Weight Watchers PUNCH!

I tried the advanced workout and really liked it! A lot of the moves are similar to those in the Powerfit Plus Cardio Kick workout, but there are also a lot of moves that are different.

I consider myself an intermediate exerciser. This workout did not wear me out, but it got my heart rate up.

This workout is perfect for those days when I want 45 minutes of low-impact, steady-state cardio. This workout is definitely a keeper for me.

EXCELLENT Workout. I am doing the intermediate and get a great workout. I tried the advanced, and went back down to the intermidiate... for now.

I love group workout, fell like I am part of her group. She is clear, encouraging and fun!

This workout is responsible for my current interest in kickboxing. I found it very "approachable" and Stephanie is encouraging and cues well. I almost felt like this is what Leslie Sansone's Walk & Kick should've been (a very basic, easy-to-follow kickboxing workout). That said, there were some instances where I had to stop and find my bearings because I'd gotten off track...this was not "mindless" cardio for me...I had to pay attention.

The 3 workouts are very similar, and increase in length as you advance in level. All 3 workouts share a warm-up, which I have to say is one of my favorite video warm-ups ever. She really does a good job with it, it flows well.

All this said, I did not keep this video. While the workouts (I did Beginner and Intermediate) were good, beyond the first try they began to feel very, very repetitive. There were a lot of repeating of lengthy sequences on each side. There is also one incredibly excited-to-be-there background exerciser and I have a hard time looking past things like that.

This is just an addition to the rave for Beginner.

This is about Intermediate only.

Basics: Same warmup and cool down are used for all three levels.

Bright set. The kind of gym locker room look we wish we all had.

Backups, one modifier, Kat, from previous WW workout DVDs; then Stephanie and Nicole put the plyo in.

Music is appropriate and perky, nothing you are going to want for your iPod.

A lot of the moves are the same, but presented in different combos with flourishes. This one gives off more of the KICK vibe than a PUNCH vibe.

She adds repeaters, both leg and jabs, in this version.

More squats on this level.

The cuing is fine, but not as detailed. The attitude is "I assume you did beginner or you have done kickboxing before so let's just move," and she does.

That's the thing I like about PUNCH! so far, she is constantly moving. You aren't doing endless ham curls just to do endless ham curls. You do them up, you do them back, do them once again, done.

This did have a little more TIFTing feel than Beginner, but it wasn't the kind of TIFTing that makes you want to push the TV off the table.

There were football runs, more pivoting, repeaters (as mentioned before, both jabbing and knees), squats, speed bags, more lateral movement.

I liked it, I really liked it;).

Weight Watchers PUNCH! is a set that I got at my WW center. It comes with 1-pound weighted gloves. It is led by Stephanie Huckabee, but the only reason I knew this was because of VF. Her name is not mentioned on the box it all comes in or the DVD case. She does introduce herself, but she just says Stephanie.

It is produced by Anchor Bay and you can tell they know what they are doing. The camera stays where it needs to stay.

This DVD has three workouts, 30-minute Beginner, 35-minute Intermediate and 45-minute Advanced. They all share the same warmup/cool down, which move quickly and efficiently.

I only did the beginners just now and the first few minutes of the intermediate.

A little about me as an exerciser. I am a proud lifetime intermediate. I fall off many wagons, but they are older, cheaper wagons. I don't go for the systems. I don't crave intensity. The only way I would know a workout is off beat is if it had a bouncing ball at the bottom of the screen that told me it was off beat.

Basics: bright set; peppy, inoffensive music. Stephanie is talking, guiding the whole time, giving form pointers/reminders. Wardrobe is cute. It will age well. No go-go boots or dominatrix wear.

Backgrounders are Kat (who has done both WW and Leslies before and is a cheerful face, but doesn't call attention to herself) who is the basics modifier and another woman I don't recognize who was also happy to be there but didn't interfere with anything by calling attention to herself. From the few minutes I saw of the intermediate, she is the modify-up backgrounder.

Beginners: 30 minutes. Snappy little warmup that is used for all three of them.

I don't have kickboxing workouts, but I have wanted kickboxing workouts but felt intimidated by them. This is exactly what I was looking for. Even if the beginner level is the only one I do for a long time, I am fine with it.

Stephanie introduces you to every move and cues well.

She builds more than she TIFTs (takes it from the top). You do each move maybe 16 times total, then you move on. Not a lot of repetition. On the beginner, she explains as she goes through very nicely. You can use a lot of room with hamstrings to the front and V steps to the back, something I had not seen done before, but if you don't have room, then just don't move up or back.

It was very Michelle Dozois/Chris Freytag/Leslie Sansone; and to me, that's a good thing. There wasn't any downtime. You went from one to the next to the next, then after you built it you did it, and went on to another combination.

Lots of lower body involvement in this one. Stephanie does a really nice job of getting everything involved. Here she builds up to it, too. First just lower body, then adds in the torso, then the whole upper body. Then you do it all again and then you move on.

Really liked the workout. Stephanie is as pleasant as she can be.

I am not crazy about the gloves. The weight doesn't seem to sit well. I have Leslie's gloves that came with one of her kits and those sit better. The weight hump just seems out of whack to me. I may turn them over and put the weight on the underside next time.