Cindy Crawford: Shape Your Body

This workout has been well broken-down by others, so I will just state my general impressions.

We begin with a dynamic warm-up, arm swings, circles, etc. I am familiar with this type of warm-up from Jillian's workouts and I like it. Cindy does EVERYTHING fast right from the outset. If you prefer to keep exactly synchronized with a workout then this one is not for you. Much of what she does is performed too fast to be effective or too fast to be safe. She does, however, take frequent breaks. These breaks came in handy for me because I can use them to complete the specified number of reps. I don't mind not being synchronized with Cindy and just going at my own pace, but when Cindy says twenty reps, I want to do twenty reps!

I had to add ankle weights for legs and butt. For upper body I used 8 lbs but could likely use ten soon. I did the chest work on a stability ball; Cindy uses a cushion. I like the ab sections. Day one you work chest, back, legs, butt and abs; day two biceps, triceps, shoulders, legs/butt and abs.

I have done both workouts several times and use them on consecutive days. I enjoy workout one more as it has better music in my opinion. I feel worked out after but they are low to mid-intermediate workouts I'd say. I go heavier than Cindy, add ankle weights and take no breaks.

The rumors are true, Cindy has terrible form. She arches her back all the time, for one thing. She seems to over-exaggerate a lot of the moves, like in the warm-up where I get the impression she is trying to be sexy! I don't mimic her form and don't recommend you do either.

It may sound like I don't like this workout but I do!

I believe this workout has been broken down by others. I tried doing the workout a few times and tried to like it but I just don't. The worst part is that during the leg swings even in a modified way it's hard on the knees. Meaning that while swinging one leg you are jerking the supporting leg's knee in not so natural ways. Unlike some others I found this workout boring and I don't like the music. Sorry I know many people like Seal but I find him dry and boring.

I got this workout after rave reviews from other VFers, and I am not disappointed with it. These were nice routines which were convenient with my schedule and do-able with minimal equipment. I liked that I did not need heavy weights as I do not have the storage space for any right now. I had been having trouble finding workouts that really could be enough with just light weights.

Anyway, Cindy leads the routine with help from Radu. I didn’t find either of them particularly charismatic or interesting, although Radu kind of grew on me a little. But as far as atmosphere goes, the scenery is gorgeous and the music better than average. I thought it would all be vocal but it had some generic techno-y sections too.

The two routines had a fairly regular format of circuits where you would do sets of 10 for a group of exercises, then repeat the circuit three more times. There were a few exceptions I think, but for the most part this was the format. I really like having a pattern like that to follow, and I found the time went by quickly for me.

I know others have complained about fast rep speed in this workout. I did not find it a problem except for the ab routines, and I did not have any particular safety concerns either, except for the rather reckless head rolls in the warm-up.

There were some interesting moves I particularly liked, such as the cardio-paced bend to each ankle, which really worked the obliques, and the leg swings in the lower body sections. I also liked having different leg work in both days. I know of other routines that did this and people had great results from it. I am curious to see what effects it will have on me now that I have found it in a routine I enjoy.

There are definitely people who won’t like this routine. If fast rep speed bothers you, if you prefer using heavy weights or if you don’t like unweighted lower body work this might not be a good choice. Personally, I was in the mood for a fast-paced rep speed for awhile and did not want to shell out for Joyce Vedral, so this was perfect for me. I loved the beach settings and enjoyed the different exercises. I will definitely get good use out of this workout.

Shape Your Body was Cindy Crawford’s first workout video, which she created in collaboration with personal trainer Radu. Shortly after its release, it was criticized for containing dangerous moves, largely because Cindy sometimes shows poor form and often moves much too quickly through the exercises; however, experienced exercisers who know how to modify should not have any problems. The video contains 3 strength-based workouts: a 45-minute workout focused on stretching and toning your legs plus working your buttocks, chest, back, and abs; a 40-minute workout aimed at building power and strength in your legs plus working your shoulders, arms, and abs; and a quick, 10-minute full body training routine using no equipment. Because the first two workouts target different muscle groups, they are designed to be performed on consecutive days, while the third workout is meant as a short bonus for days that you don’t have time do more than that. The style of these workouts is high repetition, low weight training; you definitely don’t have time to switch to heavier weights between the various exercises. Radu provides voiceover instruction for the first two workouts and occasionally appears on screen to adjust Cindy’s form; Cindy herself also makes frequent comments throughout the workouts, which are filmed in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings to a pop soundtrack.

