Brazil Butt Lift - Sculpt

Part of the original Brazil Butt Lift series, this is Leandro's full body workout. It's very light on equipment - only a mat and dumbbells are needed - with a mix of upper body work, lower body work (compound moves done while holding light dumbbells) and abs/stabilization, including a tough sequence of plank/side plank/hip dip plus good exercises for the obliques. I'm an intermediate exerciser and use mostly 5# dumbbells, with 8#s for single-leg deadlifts and 10#s for chest. You have to know the workout well or being willing to hit 'pause' a lot if you want to switch up weights for every exercise.

Leandro instructs a class of mostly women with two men in the back row. It's an indoor well-lit typical studio set. He does many of the standing moves but almost none of the floor work, preferring to instruct/correct that segment.

After a basic warmup and a set of pushups, the workout goes through standing work for upper and lower body, then moves to the floor for upper body and abs/core work. I'm always surprised at how sweaty I am by the time I hit my mat for the floor work, as the standing work is fun, well paced and doesn't feel grueling, but you feel well worked-out at the end of it.

One of Leandro's 'signature' moves, mermaid pushups, feels very awkward and shoulder-straining to me, so I substitute forearm plank with hip dips, or full plank with left hip dip - right hip dip - pushup while Leandro and crew are cranking out the mermaids. That's the only move that feels dicey to me, and Leandro offers clear instruction and form pointers throughout the workout on all the moves.

On this and the other Brazil Butt Lift workouts, Beachbody missed a real opportunity to get some good Brazilian/Latin music and coordinate it with the workout. The music in this workout is background-y and often not on the beat/pace with the exercisers. Some of that is Leandro's counting, but really the music is there to add noise but not necessarily enhance the workout. There is a music-lower option.

Sculpt is part of the original Brazil Butt Lift set; it is on the same DVD as High & Tight. It is a 47.5-minute strength workout which uses weights. When you select the workout, the following weight range selections appear on screen:

Beginner: 3-5 lbs.

Intermediate: 5-8 lbs.

Advanced: 8-10 lbs.

I generally consider myself to be high intermediate, and I used my 5-lb. dumbbells for most of this workout. I did try to go heavier a couple of times, but not only did I fatigue pretty quickly, but also it was difficult to switch to a lighter weight when I needed to, as the workout doesn't leave a lot of time for transitions.

In Sculpt, Leandro is working out in the same studio as with the other workouts from the original set, but he is joined by a larger group this time--I counted a total of 9 background exercises, including 2 men. Two of the women show modifications throughout the workout, including the option of using a band instead of weights. In addition to the dumbbells, you may want to have a mat on hand for the floor portion.

Leandro begins the workout with a 3-minute warm-up. This consists of simple moves such as side steps, shoulder rolls, knee ups, hamstring curls, repeater knees, and a set of push-ups to finish. For the main part of the workout, main of the exercises are compound movements which recruit both the upper and lower body. A complete exercise breakdown is listed below.

*one armed rows, adding a lunge

*squats with arm raise, adding a knee up

*triceps extension, adding a hamstring curl

*single leg balance dead lift

*elevated arm biceps curl with squeeze

*one-armed bicep curl with squat and overhead press

*squat with one-arm front raise

*one-arm overhead press with side leg lift, then curtsey

*core twists

*rear deltoid raise

*triceps kickbacks

Transition to floor:

*Mermaid (one of Leandro's "signature" moves: sit with the legs bent, but turn to the side as if doing a push up, raise the knees & hips, twist them to the other side, and repeat)

*chest fly, starting with double arm, moving to single arm

*side-lying crunches, level 1 & 2

*tricep push-ups

*plank to side plank, adding hip raises

*roll-ups, adding rotation

*oblique crunch

*weighted crunch, bringing dumbbell from overhead to alternating bent knee

*back extensions, alternating arm/leg, both arms/legs, then swimming

The workout concludes with a 6-minute cool-down stretch. Leandro starts the stretches in a kneeling position for a variation on gate pose from yoga: with one leg out to the side, he thoroughly stretches the torso. After repeating on the other side, he comes back to the knees, spreading them and leaning back for sort-of a wide-legged camel.

Unlike the other workouts in the Brazil Butt Lift series, Sculpt does not ignore the upper body; in fact, depending on how heavy you go with the weights, your upper body may get quite a workout! I found that Sculpt left me feeling thoroughly worked out without leaving me feeling exhausted (as I still do after Bum Bum) or my butt crying for mercy (High & Tight!). It's definitely a nice full-body workout that challenges the muscles in some unique ways.