10 Pounds Down Weight Loss Cardio Mix
Reviews from VideoFitness
I admit, I was a bit confused by this DVD. I received both 10 Pounds Down "Total Body Tune Up" and "Weight Loss Cardio" on the same DVD. The minimal chapter menu listed both workouts, but it gave no idea of the times, breakdowns, etc., so it took me awhile to figure out which workout I was doing, especially since both contain cardio and toning work.
In the Weight Loss Cardio workout, I didn't realize until the very end that there is only actually about 40 minutes of cardio; there is an additional segment called "Total Body Toners" that lasts about 24 minutes, and finally, there is a 4.5 minute cool-down segment. The cardio begins with a 6-minute warm-up that consists of moves such as side taps, hamstring curls, and some light stretching (it was hard to see what Smith was doing here). Smith continues with some alternating side taps, but then she makes things more complicated by adding both movement and directional changes. There are a few boxing moves, which I enjoyed because this was low-impact, but then Smith made this high-impact by throwing jumping jacks on the end, which I hate. The next segment was also high impact with scissors, skiers, and jumping rope; Smith provided NO modifications for the impact moves. There were a few more boxing moves and what felt like starting to move into a cool-down, but then suddenly Smith brought the tempo back up again! There is no cool-down after the cardio, as Smith goes right into the Total Body Toners segment. She starts here with just a few standing moves such as plies, but she then moves to the floor for additional Pilates-like moves. Part of this segment is what she calls "Corset Abs," and it includes Pilates-like abs work such as frog, leg circles, leg extensions, and v-sits. I could certainly see how some would like this workout, especially if you enjoy hi-impact cardio with a good deal of variety, but it wasn't for me.
I do like Jessica and have used many of her online workouts. Her DVDs tend to be pretty hit or miss for me, however--although she instructs well, I just don't tend to enjoy the format of her workouts.
The dvd has 3 parts: a 40 minute cardio workout, a 10 minute total body, bodyweight workout, and a 10 minute ab segment. You can play any section or play all. Also, warm-up and cool-down are seperately chaptered. The cardio is varied and has kickbox, dance, and athletic elements. The choreography is pretty simple to catch on to. Jessica tends to start with the easier, lower impact move, then ups the intensity.
Total body toner is a nice quick workout using just your bodyweight. I find it reasonably challenging, especially after the main body of the workout. Jessica does some creative twists on familiar moves and packs a lot into only 10 minutes. The same can be said of the abs/core segment. I find it pretty tough, and again the moves are creative. I have trouble completing the whole segment sometimes, depending on my energy level.
This is an intermediate workout. The cardio keeps me in my fat-burning zone and I get a pretty good, thorough workout using all the segments.
I like Jessica more and more the more I use her workouts. She pushes you through the workout and gives clear instructions.
Jessica works out on location in the Miami studio she actually leads classes in! The studio is a cute open space w/ blue background with flowing water in the backdrop and hardwood floors. The music is excellent- very upbeat & fresh- makes you want to move. You wont need any equipment for this workout. Jessica works out alone and offers various intensity modifications throughout.
10 Pounds Down Weight Loss Cardio Mix is chaptered into Weight Loss Cardio Mix, Total Body Toners, and Corset Abs - you can play all or select a segment from the main menu. The cardio portion is a high energy routine that combines boxing, old school hi/lo (with fresh twists to keep it interesting), and lots of good standing core work. The toning segment is body resistance strength work, and the ab routine offers SUPER unique standing & floor (tough) ab work.
Weight Loss Cardio Mix: (40 min) exercises include mambo-hop-hop w/ fun arms, jabs, jack variations, cross punch w/ level changes, jump rope, V step & V hop, knee pulls w/ big arms, diagonal push with a twist (hits the core), skip forward jack back, double skip, skater, lunge w/ a twisting jab, pulsing lunges w/ a hop and she cools us down with more standing core work (LOVE standing core work!)
Total Body Toners: (10 min) Exercises include pliet pulses, pliet heel drags, side plank raise (like!), supermans, pilates style pushups, plank w/ a bent leg raise, and pushup variations. Fun, quick, & effective- great for travel!
Corset Abs: (8 min) Exercises include: frog leg extensions, leg scissor drops, wide leg circles, oblique leg drops, reverse crunch variations, cross knee pull, supermans & superman heel taps, wide stance knee pulls, & full body V extensions. SUPER unique & effective core work!
I rate this workout a solid intermediate that can easily be modified to suit the needs of most all exercisers. Jessica's cuing (as always) is spot on and she offers plenty of modification options throughout. LOVE that she adds in standing core work into the cardio- but still keeps you moving so your heart rate doesnt drop. She does an excellent job of balancing fun choreo that is not too complicated but not at all boring. The time went by super quickly and the core work had my abs screaming! Fun unique twists on the exercises and put together in a fresh way! I received this dvd to review.