The first workout begins with a 6-minute warm-up containing fast-moving stretches. The next 12 minutes focus on standing leg work: you’ll do a series of “leg swings” while holding on to a chair for balance and moving to the front, side, and back (these are sort of modified ballet-type movements). You then perform a lunge combined with a front kick. The leg swings and lunges are repeated for a total of three sets of each. Next, you’ll move to the floor for 4 minutes of buttocks work, again doing a tri-set: pelvic lifts lying on your back with your heels on the chair, leg lifts lying on your side, and leg lifts back from an all-fours position. Moving on to the upper body, you do 3 sets of 10 push-ups. Next comes a lying tri-set of flies, chest presses, and lat pullovers, again repeating for 3 total sets. Continuing with back work in a standing position, you do a 1-armed row, a standing double row, and a seated row tri-set; total time for the upper body portion is 10 minutes. Last comes 7 minutes of abs work, and in this segment, Cindy moves particularly fast. She performs crunches, a full sit-up, reverse curls, and a side jackknife for 3 sets of each. The workout ends with 5 minutes of lying and seated stretches for a total of just under 43 minutes.

The second workout begins with a 5 ½ minute warm-up that is virtually the same as in Workout 1. Again starting with the legs, you’ll perform an interesting side lunge series in which you lunge, lift, and turn, raising your back leg. This is combined with a plie squat, front lunge, and regular squat, with the entire series being repeated for 3 sets. To finish of the legs, you do just 1 set of leg swings from each of the 4 positions, bringing the legs segment in at a total of 9 ½ minutes. Next comes the 9-minute arms segment. Here, you’ll do 8 different exercises (bicep curls, barbell press, flies, triceps kickbacks, reverse curls, shoulder press, front raise, French press), repeating the entire series 3 times total. Finally, there is a 9-minute abs section in which Cindy performs a variety of crunches at a lightning-fast speed; in fact, the moves are better thought of as pulse rather than crunches, as there is little time for a full crunch. The workout ends with a 4.5 minute cool-down stretch and comes in at just under 39 minutes.

For the last workout, Cindy is instructing alone without Radu. She does not use any equipment and is not even wearing shoes for this segment, but she addresses virtually the entire body in this short 10-minute workout. After a few quick warm-up stretches, Cindy begins with the legs, alternating squats and lunges for a total of 3 sets of each. Moving to the floor, she performs 3 sets of 10 push-ups using different hand positions. Next comes the abs work, and Cindy uses 4 different crunches to target the upper abs, obliques, lower abs, and entire midsection. Finally, she does some pelvic tilts to work the buttocks, and the workout ends with a brief stretch.

I would rate these workouts as at an intermediate level and above; they would not be a appropriate for beginners who would be unfamiliar with how to modify the moves for safety. The exercises included are varied and interesting and I felt thoroughly worked out after each session. Despite these positives, this is not a video that I am interested in doing on a regular basis, mainly because the extremely fast pace made the workout feel more like a chore to me; I prefer Cindy’s A New Dimension, which moves at a slightly more reasonable pace. However, if you are an intermediate-to-advanced exerciser who likes performing high repetition strength training workouts at a quick pace, you may enjoy this workout–overall, I would rate it as 3 ½ stars.

Type: Strengthening

Length: two workouts approx 50 minutes

Set: Awesome set varies between beach, rooftop and warehouse

Music: phenomenal!! Modern pop music with vocals.

Background exercisers: none, but Radu’s voice is in there

Difficulty: intermediate

I got this workout super cheap from Amazon because I liked The Next Challenge so much and because the reviews were so great. That said, it sat on the shelf until I read a post by Fitnik who RAVED about the results she got from using this tape. So, I decided to give it a try. Imagine my delight and amazement at getting TWO such terrific workouts for under $5 including shipping! And Fitnik, you are so right!! My body feels all “sucked in” and sort of snugged up.

The workout was produced to have a music video feel to it, and it does just that. Time flies by when I do this workout. The music is so terrific I am humming it all day (“top, top - top of the pops!”) Cindy is so down to earth you feel like you are working out with one of your friends. She even tells you not to let Radu bug you when he counts so fast! LOL!!! Go Cindy!! The workout is designed by Radu, a personal trainer to many celebrities. He designed 2 separate workouts to be done on alternate days. Workout one starts with unweighted leg work that seems to be very effective for me. Then, we do chest and back. Chest is pushups, flys and I think presses, too, and back is only pullovers. But you do 3 supersets. Then its on to ab work which focuses on upper and lower abs.Workout 2 does more traditional leg work - squats, lunge-kick combos, plies, etc (again unweighted, but I may add a bodybar next time) and a few of the leg swings done in workout 1 but fewer. Then arms are worked. It reminded me of Cory Everson’s Get Hard Arms and Shoulders in that is was supersets. I was surprised how challenging it was. The ab work in this workout focuses on obliques. Then there is a short 10 minute workout that I have never done.

