Sonja’s 6 Great Workouts, Pt. 2

January 16, 2010

This is the second installment in my review of intermediate workouts (Christine just yawned and went back to her tea). This once includes a stability ball workout by Keli Roberts, a toning workout by Kari Anderson, and a Moira Stott Pilates video.

The first one is Core Challenge by Moira Stott.

Type: Pilates

Length: 37 min.

Moira Stott makes a whole lot of Pilates videos, some longer, some shorter, with or without bands or balls or bosus, etc. They have two overriding characteristics: they are pure, unadulterated Pilates and they are all very similar. This is the queen of modern Pilates, after all, and with her, you can be sure you are getting the real deal. She is very precise and the only thing that varies really is the level.

This is a level 3 (her rating scale). She presumes that you have learned the basic moves already, so there are not a whole lot of explanations. You roll from one exercise to the next without much break in between, which makes it quite difficult.

If you are just starting out, this one is not for you, but there are easier versions in the series (Stott Pilates Level One The Secret to Flat Abs).

Overall, I like Moira for her purity and precision, but you don’t need to own a whole lot of these since they are all so similar.

The second is Quick Fix Stability Ball with Keli Roberts (available at, and linked to, Amazon; Collage used to carry all the Quick Fix series and I wish they still did-C.)

Type: Toning

Length: 35 min.

Keli Roberts is one of my favorite instructors. One of her first fitness videos was with Cher, and it is worth watching just to see Cher’s outfits. Keli is precise, not cheerleader in style, and very strong.

This dvd is split into 3 x 10 minute workouts: lower body, abs and upper body. You can try all three segments, or just one. All of the moves are do-able and it is easy to make it harder by using heavier dumbbells or adding ankle weights (I personally never try to make things harder). If you do all 3 segments, you will have covered all body parts. It is not too long, so you can do it after your power walk or just on its own.

What I mostly like about her style is that she is very low key but really solid. There will be no whooping and hollering and no one is wearing black lace spandex (except Cher, but that is a separate video).

The third one is Reach by Kari Anderson.

Type: Toning

Length: 60 min.

This is a really super workout. It is very fluid, graceful, well cued and calm. Kari has a quiet, soothing voice and I like her personality. In fact, everything about this class is relaxing, from the colors in the studio to the women’s outfits, to the soft music, it is a sea of brown and gold.

The movements are somewhat dance and somewhat yoga. I am not fond of the twistiness of yoga (back trouble) but Kari sticks to basic moves. In this one hour long class, you cover a lot of ground including strength, balance and flexibility. Your heart rate will not get very elevated, I do not consider this to be an aerobic workout, but you will sweat because these are long, sustained movements requiring control and this is a different kind of difficult. At the end, I always feel that I have worked my muscles but I do not feel like I have been yelled at for an hour. I am tired but calm.

Might I clarify that I’m not yawning OR drinking tea. I love Patrick (the most fun and funny instructor), Kari (SO pleasant to spend an hour with), Moira (LOVE her voice, and the body on the female student in Core Challenge, wow), and Kelly (one solid teacher). We’re first-name friends from way back, though they don’t know it. Thought Balletone from the Part 1 post looked superb. The Quick Fix series are all brilliant. I bought Play Ball today. It’s hard to go wrong with any of these instructors, but they often have several choices. Do read the Reviews for each video before you choose. You’ll find them extremely helpful.-C.

Posted by Christine Scaman | Filed Under Move Thy Body

Comments

4 Responses to “Sonja’s 6 Great Workouts, Pt. 2”

sonja on January 16th, 2010 1:34 pm

Hi Christine,
The second video has an error in the title and in the link. It should read “Quick Fix Stability Ball” with Keli Roberts. This is a ball workout which is really efficient and can be easily added to another short video for a complete workout.
Christine Scaman on January 18th, 2010 7:42 pm

Right, sorry. Did I get it right this time?
sonja on January 18th, 2010 11:42 pm

Yes, that’s the one.
Christine Scaman on January 20th, 2010 12:59 pm

I’ll give you the other one. It’s really great, also Keli Roberts, and I only have it in VHS.