PrayFit: 33-Day Body Toning System

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this workout.

The premise of the workout is this - build your body like a solid foundation so that you may be better able to serve God. The challenge is about exercising for approximately 33 minutes a day for 33 days in order to improve your health and heart. The concept of 33 refers to the number of years that Jesus was on earth. Throughout the workout, Jimmy Pena uses a lot of "Christian language" (for lack of a better term) and quotes Scriptures and references Bible stories when he is being motivating. Additionally, one menu option gives access to four video devotions, brief motivational messages.

The idea to this DVD is that you participate in a 33 day total body challenge doing this workout "that will have you building strength, burning fat and improve your overall level of conditioning in just 33 minutes a day." He encourages you to use a journal and record how many of each exercise you complete and the weight you use. The goal is to progress, which means you try to do a little more each day that you do the program. This program includes exercises for the upper body, lower body and core and also includes some cardio challenges.

I can't imagine this workout will appeal to non-Christians, but church groups with exercise classes or programs may really like it and individual Christians may enjoy having it as an option for home. I also can't imagine doing this work (or ANY workout for that matter) for 33 days in a row. It just doesn't seem realistic - at least, with my propensity for boredom.

I would rate the workout as high beginner to intermediate. There are four background exercisers, 3 women and one man, and one of them is the modifier and shows easier moves. And, the modifier's focus seems to be showing easier moves rather than alternative moves that leave out the impact.

The DVD gives you the option to work out with Jimmy's instructions or just the music, which is a feature a lot of exercise DVD enthusiasts value. I really don't remember much about that music, so it obviously wasn't very memorable. I think it was standard instrumental music.

The exercises hit one body part (or group os muscles) at a time. He starts with the lower body and ends with abs. He also inserts a couple of cardio challenges to get your heartrate up. The exercises seemed to be standard, classic exercises and he would do them in segments targeted at a specific body part. So, you have a lower body section, a shoulders section, etc. He would sometimes do the move with the background exercisers. Then, he would get up and walk around, pointing out good form one of the background exercisers was exhibiting. He stressed good form and gave good pointers.

I thought this was a well-done workout and thought it was good, but not great. It was very old school and I like more modern and creative strength workouts.