A watching only review of 3 dvd's: Kari 's Go, Push, and Reach

[Guest guest]

Well Gang, I'm close to being back on the home video

workout wagon. Last night when I should have been

sleeping, I decided to preview Kari 's 3 dvd's

I picked up at Ross: Go, Push and Reach (Do you guys

know offhand if there are more in this series?)

I watched " Go " first. This is a very basic step

workout, and PERFECT for those brand new to step. I

like it even better than Cathe's basic step routine.

While this one is too easy, even for me, it will be

perfect for first thing in the morning when I'm

tripping over my two left feet and can't handle too

much choreography, or when I'm blue and need to feel

extra successful. What's great about this workout is

that even if you're more advanced, you can add in your

own intensity options that you know from other

workouts and add more jumps and arms and totally work

up a sweat!

The background is simple, nondescript, and there are 5

or 6 background exercisers, three of whom demonstrate

various options throughout. I really like that there

is a heavy woman in this one!

Kari's cuing is IMPECCABLE. As an aerobics instructor

I learned some subtle tricks from watching Kari.

FANTASTIC!

The second dvd I watched, " Push " , has two workouts, a

30 minute step routine, and a 30 minute hi-lo (floor

aerobics) routine. The step routine in this one is

similar to that in " Go " , except that she moves through

the combos more quickly and does have some

(relatively) tricker combos at the end. I didn't

watch more than 10 minutes or so of the hi-lo routine,

but for me it looked a bit more complicated than the

step one did, but I hesitate to say this firmly. It

merits another viewing, or better yet - doing!

" Reach " is a neat workout. It combines yoga and

pilates with standing strength work for more of a

toning workout. There's something about the mood of

this one that makes me think it would be perfect to do

at night or before bed. The set is a bit darker, and

the music is at times tribal and new agey sounding.

It's an hour long. The beginning is standing work

for balance, strength, flexibility and posture. I

like the balance work, for example, standing leg

abductions with a tiny squat in between, slow plie

squats, then plie squats with abduction again. Gotta

love the compound moves! She also does slow front

push kicks to challenge the balance. She also does

Warrior III (I always have to make it an airplane).

She ends this section with ballet and yoga.

Section 2 is called Floor Work for Full Body Toning.

Kari leads you through what I call yoga abwork, such

as staying in plank while you do leg lifts in back.

Then you do side angle planks, center plank, then side

angle plank the other side. Next are good ole

pushups, which she does them on her knees (I was

surprised at this). After that is a variant on a

donkey kick. After that is a bout of pilates leg

work.

Lastly, we have the Relaxing Stretch and Balance

Finish section, which is mostly traditional yoga and

aerobic stretches.

In all 3 dvd's there is an introduction by Kari that

points out form and technique, and goals to keep in

mind for each workout, which added a personal touch.

" Go " is definitely for beginners. " Push " is a

beginner's level 2. " Reach " however, I would

recommend for anyone in this group. It really is a

head to toe workout and looks tough!

Hope this helps you out on your next trip to Ross!