shape toning/yoga focus

[Guest guest]

today i did some workouts from the shape 'toning' dvd -- instructors

are michelle dozois and lisa wheeler.

this dvd has a feature that will allow you to mix up the exercises

that are in each 15 min segment of abs, upper body, butt/hips and

thighs/legs by selecting whatever order you want, or having your

player randomly mix them up for you. when i tried to select the

randomizing option from the menu, though, my dvd player got stuck and

couldnt do it. also, this disc froze in a couple of places during

the workouts that i did today. it is an old player and apparently

cant handle the technology on this dvd. i will try it on another

player to ensure that it is not really a problem with the dvd itself.

also included on this dvd is a bonus 20 min floor aerobic routine.

so i decided to start out with that. michelle dozois leads this

segment and it reminded me of her prevention 'walk your way slim'

workout. like that one, this workout has you do farily basic aerobic

combinations and then take them up a level in intensity/impact for a

bit, then slow back down to recover. she even uses some of the same

moves in each workout. oh well, michelle is good at leading this

kind of workout and despite being late a bit, i was mostly happy with

her cueing. i used the rebounder for the 'blasts' and i can tell

that 'walk your way slim' is going to be great to do on there !

after that, i decided to do the upper body segment which michelle

also leads. it contains some unique exercises, but michelle didnt

do many reps. if you are not a beginner/low intermediate, then you

could do this workout twice and/or use heavier dumbells, which is

what i will do next time. i liked the exercises and michelle and

all, but because of the programming capabilities of the disc, there

is a screen that comes up between each exercise before it continues

on with the next. while this gives everyone a few moments to

recover, these pauses really mess up the flow of the workout and i

found them to be annoying. besides, recovery isnt really required

due to the lower intensity of the workout.

after that, i did the abs segment which is led by lisa wheeler.

although there is no standing work, this one has alot of variety and

includes mountain climbers which i happen to think are fun i

really enjoyed all of the different exercises but again, disliked

those dang pauses between each one! argh!

after that i did karen voights 'yoga focus:yoga for stretch' which is

20 mins... i really like this one except there is one pose that i

cannot do but finally realized that it was supposed to be a stretch

for the back, so i was able to modify and still get 'er done.

total of 400 calories burned and i feel great!

:*carolyn.