Your Best Body: Target and Tone

I really liked Kathy's serene personality. She made the workout calmly fly by. I found this to be super-efficient. I assumed that a 30- minute workout would be a breeze....wrong! Whew. I am a Firm veteran and was still challenged by the unique legwork. Those wall sits! Ahh! The stretches are really interesting and felt super. Looking forward to doing this one again.

What a great little video! I picked this one up when I was looking for a total-body workout in under 40 minutes, and was pleasantly surprised. Kathy has a very soothing, almost soporific voice and her cueing is very good. It's just her in this tape: no distractions from the celebrity add-ons she seems fond of in her other tapes. And this tape works! I had a pleasant warm feeling for at least half an hour afterwards. Here are some things I especially like:

• the exercises are all done in at least 2 (usually 3) sets, allowing the muscles to fatigue
• she goes slow enough that you can use moderately heavy weights
• she alternates between upper and lower body exercises which reduces fatigue and allows you to work for longer and with more concentration.

She also has several unusual exercises in here such as a rear leg lift that turns into a hamstring curl. Normally I find leg lifts very boring, but with her counting along with you it is not that bad. Overall I recommend this tape to anyone who wants a quick but effective total-body toning workout.

This is a good little strength/toning tape for beginners and low intermediates. Or for those days when you aren't up to Cathe or the Firm. It's nice that you only need a chair, dumbells and maybe ankle weights. I don't always feel like breaking out all the equipment.
The tape is about 38 minutes long. It is just Kathy on a brightly lit stage with a cityscape background. The music is generic, yet cheerful. There is no floor work and no ab work.
Kathy alternates lower and upper body sections as follows:

Butt Tuner - lunges(8) and side squat lifts(8) - 3 sets
Shoulder Shaper - military presses(16) and shrugs(10) - 3 sets
Lunge Kicks(8)- and karate kicks(8) - 3 sets
Tricep Toner - French presses(10) and chair dips(10) - 3 sets
Leg Lifts - standing side(10), back(10),hamstring curls - 3 sets
Push Ups - wall(10) and wall sits (30 seconds) -2 sets
Some shoulder thing against the wall I don't get - 2 sets
Stretch - 6 minutes
This is a companion tape to Keli Roberts "Your Best Body: Abs & More", but seems to have been lost in the shuffle. You have to look under Kathy's name in the instructor index to find other reviews of Target & Tone

This video is a good video for beginning/low intermediates. There are a good variety of exercises in the video. For instance, there are some "karate" kicks, and in one portion, you "sit" with your back against the wall and hold this position. This is combined with some standard exercises such as lunges and weight work for the arms. I felt that the leg work at the end was not as challenging as it could have been, though leg weights can be used to make it more challenging. Also, there is no ab-work. Some of the leg work does get the heart rate up. This is a good video to do as a change-of-pace every once in a while.

I liked this video from the first time I did it and still feel I can grow with it for quite some time yet. The work progresses by target area; butt, legs, shoulders, triceps, chest, etc.. All of the work is low-impact with focus on developing strength. Weights can be used for some exercises. There's a good warm up and cool down, with some interesting stretches in the cool down. As the title suggests this tape does target specific areas and is not total body but, I do feel it is very effective as it is. While this video may not be challenging enough for an advanced exerciser, I think beginners and intermediates will enjoy it alot.