Results 10 Days to a Better Body

This workout is comprised of an upper body and lower body segment. You can select either segment or play all. Cindy works out alone. Both segments begin with a very short warm-up that some may find inadequates, but I like, preferring to get straight to the workout. The format is one minute weights, one minute cardio.

Upper body uses two sets of weights, light and heavy. I use 5#s and 10#s (After repeated use I decided to also add in an 8#s but that is just my preference.) The cardio is all straight forward and athletic, such as skaters, hopping on one foot etc. Cindy always begins with the low impact version and then demonstrates the progression, inviting you to join her. The toning exercises are traditional as well, i.e. bicep curls, bent-over rows, tricep extensions, windshield wipers, and pushups. She does abs exercises at the end of the routine, still following the one minute format.

Lower body is the same format of one minute weights to one minute cardio. Toning is still traditional deadlifts, one legged deadlift with alternating reach, curtsy squats, squats, plies etc. She uses different cardio moves for each but the idea is the same. Lower body concludes with abs in the same manner as in upper.

I do like this workout and have done it quite a bit. It is very easy to follow, just jump in and do it. Some of my weights workouts are pretty choreographed (think the Firm) and when I am not in sync with them it messes up the workout. Not with this one. Just repeat one move for one minute, then move one. I don't worry about matching Cindy exactly. I get a good calorie burn and like that I get cardio and weights in one shot. (I tend to avoid cardio.) When I finish I am nice and sweaty but not exhausted. I rate it as intermediate or high intermediate. Beginners could use lower poundage and stick to the low impact aerobics.

The DVD has two 35 minute chapters and is based on the premise of 1 minute alternating strength and cardio intervals, in a split format (upper/lower worked on different days). This workout is a LOT like the newer Barry's Bootcamp series (with the oblong stability ball) and I

think a very nice compliment to that series. Cindy works out alone in a spacious gym setting with very tall ceilings. The production quality is high and the music is adequately good (it's on the order of a 10MS or Pink Firm workout, the usual). The DVD menu allows you to choose the

upper body chapter, lower body chapter, or play all. The full workout would be 70 minutes.

The upper body chapter uses light and heavy weights (I use a selection between 5-10-12-15#) and Cindy does execute the moves at a slow-moderate pace so you aren't forced to use very light poundage. The moves are effective (I can feel it already)! She works the back with double arm

row and rear delt flies, the biceps with a one-arm bicep/military press move while balancing on one foot and another biceps set, the triceps are worked with kickbacks and French press, the shoulders are worked with rotator cuff work, and lateral and frontal raises. There is a set of

pushups for the chest too, so it is really balanced out well. The last two moves work the upper, lower, and oblique abs with crunch variations on the floor. Most to all of the cardio is high intensity and includes jumping jacks, high knees, jump rope variations, plyo lunges, repeater

knees (a minute spent on each side!), mountain climbers, and plank jacks (the last two were paired with the ab work).

The lower body chapter uses one set of heavier weights (I used 10-15# sets) and included a lot of creative lower body moves. There were deadlifts and wide stance deadlifts, squats, alternating lunges, a sort of rotational one-legged squat progressing to balancing on one leg (1 minute each leg), curtsey lunges (1 minute each leg), a very deep pulsing lunge which really scorched the quads (1 minute each leg), and at the end there was a standing torso twisting and punching with weights, then an upper/lower crunch move with weight overhead for the abs. The cardio was leg-focused and included two sets of kicks (one to the front, one to the side), some skiers, jump rope variation (and 1 minute each side of jumping on one leg), a plyo lunge type move, some squats with fast feet (IIRC), burpees, towards the end there was a set of mountain climbers which alternated with the ab work.

On the whole this is a great workout and definitely effective especially when paired with the 10-day diet plan that comes with the DVD. (If I recall, the calorie range is about 1,200 calories per day). The circuit style moves quickly and keeps any boredom at bay, and Cindy is just so

enjoyable to work out with. The high impact can be kept low and I also found it is adapted nicely to the rebounder. I appreciated that she saved the ab/cardio ab work for last so you wouldn't need to constantly be standing up and laying down. The workout is high intermediate or even low advanced if you use challenging poundage and keep up with the high intensity. Highly recommended! A+!

This is an amazing workout. It has two half-hour sections, one for upper body and one for lower body. Each section follows the same format, one-minute sections alternating a strength move with a cardio move. The cardio is mostly high-impact, but the set starts with a lower-impact modification.

The time flies by, and I got an amazing workout. As Cindy frequently reminds us, it's only one minute each, so this encouraged me to push myself. I used the 'slow' phase where the cardio is lower impact or the strength move is half-speed to try the harder-core modifications such as the push-ups on the toes.

The workout requires one lighter set of weights and one heavier set of weights, and Cindy always tells you which one to use. At around day 7, I demoted my heavy weights to being my light ones and upped the resistance for my heavy set. It was really rewarding to see myself progressing in this way.

I did ten straight days with this workout set (eleven days, including my rest day) and felt like I could have kept going. There was no dread at all. I plan to continue using it during my current rotation.

I am really pleased with this buy and heartily recommend it.

This dvd has a 35 minute lower body workout and a 35 minute upper body workout. Each workout alternates one minute of cardio and one minute of LB or UB strength work.

For the LB you need one set of "heavy" dumbbells and maybe a mat. For the UB Cindy uses 2 sets of dumbbells: lighter and heavier. I used 3 sets: 8, 10, & 15 #db's.

She starts each cardio move with a lowimpact/ beginner modification of and then moves into the advanced move. So once familiar w/ the moves you could do the advanced from the get-go.

Cindy is working out alone in a nice set-hard wood floors with some fitness props in the background. Cindy is a great cuer but none of the moves are dancy or complicated. This workout def has an athletic feel-which I prefer.

She goes right from one minute into the next exercise so there is no resting or wasted time. She really makes the most of the 30ish minutes. With that said I was left wanting more. But the dvd is going to be available at amazon & DD for $10 (or so) and it has 2 35 minute w/o's on it so I wont complain. It also came with a 10 day healthy eating guide.

LB: I used my 15# dumbbells and felt I couldnt have gone heavier due to the pace. She isnt "fast" but too quick to really heavy up IMO. You could easily go heavier and skip some reps if you wanted to. She includes some ab moves at the end that I found effective.

Some of the moves were unique and effective, always a nice bonus. Some examples are: cutsey dips, lunge variations, squat variations, deadlift variations, hopping on leg, jumping back and forth over your dubbells, plank-knee pulls (kind of like Mt climbers), burpees (blowouts), punches while holding the dumbbells to work your abs, clamshell crunches while holding a dumbbell, etc.

UB: She does some unique and fun moves, including many compound moves. Bicep-overhead press, plank while doing rows, bicep-rotator cuff, jacks, cross country ski jumps, mt. climbers, and the like. She also does some ab work at the end.

I felt like the UB strength work was sligthly slower paced than the LB so I think you can go a bit heavier.

I agree w/ Collages rating of intermediate/ advanced. Some may disagree. Its def not a hardcore, puke in the bucket w/o. But I was worked out well for 15 min of cardio and 15 min of strength. I did, however, tack on another dvd to fill my time slot for the day.