Crunch: Fat Blaster II: The Challenge

Crunch Fat Blaster II is a relatively short floor aerobic routine consisting of a 4 minute warm-up, 25 minutes of aerobics, and 5 minute cool-down. The routine is fairly simple to follow due to Ms. Popp's excellent cueing and I found the intensity is surprisely consistent throughout the video. The whooping factor is pretty high here but that is fairly consistent with Crunch videos, doesn't detract from the workout. I enjoyed the music track too. I would recommend this to the intermediate-advanced exerciser who may be pressed for time, beginners might find this a little to difficult.

This is a shorter (about 30 minute) hi/lo floor routine led by Nancy Popp. The music, set and cast are typical Crunch circa mid to late 90's.

I think there are about three longer combos in all. Surprisingly, they are never all strung together for at least one "take it from the top". The combos use a lot of moves like cha chas, pivots, ham curls, side touches and jogging in place. I would classify this workout as balanced between dancy and athletic moves.

I got a decent workout from this one-- I would say it is solidly intermediate. (I don't really classify my exercise level, but I can say that the only video workouts that really get me to about 80% of my max HR are interval workouts such as Imax, Imax2 or Intense moves)

Nancy is a pretty good cuer, but I had difficulty staying on beat with a few of the moves.

This is a decent short hi/lo workout. A good early morning workout-- short and requiring no equipment.

While I didn't think this was a particularly challenging cardio workout, I liked this video more than most of the other reviewers. I agree with Donna--Nancy is easy to follow and very motivating. I really like her style. Nancy's form is perfect and beautiful to watch. I was impressed by how she manages to come across both relaxed and laid back (typical Crunch) without letting her form suffer. The moves flowed very naturally for me, and I managed to delude myself that I looked like Nancy while doing them :).

I think this could be a good video for an intermediate exerciser who wants an interesting but relatively low impact routine. It might also be good for more advanced exercisers who are recovering from an injury or illness.

I use a heart pulse rate monitor when I exercise and with this aerobic tape I get into the 145 - 160 range and hover there for the length of the workout. The moves are interesting and for those who need lower impact, an instructor right of Nancy does the same workout in low. One of my knees has trouble and this video does not seem to agitate the problem. I am not one who likes aerobics and I have to push myself so I found this to be a good video for me.

For some reason, I thought this was going to be a sequel to the Crunch Fat Blaster Plus tape (the interval tape). It's not. It's just regular intermediate-level aerobics, and not all that compelling. I think Nancy is a little better at cueing and showing new steps than Jennifer was in the first Crunch Fat Blaster, but I still prefer the first one. This one is not bad, just not for me. It would be good for intermediate exercisers when they're pushed for time (it's 35 minutes). Grade B.

This video is the first Crunch video that I have ever gotten. I bought it spur of the moment and I kind of feel that it was a waste of my money. I'm not saying that it's a bad video, it's just not the kind of exercise video that I prefer. The warm up is 5 1/2 minutes, the aerobic section is 25 minutes and the cool down is, I think, 7 or 8. It's a good short workout for one of those days when you just don't feel like exercising. It's rather dancy, but I like dancy choreography once in a while. Collage rated it as an int/adv which I think is right. I'm an advanced exerciser and it did bring my heart rate up. Although I'd have to lean more toward the intermediate zone. Overall it's a good video if you like a short, somewhat dancy workout on the floor.