UFIT Ultra Burn: Calorie Crushing Cardio and Stretch & Sculpt

This dvd contains two 20 minute workouts, set to great music. Cindy leads in a gym set with 4 backgrounders one showing beginner modifications. You will need dumbbells for this dvd. Each workouts warmup is built into the workout.

Cardio: The workout is composed of timed intervals. Exercises include march & hop, lunge & knee pulls, step knee ups, pliet step ins, shuffle & floor touch, soccer drill, dip & knee, ski & power lunge, lateral up & overs, jog & knee pull and concludes with a stretch.

Sculpt & Stretch: The workout is composed of timed intervals and the yoga inspired stretches are built into the strength moves. Exercises include walk out plank & stretch, plank rows & front raises, cat cow to down dog, pushup side plank, bird dog, dumbbell cross punches, warrior, military press & knee raise, triangle, tree & bi curl, balance stick & tri kickbacks, windmill, roll back to V sit, and concludes with a stretch.

This is an intermediate routine. Cindy starts with a lower impact exercise & moves in to a higher intensity. You can easily keep it low or do the higher impact the whole time to adjust to your level. Cindy is her normal perky self & provides great form pointers. I am a huge fan of athletic timed intervals so I enjoyed the structure of this workout. I received this dvd to review.

My VF post from 9 Nov 2013:

Tonight I did both Ultra Burn workouts: Calorie Crushing Cardio and Sculpt & Stretch.

Calorie Crushing Cardio (20 minutes):

* 2 minute intervals: 1 high intensity, 1 lower intensity

* No stretch to warm-up

* Marching x4 + knee ups x2

* Forward lunge + knee up left leg (same leg)

* Alternating step knee + punch

* Forward lunge + knee up right leg

* Squats pulsing x8 and then jump to other side & repeat

* 45 degree squats - start with front squat & turn to left

* Slide shuffles to both sides with floor touch

* 45 degree squats - start with front squat & turn to right

* Skier shuffle x8 then go low for 4, repeat

* Reverse lunge plus knee up with same leg - left side

* Heel digs fast for 8 and then down for 4 slow, repeat

* Reverse lunge plus knee up with same leg - right side

* Lateral jumps from side to side

* Power knee up and hold back in lunge position - right leg - x24

* Box jumps alternate slow then fast - to left side (fun Latin music with this one)

* Power knee up and hold back in lunge position - left leg - x24

* Box jumps alternate slow then fast - to right side

* Jog for 8, knees up for 4 holds - repeat

* 45 degree squats to side, front, other side - slow then fast & low

* Stretch at end for 1 minute - runner's stretch, hamstring stretch - switch sides; shoulder stretch on each side

Overall thoughts on Calorie Crushing Cardio:

* I loved it - the workout just flew by, there was a ton of variety, and it was a lot of fun

* It felt very leg-centric, which is the area I really want to focus on

* Music is upbeat and motivating - techno/pop variety; Cindy is very encouraging and has nice tips / reminders throughout

* There are a few times at the end of the intervals where they sometimes start to do small squats, but then change their minds & go on to next interval - sometimes a little distracting

* The 10 seconds of clicking to signal the end of each interval still reminds me of being in an MRI machine, though I'm getting more used to it

My VF Review from 9 Nov 2013:

Sculpt & Stretch (20 minutes):

* Begins with upper body stretch to plank, go back up, repeat

* In plank position, row with press up & go back down, change sides (I did the modified movement on knees with row - forward push - row - down - then change sides)

* Yoga stretch on knees - cat-cow stretch pose, sit back on heels, to downward dog, down to floor & repeat

* Push-up with rotation to arm up into side plank, down & switch sides (I did the modified knee version)

* Begin on knees - Extend one arm, opposite leg back pose - switch

* Standing - alternating arm pushes from side to side (legs stay still, focus on abs) - begins slowly then speeds upp

* Forward lunge with arms up & lower - left side - hold shoulders back & look up, come up, go back down (like warrior pose)

* Balancing on left leg with shoulder presses

* Forward lunge with arms up & lower - right side - hold shoulders back & look up, come up, go back down (like warrior pose)

* Balancing on right leg with shoulder presses

* Side stretch - right leg forward, left arm overhead - pull back, stretch further, repeat

* Tree pose right leg up with bicep curls on left side

* Side stretch - left leg forward, right arm overhead - pull back, stretch further, repeat

* Tree pose left leg up with bicep curls on right side

* Triangle pose left side, bring up a bit, go deeper with stretch, repeat

* Balance right leg, left leg back, triceps kick backs

* Triangle pose right side, bring up a bit, go deeper with stretch, repeat

* Balance left leg, right leg back, triceps kick backs

* On floor, rolling back and then up into sitting position with arms out, feet off floor; repeat

* Cool-down stretch: Legs crossed, right side stretch, switch

Overall thoughts on Sculpt & Stretch:

* I'm 50/50 on this one - I like the idea of alternating sculpting and stretching, but these just seemed to be an odd fit of moves sometimes. For example, the tree pose with bicep curls - I felt really off-balance, and I don't usually have issues with tree pose.

* I think it's probably just a personal preference, but I enjoy slower, calmer music when stretching, especially when it's for yoga poses. The yoga poses had really fast-paced rhythms which don't really allow you to focus on getting a deep stretch. For example, triangle pose had a fast-paced techno-y song that kept saying 'push-it' over & over again.

* There was a lot of picking up weights, putting them down, picking them up again movements which made me dizzy.

* The clicking really annoyed me in this one, probably because you don't expect to hear 10 seconds of it when doing yoga poses.

* I'm sure I'll do this one again, but I'll probably turn the sound off.