ACE HiiT Series: Total Body HiiT

I was very excited to get this set as I am loving short (30 minute-ish) intense workouts. The DVD set has an upper body, lower body, total body, and abs HIIT workout one one DVD, and a bonus 10 minute ab and another 10 minute lower body workout, and a 20 minute yoga workout on a second DVD. For about $25 retail you get a great set.

Each workout is structured with a nice solid warm up of about 5-6 minutes, then five 4-minute Tabata circuits - four exercises for 20 seconds each (10 second rest), repeated twice, making up each 4-minute circuit. The first two circuits are repeated once (making up the first four circuits); the last 4-minute Tabata is not repeated. Lindsey provided a listing of the exercises in each workout.

The total body workout is a good short routine, that touches upon all the major muscle groups. Exercises include lunge with row, lunge with bicep curl, side to side kettlebell swing (using one dumbbell) with jump, jump rope, and other combination workouts. While I think this is a great workout (reminded me of her 10 Pound Slimdown series, Firm workouts, and the like), my exercise tastes have changed somewhat and I like more dynamic workouts (JNL, kettlebells, Zuzana) so this one doesn't get a lot of use from me. While I like that combination exercises hit all the muscles, you have to limit your poundage when you do upper/lower at the same time (say, biceps plus lunges) than just biceps or just lunges. I like the other workouts in the set more because they are focused and more intense on one part of the body. But, I think a couple of years ago I would have been WILD about this workout. It is certainly more well done. I would say using challenging weights this is a high intermediate workout. It definitely works nicely with the other workouts in the set.

Chris leads this 30 minute total body routine alone in a nice studio set, and provides plenty of modification options. You will need dumbbells for this classic HiiT workout- each exercise lasts for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds rest completed for 4 minutes followed by a 45 second rest. You perform 2 rounds of 4 exercises two times total, and then one final round of 4 different exercises.

After a warmup, exercises include: lunge & curl, travel squat hops & KB swings, side lunge & row, mogul tucks, 3 point pushups, fast feet jumps, curtsy & lat raise, skater, dip & punch, weighted squat hops, French press toe taps, and 180 squat jumps.

This is a high intermediate routine. Chris accomplishes a lot in a short amount of time, lots of great multi-muscle exercises get the heart rate up and get great strength work in. The added cardio moves, make this a great well rounded workout. Chris is an excellent lead- no wasted time, not rushed, and motivating & fun! I am really liking this set- perfect for those with only 30 minutes a day but want to get in a great workout. I received this dvd to review.