I love this workout so much that I ordered it on DVD. The great music, great production quality and quality of the workout itself justified the extra expense. I give this one an A+ and a round of applause. I wish all my workouts were this fun!!

This video has three workouts. The first two you would use on alternate days, the third is a quickie workout for when you're pressed for time. The difference between the first two workouts is the first includes chest & back, the second shoulders and arms. Both include leg work and abs.

I enjoyed the first workout because it included chest and back work, and because of the leg work and the fast pace of the exercises, my heartrate remained elevated for much of the workout.

What I found questionable about it was the speed of the repetitions. I managed to keep the pace with workout number one, but I would not recommend it for a beginner because of the speed and the lack of form pointers. I think a beginner could handle the pace of the workout in terms of endurance, but surely it would compromise proper form. I felt the form pointers that were given were perfunctory and not very helpful.

The second workout also moved very quickly, but did not elevate my heart rate. The leg work is similar to the first workout. There are some unusual moves that are performed very quickly and definitely warranted better form pointers and camera angles. Cindy does some front to back kicks, some sideways leg swishing and some side lunges where you press on the leg that's lunging and as you get up from the lunge you twist in the opposite direction. Repetitions for these three moves were very quick, and I wasn't quite sure if I had the hang of them, but I kept up with them.

Next you work your arms and shoulders. I would have liked to have started with heavier weights for the biceps, forearms and triceps, but these exercises are interspersed with shoulder exercises for which I would go lighter. There was no time to switch weights, so I chose lighter weights from the get go. And again, I felt the repetitions were too fast, particularly for the shoulder exercises. I needed to stretch longer than Cindy did, so I had to pause the DVD. Cindy's stretches were perfunctory and not at all effective.

You finish with ab work, and this is where I finally bailed on the workout. It's a series of crunches that are performed at lightning speed that I found impossible to keep up with. Radu was counting out the reps, and at this point I thought he was NUTS! I went quickly, but at my own pace. There were some oblique crunches where your ankle is crossed over the opposite knee, and as you crunch, one hand is behind your head and your elbow meets the knee on the same side of the body. I've done these oblique crunches with Gilad and I have no problem with them. But Cindy has her torso bent into the crunch the whole time she's performing them. It's difficult for me to describe it effectively, but I did not approve of her form for this exercise. The next series of crunches involved bending your knees and bringing them to one side of your body, kind of like a torso twist. I did three crunches in this position and then began my own cool down and stretch. Cindy continued with two more sets of the whole ab shabang, but I bailed.

I think Cindy should get herself a new personal trainer if this is how he's training her. I thought Radu was useless to me as an exerciser.

This is a different workout. Maybe that's why I like it. At least the lower body part is different. However, I kind of doubt Cindy got her body by swinging her legs all around. Some of the leg moves she seems to rely on momentum too much, or she gets her upper body into it, such as leaning into a leg lift. I really like the production quality, the music, and the sets a lot.

But...Where's the fire, Radu?? This video goes too fast to be safe. In the 2nd workout Cindy does glute squeezes, and Radu counts so fast she can't keep up. He counts to 50 while she only does 47 or 48. He gives some pointers every now and again, but nothing he says is very valuable to the video.

I think the video is made to give you the impression you're working out with him as your trainer and Cindy's your workout friend giving you some pointers, but it would be better without Radu and his speedy, rushed, hurried counting. So buy it and do it at your own pace.

I believe that this is a great tape for many reasons. It can be done inside without A whole lot of room!! The music Is relaxing. I really love the beginning with the warm-up and the cool down steps at the end. I also love that there are 3 different workouts. The 15 minute one Is great If you're In A hurry. I did notice A great improvement In my waist and leg areas within A couple of weeks. I would recommend this tape to anyone who wants to do A full workout without all the hype and flashy clothes and horrible music!!

The cuing is horrible.

CIndy's form at times *seems* off.

This workout is NOT for beginners. You should really have a good understanding of what's safe and what isn't for your own body, and you should already know proper form for the standard leg and upper body exercises.

But it was fun. I loved the music. LOVED it. It wasn't annoying mixed up music - it was real music performed by the original artists, and some of it was soothing, and some of it was nice driving beat.

The music was a big win for me, as was some of the unusual moves (the leg swinging type stuff).

