Walking For Fitness Kit

I bought this kit with the idea that I would use the 1.5 pound hand weights for Trudie Styler's Pure Sculpt and keep the walking workout as a backup for days I didn't feel like doing much of a workout. I suppose I thought this was Kathy's version of a light Leslie Sansone workout. Boy, was I wrong!

The workout has simple marches, side to side steps, mambos, v-steps and even box steps but Kathy's understated enthusiasm, mercifully free of Timesaver WOO HOOing, encourages you to bounce a little more and step a little higher. While she starts out uncharacteristically telling you how many calories you'll burn and chattering about how she has walking parties with her friends, the workout quickly moves along to good cuing and intermediate level moves.

Unlike the Leslie walking workouts I'd tried, Kathy puts your upper body to work with lateral raises, bicep curls, tricep kickbacks and a nice barre-like section including Ws, open closes and front raises with elbows bent, reminiscent of Squeeze without the pain. Adding upper body work boosts the workout, in my opinion, from a simple walking workout to a total body boost, especially since she adds squats to section changes and crunchless abs and twists at the end. I do wish there had been a few more minutes to transition from walking to stretching, but the workout clocks in at 30 minutes and a few seconds, so I'm guessing she was keeping to a strict time limit.

The music is a nice instrumental with a beat to keep you marching and just bland enough to fade into the background. Like most workouts these days, the set is hardwood floors with a light background and some exercise props, reminiscent of PowerFit Harmony.

I purchased my kit from Amazon.com for $15.99 as a 'Warehouse Deal' because the outer box was slightly smooshed. Being a vidiot, I added another workout to the purchase to take advantage of free shipping. So I got 1.5 pound hand weights, a workout DVD and a pedometer to keep my toddler busy while I got moving for 30 minutes. I wouldn't have a problem doing this workout every day.

I give this an A for surprising me and for bringing back the Kathy I started working out with in 1988.