Hot Body Yoga

This is a fully customizable dvd w/ two 30 min yoga routines on it. You can mix and match, play all, and w/o with or w/out Denises instruction. The set is nice-lots of hardwood and some green windows w/ lots of space. You will need a set of lighter dumbbells for one of the w/os and possibly a yoga mat.

Denise leads the w/o's with a variety of male & femal b/g'ers all showing various levels of modifications. The first w/o is a straightforward yoga workout with some standing, kneeling, and lying yoga poses. I like that she moves along at a nice not-rushed but not super slow pace. She does a lot of standard yoga poses: warrior variations, dancer, cobra, down dog, 1/2 moon, and other poses. There are no sun salutations-which is a nice change from other dvds I have.

The 2nd w/o is really unique IMO. Denise combines light dumbbell strength moves with yoga poses. You will do preacher curls while holding a lunge, warrior w/ rows, wide deadlifts w/ UB movements, tree w/ chest press & shoulder/ rotator cuff work, lower back boat w/ biceps, V sit, bridge w/ pec fly, etc. You do about 20 min standing and 10 minutes on the floor.

Know that I am not into alot of yoga and prefer athletic and straighforward but I really enjoyed both w/o's on this dvd; especially the 2nd weigthed routine. Very unique for me and right up my ally! I will def be using both of these a lot. Denise is much more mellow in this dvd than other w/o's of hers and her cueing and form are both fine for me. I would rate this an intermediate yoga fusion w/o.

I am reviewing this workout after having done it in entirety once. Workout requires a yoga mat and light (1-5#) hand weights for the second 30 minute workout. Both workouts are 30 minutes long and can be done with music and Denise's instruction or with music only. The menu options do not allow you to play both workouts back to back, they are meant to be played separately. Production quality is high and the set is open and bright. Denise works out with about 6 background instructors, mostly women but one male who shows beginner modifications. The music is slow moving, bland instrumental.

Workout #1: Yoga Fit. The workout is a series of basic yoga moves (warrior 1, warrior 3, dancer's pose, extended side angle pose, low lunge) done once at a moderate pace and repeated at a more challenging slower pace. There are no vinyasas in this workout. Unfortunately, there is no flow whatsoever. The entire 30 minutes consisted of "lets do this pose…okay now lets do this pose…okay now lets do this pose…" made worse by repeating each pose once. The music was bland and did not help the workout move quicker. The moves were basic and I would consider this workout a beginner level.

Workout #2: Yoga Sculpt. This workout utilizes light hand weights, and was the section I was most excited about upon trying this DVD. I used 4# bells which I thought was on the heavier side of safe and comfortable (I would recommend 1-4# because Denise went quickly through the reps and some of the moves are multi-planar; Denise recommended from no weights through 5# weights). This workout flowed better than the first workout. The music is still bland, but the weights added a challenge and interesting component to what would be a very basic yoga workout. Warrior pose with biceps, low lunge with triceps kickbacks, mountain pose with arm raises, boat pose with biceps, triangle with row, tree pose with chest work and rotator cuff work, bridge with chest flies. The first 20 minutes are done standing and the final 10 minutes are on the floor. This is not as challenging as Iron Yoga but is on the same order. I enjoy the combination lower body stretching and toning with light upper body toning to get the heart rate somewhat high. There was still a lack of flow, but it seemed like this workout moved quicker and was better put together. I would rate this workout beginner-intermediate depending on poundage used.

Overall I would say this is a very basic yoga workout and might be good for those who do not prefer vinyasa flows in their yoga workouts. This is a more athletic approach to yoga in lieu of the mind-body connection (i.e., there is no "woo woo" talk). I already have Denise's Yoga Body Burn and do not feel like this provides much beyond that workout, except for the segment that uses weights (which has already been done with Iron Yoga, and a section of Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga, and likely others). I borrowed this workout through Netflix and will unlikely purchase the DVD because it did not have an edge - just the same old same old, with bland music to boot. However like I said this might be good for beginner-intermediate exercisers and/or for Denise Austin fans. Overall grade B-.