others with her. she looks at the wrong camera f ew times but guess that's minor and she shows more details of the moves at the end like chataranga, updog, and downdog. I think she could stand on her own though and not need Lori to be the 'hostess'. I can't explain why Lori got on my last nerve in the beginning and end but she did. in the practice itself she's quiet and does the routine with the rest of them and I'd have been fine if I hadn't watched/listened to her talk!

also, I don't think this is a good one for someone new to yoga. I relied a lot of instruction from other yoga dvds iv'e done (yoga zone and sara ivanhoe for example) for help in modifying. the first part is pretty strenuous if you're weak upper body but after that quick seris I mentioned you hold the poses and do some stretches mixed in that are nice.I think it's experienced beginner wanting to work the muscles to upbeat music or maybe intermediate although there are no challenging poses in themselves; just the fact they're strung together makes them 'tough' but nothing too difficult.

filmed indoors and music is very upbeat/energizing. overall this is closer to a slow power yoga routine than a relaxing one and is mostly standing poses/lunge type moves and a lot of downdogs and forward bends and some are held a pretty good while.

i thought that this workout was fun and i liked the non-traditional music during the

workout. i also liked kristin and her descriptions of the poses.

i assume that this is a beginner practice as kristin gabs at the beginning about the mat and yoga blocks and has 3 exercisers with her to demonstrate various levels of ability.

kristin also has a short tutorial at the end that gives additional demonstration of down-dog, up-dog, chataranga, and a side angle twist.

this workout would also be fine for intermediates if they skip over the gabbing at the beginning like i do.

the actual practice is about 40 mins long or so.

the only thing that i found challenging was a balance series, the rest was a nice friendly workout.

there is one flub during the workout though... she does a quad stretch on one side but not the other :/

Annie S. is the only one who has reviewed MTV YOGA here on VF, which surprises me. I agree with Annie S. (and the many Amazon reviewers) who give this workout a big thumbs-up. I'm not a yogini, so I can't provide an expert review here. I do, however, take yoga classes, and I've tried at least 30 yoga VHS and DVDs since 1998. MTV Yoga is one of my top 5 favorite workouts.

(NOTE: If you want to compare your yoga tastes to mine, please know that I dislike breakneck-paced power yoga. I also dislike slow, gentle yoga. I prefer yoga routines with a nice flow and deeply held poses. Some favorite workouts are Bryan Kest's Power Yoga Vol. 1, Yoga with Ateeka, Yoga Zone Relaxation & Conditioning, John Friend's Yoga for Meditators, Erich Schiffman's Backyard Yoga, and Rodney Yee's Yoga for Energy and Yoga for Athletes. I also like AM-PM Stretch with Madeleine Lewis.)

We should all be grateful for "mute" bottons on DVDs these days. MTV Yoga is case in point. The music here really bothered me at first because it's loud, un-yogalike, and -- well -- rather MTV'ish. The music annoyed me so much that I nearly turned the DVD off the first five minutes so I could run to my computer and post this as a VF trade. I instead continued with the workout -- and quickly forgot about the music. In fact, I keep the music on these days because I don't notice it anymore. It might bother you, though.

What I do notice about MTV YOGA is the yoga routine. The flow to this routine, as well the length of time each pose is held, is perfect: not too quick, yet not too slow. It's a fun yoga DVD. I reach for MTV Yoga time and time again..... Now if only MTV would release its MTV Advanced Workout 30-minute yoga routine from VHS to DVD! That's another winner.

I think the previous reviewer has drawn a pretty good picture of what you should expect from this video. Basically the video is good. The only thing I'd like to point out: the camera-man's work unfortunately done very un-professionally.

Apparently the camera-men had a lot of fun while shooting this video. The view-point constantly travels all over the place. Sometimes camera randomly gets focused on a little body fragment of a student, which makes it difficult to follow the instructor. Once or twice he even tilts the camera which changes the shooting angle! I found this quite annoying. I mean this style might have been "OK" for a hot MTV music clip, but it is a little too much for an exercise video.

Once again - this is a little bump on overally good video.

