Workout DVD #7: Star Trainers: Cardio

Star Trainers: Cardio – See the DVD cover | 30 mins &
Karen Voight: Slim Physique | 30 mins | yoga mat

Day 9 – 2 DVDs

About Star Trainers: Cardio Netflix says:

Celebrity fitness gurus Rob Glick, Violet Zaki, Gay Gaspar, Kimberly Spreen and Kendell Hogan pool their talents in this customizable workout video featuring five cardio regimens designed to burn calories and help you drop those pesky excess pounds. The easy-to-follow, 30-minute routines will boost your stamina, strengthen your heart and transform your body into a lean, fat-burning machine before you know it.

Well I got this DVD because of reading about Kimberly Spreen on Netflix and then a reviewer for this DVD mentioned that Violet Zaki does a great kick ass job with her kickboxing segment. As I love kickboxing I thought I would check it out. I had never heard of Violet anywhere else [I don't get exercise TV] so I was pleasantly surprised by her fun attitude and great personality. I am going to look for more of Violet’s workouts.

My only real complaint about the DVD was the advertising – I guess that’s what you can expect from something created by TV people, but I found it off putting how Propel water was toted during the workout, and in the other workouts also. It might not bother most people but as I try not to watch TV because I hate advertising [no I will not spend money on TiVo either!] it really got to me.

Okay, workout wise it was good, though I would like to have seen more kicking [my favorite part], and seen Violet shine in that department – she is a martial artist and must have some kicks to be reckoned with! One of the participants wore a heart rate monitor and at the end she had racked up 297 cals. I was on 205. I guess she put a lot more effort into it!

Afterward I thought about doing another exerciseTV workout but then decided I hadn’t done much flexibility work since I started on this path, so out came an old faithful with Karen Voight.

Today I opted for the yoga segment and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. It’s been a good while since I stretched like that. The DVD has a strength yoga segment as well as a flexibility one. Karen, as usual, looks like a marvel to behold, and manages to bend herself to the max. I was stunned by how inflexible I am through my lower back – trying to do the ’splits’ and leaning over to rest my elbows on the floor was impossible. I have always had a tough time doing that move but now it’s a joke! Gotta work on that.

Here’s how my stats came out:

2/16/08

1:00:19 [workout time]
25:58 [in aerobic zone 60% -80% Target Heart Rate]
116 bpm [average heart rate]
160 bpm [highest heart rate]
303 [calls burned] – I barely burned 100 cals during the yoga