Sonja’s 6 Great Workouts, Pt. 1

January 12, 2010

Don’t think I don’t know that most women (and men) read my workout suggestions and think “You have got to be kidding.” I seem to need that silly exertion to get to my happy place, but I recognize that it isn’t such a good thing. It’s hard on the body. I need more sleep, which eats into my already-not-enough time.

Intermediate level exercise is sounder from many perspectives. It gives the same result and is more appropriate for way more people. Read along to see which videos my sister, Sonja, recently bought and why she likes them so well – C. (The videos are linked to the Search page for that instructor. You can watch the essential 1 min. clips on that page. Or, click on the title of each program to learn much more about each video).

Recently, I have started working out at home. My husband has been away and I just can’t get to the gym, which makes me sad. This was my “alone” time, nobody bugged me, I did my thing, and I came home happier.

Solution: I brought the gym to me and ordered some workout videos from CollageVideo. Now, unlike Christine, I do not like videos that have the words “attack” , “combat”, or “killer” in them. My choices are all intermediate and more gentle. I have reviewed them here so you can see what you think.

The first is Prevention 3-2-1 Circuit Workout with Chris Freytag.

Type: Circuit

Length: 49 minutes

I really enjoyed this video. There are 6 circuits and they work like this: 3 minutes of aerobics, 2 minutes of strength work featuring a specific body part and 1 minute of abs. The aerobic segments are challenging if you use a large range of motion and can be low or high impact. Since the choreography is straightforward, you can easily adapt the moves to your level. The strength work focuses on one muscle group at a time but still keeps your heart pumping, and the abdominal exercises are Pilates based with focus on the core.

Overall, I liked this workout a lot. It made me sweat, I was not frustrated with complicated steps and I loved the circuit, since no segment is too long. (I live in fear of 40 minute cardio sections!) All muscle groups were covered and Chris is an encouraging teacher.

The second video is Beyond Balletone with Shannon Fable.

Type: Aerobic, ballet style

Length: 42 minutes

This is one of a series of 4 Balletone workouts, all of which I enjoy. If you took dance classes as a kid, or just love ballet style workouts, you will like this series. All of the Balletone videos look deceptively easy. It seems like you are not going fast or doing much, but you soon find yourself out of breath and sweating. |

The steps are not too complex, you will not find yourself dancing the Nutcracker in your living room and there are no pirouettes or leaps. The moves, however, are challenging, partly because there is a balance component which is incorporated throughout the workout and this requires core bracing. I really think balance is important, particularly as you get older.

The emphasis here is definitely on the lower body and there is no mat work. If you find this one too complex, you can try Sole Synthesis with the same teacher. It is more basic. Shannon, by the way, is enthusiastic without being overbearing.

The third one is Play Ball with Patrick Goudeau.

Type: Aerobic

Length: 30 min.

This will definitely get your heart rate up. Patrick uses a medicine ball (I did not use a ball) throughout the workout and boy, do you sweat. The first 18 minutes are cardio and the rest is the mat workout, which is also cardio. I did not know that you could make a plank an aerobic move.

He is an excellent instructor, the steps are a little tricky and I will have to do them a couple of times to get them all. I do confess that I looked at the clock at the 16 minute mark, not that I couldn’t make it (really, I was fine!), I just that I felt the need to know how much more there was. I found that I had to make some of the moves easier, so adding the medicine ball would be the next step for me. Since it was only 30 minutes, I added on a short Pilates workout. I was totally cooked after that.

Of the three workouts, this is the shortest and the hardest.

Posted by Christine Scaman | Filed Under Move Thy Body