I expected this to be "fluff" but I’ve been proved wrong. It’s a good workout that impressed me so much that I’ve also ordered MTV Power Yoga. Although the marketing hype is that Lori from "The Real World" hosts the workout, it’s actually taught by Kristin McGee who seems to know her stuff. I would categorize the workout as a general Hatha workout. Grade A.

I submitted this same review at amazon.com, but a friend urged me to post it here as well, so here goes.

I'm a guy in my 50's who loves to exercise. I enjoy resistance training, vigorous aerobics (especially rebounding), and most of all, yoga, which I've been practicing for many years. My favorite styles of yoga are Bikram's and "power yoga." I have dozens of yoga videos, and am very glad that the MTV Yoga DVD is now part of my collection. This is an excellent workout! I would rate it “Intermediate,” although modifications are shown throughout, so I don't think it would be beyond the reach of a beginner in search of an energetic workout.

If you enjoy power yoga style routines, and you're looking for something fresh that doesn't feel and look like just another Baron or Bryan video (as good as they are!), I think you'll be very pleased with this one.

The instructor is Kristin McGee, and she is excellent! She's very “normal,” down to earth, and has no annoying traits or habits, like some teachers do. There's not a trace of woo-woo on this video! Her instructions are precise and very helpful. I only caught one mistake – she does a variation for one of the poses on one side, and neglects to do it for the other side (in the pigeon pose with the bent right leg forward, after extending upper body over the leg, you sit upright, still in pigeon pose, reach back with the left arm, grasp the left ankle and bring it towards you to stretch the left quadriceps. She doesn't do that for the right quad). That surprised me, since she pays so much attention to details. Now when doing the workout, I just come out of the forward bend pigeon on the right side a few seconds before they do, and stretch the quad.

The workout is 45 minutes long. It's nonstop flowing, but never grueling. I really appreciated and was impressed by her breath cueing. She tells you when to breathe in/breathe out throughout the entire workout, but does it so quietly and with such rhythmical regularity, that it's kind've hypnotic and almost becomes subliminal. Hers is the best and most consistent "breath coaching" I've seen in any video.

There is one sequence I especially like for its dance-like feel: at one point you go into Warrior 1 and hold for several breaths, then into Warrior 2 for several breaths, move through Plank, Updog, Downdog, then repeat for the other side. Kristin then repeats this sequence 3 times, matching 1 breath to each movement, so it flows quickly and smoothly. Nice!

This is a total body workout, with a good selection of Warriors 1 & 2, Extended Side Angle, Triangle, Wide Leg Forward Bend, etc. There are balancing poses, starting with Tree pose. From Tree pose, you grasp the big toe of the bent leg, extend the leg straight out, then take it to the side while gazing over the opposite shoulder, bring the leg back to front, release the toe and hold the leg in the air for a few seconds, then bend the leg as you start to extend it out behind you while bending forward at the waist. You then straighten the rear leg and you're in Warrior 3, or Balancing T pose! You have the option of keeping your arms in airplane or extending them straight out in front of you.

There's a bit of back work (baby cobra, easy locust, bow) and seated forward bends. There's a seated spinal twist and the boat pose. There is no plow, no shoulder stand, no bridge or wheel.

The music has a good beat, but I never found it intrusive; was mostly just aware of a beat in the background. The DVD lets you choose between the workout with music, or with no music at all!

The set is pleasant. There are 3 students in the class; a young man showing the more advanced version of the poses, a young woman showing intermediate modifications, and Lori Trespicio (from MTV’s The Real World) is the “beginner.” They work in “mirror image” which I always appreciate!

After the workout, several of the poses are broken down in a Q & A format. Lori, who “hosts” the video, tells Kristin that she has some questions about several of the poses, and Kristin walks her through those particular poses, giving helpful pointers. Lori asks questions that anyone fairly new to yoga might ask, so I thought that was a great way to do it. Even more experienced practitioners might find some helpful advice in Kristin's pointers. While Lori is in a Warrior pose, Kristin steps on the outside edge of Lori’s rear foot, to remind her to keep it actively pressing into the mat. That image really stuck in my mind, much more than just a verbal reminder would have.
This is definitely a legitimate yoga workout, led by a very competent and likable instructor!