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Health: Latest exercise DVDs tested
Given up on your post-Christmas fitness regime yet? If you’ve lost motivation, don’t despair – Katie Baldwin has been test-driving the latest exercise DVDs to find out which will get you back on track.
Kim Kardashian: Ultimate Butt Body Sculpt
She seems to be everywhere, so its inevitable that reality TV star Kim Kardashian has branched out into exercise DVDs. Renowned for her killer curves, Kim is now showing us all how to get her enviable hourglass figure with her array of workouts.
Ultimate Butt Body Sculpt sees Kim teaming up with instructor Jennifer Galardi in a workout targeted at all muscle groups.
The star dons her slinkiest exercise gear for the routine, which is split into two main parts. There’s a 15-minute section of lower body and core work which includes lunges and squats that anyone who has ever done a fitness DVD will be familiar with. They are quite tough – Kim herself actually gets sweaty and looks realistically wobbly on some of the moves – but a little boring, and not helped by the nondescript soundtrack.
The second 20-minute section involves using a step, which is good fun as long as you’ve got this at home. There’s also a Booty Blast Bonus five-minute workout to help you get a bum like Kim’s.
Also newly released is Kim’s Butt Blasting Cardio Step, which – as the title suggests – is a step-based workout. Comprised of three segments, it involves moves like cha cha cha and mambo, building up to a tough interval-based routine and a super-hard bonus workout.
Kim leads the teaching but strangely much of the instruction is a voiceover, which gives a slightly odd effect – though maybe she’s working so hard she can’t speak. For lovers of step, this is probably great, but for everyone else it is perhaps a bit too specialist. One for Kim devotees.
* Available in shops and online.
Ministry Of Sound: Move It Lose It
The superclub brand is back with the latest in its mega-successful line of Pump It Up fitness DVDs.
Forget boring, repetitive routines, these dance workouts involve leaping around your living room like you’re shaking your booty on a night out.
Move It Lose It includes three individual workouts, the first with moves inspired by the biggest stars in pop. New presenter Jay Revell has an abundance of enthusiasm, teaching groups of exercises which are made up into a whole routine.
Dance Mix 2 uses the same format but with Latin and Caribbean-influenced routines while the third takes its cues from the moves of singers like Rihanna and Beyonce. On the more advanced exercises, Jay shows off the skills he honed touring with stars including Kelly Rowland and Cheryl Cole.
They’ve also got the tunes to match with well-known hits from the likes of Example, JLS and Snoop Dogg, mixed by a DJ stationed in the workout studio.
A Legs, Bums and Tums section follows more traditional exercises while the Tone routine also uses familiar moves, though still in the format of building up to a routine. These are the routines that will leave you aching the next day.
Overall it’s the perfect choice for anyone who wants to have fun while working out – you might not exert yourself as much as with some of the tougher DVDs out there but you’ll certainly have a ball.
* Available from HMV stores or order online at: www.ministryofsound.com
Jillian Michaels: Ripped in 30
Super-tough fitness trainer Jillian Michaels is a star on the US version of The Biggest Loser and you can see why. If you need tough love to get you into shape, this is the workout for you.
Ripped in 30 is the latest of her fitness DVDs, comprising of a 30-day exercise and diet plan.
There are four half-hour workouts designed to be done five or six times a week, with the easiest routine on week 1, working up to the killer week 4. Each is based around her famed, best-selling ‘body-shredding’ 3-2-1 system – three minutes of strength, two of cardio and one minute of abs. These are combined into 24 minute workouts, an acceptable length to fit into everyday life.
Despite this regimented structure, the workouts are never boring. Jillian uses common moves but with slight alterations and her constant motivational chat means the pressure never lets up. On each workout she is backed by class members demonstrating both the beginners and advanced moves and she talks through each one.
She is very full-one – which may not be to everyone’s taste – but if the bodies of her participants and the muscle aches the day afterwards are anything to go back, the system works.
You do feel like you are working super-hard and you are going to see results.
* Available in shops and online.
Pilates: The Core Workout
For a more chilled out approach to working out, Lynne Robinson’s new pilates DVD is the latest featuring the body conditioning system which uses core muscles to improve fitness and posture.
Lynne is the world’s best-selling pilates instructor and it shows as she starts by explaining the fundamentals of good pilates practice, explaining them clearly for those new to the discipline.
The main body of the workout is focused on centring, or that buzz phrase ‘core stability’, with a series of exercises being demonstrated in her relaxing studio. They all incorporate the pilates principles of concentration, relaxation, alignment, breathing, centring co-ordination, flowing movements and stamina.
For each move there’s a participant doing a beginners and advanced version, with clear instruction on all the poses and the breathing that goes with them.
There’s also a special Ab Blaster section to tackle the midriff area and an ultimate masterclass in the bonus feature.
In contrast to other workout DVDs, there are obvious cuts rather than the routine being filmed as though it is one continuous class – which is a little unnerving to those used to the usual format.
But fans of pilates will lap this workout up.
The movements, though slow, are tricky to get the hang of and so it is challenging to both beginners and the more experienced.
You won’t be sweating, but you will feel the burn in your muscles at the time and afterwards, and over time you’ll notice the difference in your body tone and flexibility.
Another hit from the queen of pilates.
* Pilates the Core Workout is available on DVD from: www.amazon.co.uk, www.play.com and HMV.
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