I loved the ab work in section 1.

I'm inclined to add this to my collection (I netflixed it first) because a VFer said she got some really great results, and I can see how that would happen here.

I did skip the warmup - it annoyed me far too much.

I recently blew the dust off of this video and started using it again. I can't believe I ever used it in the first place. The stretching routine is not long enough nor is it safe. The neck rolls are dangerous. Cindy bounces during the stretches (and is encouraged to do so by "fitness guru" Radu). She also does not hold the stretches long enough. I think that speed is a problem with the actual workout too. Cindy performs the reps too quickly in every section--legs, arms and abs. She doesn't use good form and relies on momentum to perform her exercises. I felt very strange doing some of the leg exercises at her pace because it felt more like swinging around versus a true toning movement. I just paused the video and did the movements at my own pace. I like to feel my muscles working. It is also important to slow down & do the movements in good form rather than just rushing through to finish the set. The video itself is nicely shot. I did enjoy the scenery and music in the video. And Cindy looks lovely.

This video has recieved so many negative reviews for being unsafe and difficult, my curiosity was too overwhelming to ignore so I just had to try it. There are 3 workouts: 45 minutes, 40 minutes, and 10 minutes. The workouts cover all the major body parts: upper, abs, and lower body but it emphasizes the "trouble spots" that so many woman are concerned with.

The upperbody portion uses hand weights and the moves are nothing new. In the abs portion, Cindy does different variations of full sit ups and one especially tough routine where she raises her ankles and body while lying on her side. The lower body portion is the most difficult, and perhaps responsible for most of the negative reviews. Most of the exercises here require holding onto a chair for balance. There's an array of leg swings, lifts, kicks, lunges, squats, and more! There's a really great routine for the buttocks where Cindy is lying on her back while holding onto the legs of a chair. It's hard to explain, you'll just have to see it. In the background music there's a line "you'll never survive" which is very appropriate for this workout. ^_^

Listen to Cindy's advice when she says "you don't have to complete all the reps the first time." This video's reputation for making you "feel really sore the next day" is well deserved but after a while the workout kind of grows on you. As for the safety issue, you'll have to listen to your body and know when to stop. On a side note: take it easy on those "side leg swings". This video is great for toning and don't buy into all the negative publicity or you could be missing out.

Shape Your Body & The Next Challange

I just have to say that I love these 2 workouts. I usually do Jane Fonda and Denise Austin. I think Cindy does a great job. Some of the exercise are soo different then the typically tapes. I was sore the next day and thats normal. And I workout at the gym and to my tapes. Dont think cause you workout that you will not be sore from this tape cause you will.And what was said about these 2 tapes that it was dangerous well, every tape and exercise you do can be dangerous if-you are overweight,smoke(cant breath),dont use correct form,and illnesses especially if you are older. Your body will tell you when to stop so, remember that. On a scale 1 to 10 I give this an 9. 10 is perfect and nothing in this world is perfect. And one more thing yes, some of the moves were done a little fast.

Although I must admit that I am sore the next day after using the video, Cindy is throwing her back and neck around in positions that make injury likely. Also, her repititions are done way to fast to get the benefit of the exercise and her form is poor at times.

This video will make you sore the next day trust me but if you are like me than being sore helps to remind you that you need to work out. The 40 and 45 minute segments both go by pretty quick and before you know it you have worked out for a little less than an hour. I think out of ten I would give this video an eight.

I know this is an oldie, but as a beginner, I was willing to give it a try.

Overall, it wasn't really overwhelming for me (and I am out of shape in a major way.) A couple times the first time I did it, I had to take an extra break here and there.

The swinging leg exrcises did me in big time, though. My legs were so sore that I could only do some weights with me arms for over a week.

But Cindy is encouraging in a non-annoying way, and encourages you to do less reps if you need to. I thought I'd feel like a fat cow while watching her, but her trim and muscular (not scrawny at all) body seems like an attainable goal--but for me--on a 5'5" scale!

One other thing: I had problems doing some of the "chair work" the same way as she. She's a lot taller than me, and things just didn't end up in the same place with me in relation to the top of my chair. I had to modify.

Generally, it got my heart rate up and is a good workout for beginners who can keep up with it. Just be careful on the swingy leg things--don't put your "all" into it or you will suffer for it! And be aware of your back in these parts too, when your doing it the first several times.

I would give it a 7 on an overall 1-10 scale.

As far as safety goes, you need to take it easy or you end up sore, but if you're aware of this, I don't feel it's overly unsafe. We all need to be aware of our own bodies and limits.