Customer Reviews

Smith;Kathy Cardio Knockout Wo

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The two main workouts on this DVD, kickboxing and aerobox, are perfect for days when you want to sweat. They really get my heart racing! The Tai Chi at the end is good, too, but it's much shorter than the others - it consists of a 6 minute energizing sequence and a 6 minute stretch. I do the Tai Chi after a boxing workout, but I don't tend to do it by itself.

I appreciated the fact that both of the boxing sessions had introductions in which the main moves were demonstrated slowly, and proper form was explained. After doing the workout a couple of times, it really isn't necessary to watch the intro each time, of course, but it's nice to have them there for future reference. The instructors offer good tips and reminders throughout the workout to help you keep proper form. In both cases, there is an expert working with Kathy for these intros.

The two boxing sessions are complementary in that the emphasis in the aerobox is more on the upper body, while kickboxing focuses more on the lower body. Both workouts also work the core effectively. These are both really excellent cardio routines. In both workouts, you learn combinations of moves from the introductions, and after doing them slowly, you repeat them up to tempo several times. (Don't let the word "slowly" there fool you, though - it's all relative. They are fast enough that my heart rate stays up while learning the combos, and then I really have to push myself to do them at full speed.) I like that the combos, while challenging, aren't complicated in terms of their choreography. I was able to pick up on them pretty quickly. If you don't like having to learn all sorts of complicated "dancey" choreography to get your heart rate up, I can definitely recommend this DVD.

Because of the jump rope, much of the aeroboxing is high impact, and no low impact alternative is offered. (I do this part of the workout without a rope - I just jump as if I had one. One of the boxers on the DVD is doing this, too.) The kickboxing actually has fewer high impact moves, and in this case, low impact alternatives are offered.

One thing that I really appreciate about this one is that each workout is broken up into chapters that can be selected from the DVD menu. I've used this to mix and match workouts. The last time I used this DVD, for example, I did the kickboxing warm-up and cardio workout, but I still felt like doing more cardio, so I just did a couple of the segments from aerobox without having to scan through the intro or the warm-up from that workout. Then I went back to the kickboxing to do the short leg and core strength segments and the cool-down before heading to the Tai Chi based (very relaxing!) stretch.

I should note that there is an error on the box: it says that the kickboxing workout is 120 minutes, but it is actually about 50 minutes. For me, that's a good thing - I rarely have 2 straight hours to devote to exercise - but I thought it was worth mentioning here.