biggest loser workout

[Guest guest]

last night (tuesday) i did parts of the biggest loser workout dvd.

i chose to do the warmup (5 mins), low intensity cardio (25 mins), strength

& sculpt (20 mins) and cool-down (10 mins).

the warmup was not very vigorous at all... basically a few full body

movements, stretches and some squats. it was not aerobic but i did feel a

little bit warm afterward.

the low intensity cardio consisted of side steps, a whole bunch of jumping

jacks, quite a few lunges, some punches and kicks and quite a few squats

(including pulses). my heart rate did get up to around 85% of max doing

this and i burned 190 calories in this 25 mins so it was effective. 4 of

the show's contestants participated with bob instructing and motivating.

noone really followed the beat of the music and noone were in sync. the

idea was to do as much as you can in the time allowed (much like tony horton

does in his workouts), although bob did announce the last 8 reps or so, and

did count those last reps down from time to time. i did count my own reps

during exercises that used only one side of the body so that when we

switched to the other side, i ensured that i did the same amount of work.

the music was pretty much non-existant... it seemed to be some non-vocal

tunes that they used in the show... i couldnt really hear it much at all.

the lunges and squats really made my butt and legs burn and i had a hard

time finishing all of the reps, just like the people in the class. they

were quite motivating though as they all pretty much kept it going and

finished off the sets. surprisingly, matt seemed to struggle the most while

suzy and the guy who won season 1(gary?) performed very well, with no

complaining, unlike andrea who was groaning and had to take the intensity

down (which was perfectly ok) and bob had to encourage her to stay with it.

bob does explain modifications and intensifiers, and gives form pointers on

the lunges and squats, so this workout can be done by pretty much anyone,

however, be careful during the punches and kicks as bob does not explain how

to do those at all.

the 20 min strength segment included bob, seth and a woman from season one

(drea?). during this time, bob worked the back with one armed rows (again,

i counted my own reps so that i would be even on both sides), standing chest

flies, bicep curls, squats, skull crushers for the triceps and ab work done

laying supine. for the abs, we did reverse curls, oblique crunches, regular

crunches and held some planks. he finished off with some mini-cobras to

strengthen the back. my abs were burning after this and i burned around 115

calories so it was a good little workout in a short time. i do not remember

any work for the shoulders though and i was expecting pushups but there were

none. again, the music was non-existant. also, bob and the contestants

used the same weights for every exercise while i used 3 sets of dumbells.

i was expecting a 20 minute cooldown/stretch segment as per the back of the

dvd case... however, it ended up being only 10 mins long! so that was a

bit disappointing. bob and everyone does some standing stretches outdoors

in some really nice scenery, getting in some deep breaths in/out, a stretch

on the shoulders and triceps, inner thighs, hamstrings and sides of the

body. there was nothing for the quads (so i did my own stretch for that).

as for bob, i like him well enough... i could catch a glimpse of his awesome

abs when his shirt lifted up a bit during the stretches but i really

dont think he is meant to be a video instructor. there were quite a few

things about bob and this production that could have been improved for

video. however, he is a pleasant guy, in fabulous shape and a good

motivator... he joked around with the contestants yet was firm in getting

them to do their workout. his forte is personal training and he is great at

that.

even though high-intenstity cardio and bootcamp workouts are not my

favourites, im looking forward to trying those segments soon. if bob was

doing full jumping jacks in the low intensity cardio segment, i can only

imagine what he deems is high intensity... im expecting running, jumping,

football drills and things of that nature. the bootcamp workout will

probably bring on the pushups, squat thrusts and so on. i dont know

because i have not previewed those segments, but that is my feeling.

the dvd has a menu that will let you choose any segment or you can add on as

many segments as you would like, choosing all of them if you want. or you

can select one of the 4 routines that are pre-programmed for you (LI cardio,

HI cardio, strength or bootcamp) and those automatically include the warmup

and cooldown. some text on the screen indicates which of these segments you

should do each day if you want to follow bob's idea of a 6 week workout

plan. there is also the option to turn the instruction off and hear only

the music -- but wait, what music?! LOL. maybe they have special, louder

music for this option?? there are also testimonials on the dvd from the

contestants which were interesting to watch but not really anything

different from what you have seen on the tv show.

this dvd is for high beginners and intermediates... although i suppose an

advanced person could do the whole dvd for a pretty good workout.

beginners must know to take it at their own speed and to take the intensity

down if required and to be careful with their form.

:*carolyn.