Give Me 10!

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this workout.

I am a 49-year-old woman with two types of arthritis - osteoarthritis of the knees and psoriatic arthritis, which mostly affects my hands and wrists. I only say this so you understand the modifications I talk about making below.

I have not been a big fan of Amy Dixon workouts in the past. When I do them, I think they are well done, but either they required me to work harder than I wanted to work or there was just something about them that I didn't click with. However, I always liked HER. Given this one was rated intermediate in various places I looked, I decided to try it.

This DVD ofers several 10-minute segments and you can do them in any order you want. They include cardio, upper body, lower body, abs, yoga/stretch and a bonus kettlebell workout. There is no warm up or cool down in each segment. Personally, I like that because it always drove me crazy in other 10-minute DVDs that so much time was spent with these segments. However, I wish a separate warm up had been included. You can use the yoga/stretch segment for a cool down. One of the times I used this DVD, I did the bonus kettlebell segment as a warm up and that seemed to work well. You can choose the segments in any order, but you cannot program the DVD to play those segments ahead of time. I wish DVD producers would use full DVD functionality to make our lives easier.

The segments include:

Cardio: The cardio in this segment is simple and athletic and it gets your heart rate up there nicely. The first time I did this DVD, I chose this as my first segment and really missed a warm up. There is no easing into it. Moves include squats and lunges, mambos, step ball change, skaters, jumping jacks, and a basketball sequence that is a lot of fun. It was simple to modify the moves to be lower impact - just keep your feet on the ground. She sometimes started with a lower-impact move and then moved up to a higher impact move and that made things simpler.

Upper Body: I like punching moves with weights so I liked when she started with weighted upper cuts. She also did bicep curls, tricep moves (I substituted kickbacks for the dips they did), back flies, lat raises, overhead presses, and push ups (I did chest presses).

Lower Body: With each set of moves, she did something different, putting her own twist on standard moves. I really enjoyed her combination of a basic squat into a kettlebell swing. Then, you do a lunge & lunge variation sequence. Then, you do dips,deadlifts, one-legged squats, and plies.

Core: I so enjoy standing core work over floor core work. The standing work in this segment uses one dumbbell and I really enjoyed it. When we went to the floor, I resigned myself to crunches - and then she didn't do any. For floorwork, it was kind of fun. I may not do all of this segment, but I'll include at least part of it more often than I do some other core options on other DVDs.

Stretch/Yoga: This is a strength-oriented segment some and stretch-oriented some. It includes a flow at the beginning. Fortunately (for me) she included a modifier that didn't put as much weight onto her hands/wrists as the other two.

Bonus Kettlebell ToneUp: This segment is just fun. The moves include squats, Russian twists, halos, squats w/ halo and a chop, and a rack and press. You finish with a basic swing. I was happy to use my kettlebell.

There are two background exercisers and one of them shows modifications (not the same one in every segment. The set is open and bright. Don't ask me about the music; I don't remember anything about it. That in itself must say something, right?

I really like this DVD (so now maybe I stop my search for an Amy Dixon workout I will keep!). She is a really good leader of exercise. She mirror cues and keeps you with her with good cueing. This DVD is definitely an intermediate level, although you could modify up or down. It's easier than the other workouts of hers I've tried.

Amy works out with 2 background ladies in a nice open set with wooden floors; one of the b/g'ers shows modifcations. Amy used only 1 set of dumbbells, you can stick w/ one set (which actually works out pretty well because she has the moves designed to fit the same poundage IMO) or you can use a variety. You can "play all" or play individual segments but there is no "mix and match" option.

The dvd is comprised of six 10 minute sections: cardio, UB, LB, yoga/stretch, abs, and a bonus kettlebell workout (using a KB or dumbbell). She dosent waste any time in each 10 minute segment- you start right into the moves and at the end she tells you to do another segment, use the yoga/ stretch segment, or cooldown on your own.

Core Makeover: This is a weighted core workout utilizing one dumbbell. This segment felt kettlebell inspired to me though I am no KB pro. A lot of the moves are done standing (which I love) such as, weighted chop and windmill w/ the weight. Then you go down to the floor for some fun & unique "rock & roll" plank moves, reverse curls, knee drops, side planks w/ a twist, and she includes lower back swimmers-I enjoy working the often overlooked lower back.

Lower Body Firmer: Using one (I used 2) sets of dumbbells you start with a basic squat and move into a kettlebell-esque swing & 1 arm swing w/ the dumbbell. I was already feeling it (I used 15#ers) by the end of this squat section! Then we move onto a lunge & lunge variation sequence. Then we move onto a dip sequence, deadlift variations, one legged squats, and pliets. She adds a unique twist to most all the moves and shows some progressions to keep it interesting.

Upper Body Sculpt: You start right away with a weighted upper cut, move on to bicep curl variations and then down to the floor for tricep dips. Then you do a back fly with an added balance challenge, a lat raise w/ a swing, overhead press, plank with a front dumbbell raise, and of course pushups.

Fat Blasting Cardio: Amy keeps this cardio straightforward and athletic (just the way I like it!) while getting/keeping your heart rate up there nicely. There is an unweighted squat and lunge sequence, mambo, step ball change, skaters, shuffle, jacks, a FUN basketball (I love sports inspired cardio-though I am not a fan of actual sports LOL), and she adds in plenty of plyos and jumps to get the heart pumping.

Bonus Kettlebell ToneUp: This workout is comprised of pretty basic kettlebell moves but it was def 10 minutes well spent! You will do squats, "monkey", Russian twists, halo, a squat w/ halo and a chop, and a rack and press w/ a plyo squat move. You finish with a basic swing. I used a dumbbell, as does one b/g exerciser. Amy uses a kettlebell.

I like Amy as a lead-I have tried her on ExTV and while I didnt dislike her, she wasnt a fav-but I really like her in this and would enjoy having this w/o in my collection. She really put thought into designing this w/o- when a heavier weight is needed, she has you put both weights in one hand. Unlike many other weight or AWT w/o's where the poundage doesnt match up w/ the move or you do a joint move and one muscle group suffers, she has it planned out very well. Her personality and cueing are both good! I would rate this a solid intermediate that you can easily modify up or down.