The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl

Review: Zumba Fitness DVD

My latest fitness love affair is Zumba, the hip-wriggling Latin-inspired dance class that seems to be sweeping the world with a swiftness that swine flu would envy.

Alas with my kickboxing schedule I can only make one Zumba class per week, so I'd been stalking these Zumba DVDs for months. I decided not to buy them as my workout DVD collection is out of control... but then I got an email out of the blue from the Zumba PR person asking if I wanted to try them. Maybe they had hidden cameras in my room and caught my longing gaze?

I spent the next SEVEN WEEKS trying to decide whether or not to sell out*. Gareth cackled at the gradual crumbling of my lofty ideals. Finally I caved and said, "DUDE. Surely after 9.5 years of blogging I can get a little something?".

Yes folks, turns out I can be bought for the low price of £39.98 plus postage and packaging - a.k.a. the Zumba Fitness® DVD Kit. It contained:

• Zumba Fitness® Basics
• Zumba Fitness® Cardio Party
• Zumba Fitness® 20-Minute Express
• Zumba Fitness® Sculpt & Tone
• Zumba Fitness® Total Body Transformation Guide
• Two Zumba Fitness® Toning Sticks
• Zumba Fitness® LIVE! Workout

At first I thought Zumba was a poor man's BodyJam class, but it has grown on me. Most of all because it is very inclusive. There is a genuine feel of "anybody can join this party". In my Saturday class everyone laughs and grins the whole way through. There are people of all shapes and sizes and ages. There is no posing. There is no demand for perfection. In fact there's not even much in the way of instruction - you just kinda bumble along and find your own style and let the music move you.

There is, however, a nerdy part of me that wants to do things correctly. How exactly am I meant to shake my hips? Where are my feet supposed to be? WTF Salsa?

The Zumba Fitness® Basics DVD has quenched that thirst for knowledge. It's an hour long and goes through all the basic Zumba moves, breaking each one down into three stages. You start out basically moving your feet to get the rhythm then they add on the trickier bits. LOVE.

Then you move on to the Zumba Fitness® Cardio Party, an hour long session. If you go to classes you'll recognise all the tunes. The best thing about this DVD is that if you forget how to do a move, there's an option to pause the workout and pop up a little reminder sequence from the Basics DVD. Very handy.

Zumba Fitness® 20-Minute Express is a good cardio workout if you're pressed for time. Zumba Fitness® Sculpt & Tone is great fun - a simple total body strength workout with serious rhythm. I felt like a twit using the Toning Sticks - they're bright green and you shake them like maracas! I just could not get coordinated... doing a bicep curl and shaking my hips at the same time!? But after a few attempts I got the hang of it and now like to shake my butt like I'm in a trashy music video. I can feel my muscles getting a workout when I concentrate and really put my all into it, but I think I could upgrade to some dumbbells in place of the Toning Sticks to get a more intense workout. Then again dumbbells don't make maraca noises!

I didn't really look at the Zumba Fitness® Total Body Transformation Guide beyond a quick flick - it's basically a booklet with a workout plan to help you incorporate all the DVDs. There's a total beginners plan and a more advanced one. There's meal plans and some recipes and has a generally upbeat and not bossy diety tone.

My favourite DVD is probably the Zumba Fitness® LIVE! Workout because it's a live class. The crowd has svelte ladies in little outfits, old ladies, little kid and a few token blokes who seem to be going the wrong way - it captures the all-inclusive, hyper party, bordering on cult-like atmosphere of a real Zumba class. It has the best energy of all the DVDs so I seem to get the most intense workout out of this one.

Requirements: A good pair of trainers. A fluid pair of hips. And not a huge amount of space - you mostly travel side to side movement rather than forward/back so I'm doing it in a patch of living room about three metres wide (let me measure and get back to you!). 

Criticisms:

• I can see me geting a little bored with the music as it's the same tunes from the class and some of the DVDs have the same tunes as each other. But will live with that for the novelty of being able to do Zumba in my own home.
• The female instructors are lovely and their instructions are pretty clear. However I cannot stop looking at their abs. Honestly, there is one woman with this gorgeous curly hair and the most amazing stomach and I spend half the workout shouting at the telly "How can you exist? How do you DO that with your hips?". I should hate her but I just want to audition to be her adoring and slightly pathetic sidekick. She's very distracting.

Recommended for:

• beginners looking for FUN cardio - but you need to be patient while you learn the steps. You have to let go of perfection and just enjoy the music!
• Zumba veterans - if you want a backup for when you can't get to class and/or you want an encyclopedic knowledge of the steps.
• anyone who likes to shake their booty!

Overall verdict: A great set of DVDs that I will be using for years to come.

Zumba Fitness® DVDs are available from ZumbaFitness.co.uk. I received a Zumba Fitness® DVD Kit and was under no obligation to review but decided to do so of my own free will. I received no other compensation. Blah blah blah legal schmegal. This is why I don't sell out too often :)

* N.B. This is just my own view - I'm not against giveaways and bloggers getting free stuff! I just personally find the whole process really uncomfortable!

ETA: Here's a USA link for the Zumba DVDs.

Review - Cathe Workout Downloads

Do you like working out at home in your pyjamas? Good news - home fitness queen Cathe Friedrich has just launched Cathe Downloads.

Her entire 150+ workout catalogue is now available in digital format, so you can watch your downloads on any computer or video-enabled mobile device, like an iPod.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post or a PR conspiracy. I wanted to share this as I know many of you are fellow home workouterers. Cathe doesn't even know I'm alive! Sniff sniff.

I wasn't terribly excited by the Download idea at first - what's wrong with old-fashioned DVDs? But it's proved to be very, very handy:

• No more shipping or customs fees - more affordable than DVDs, especially for non-US residents.
• Extra lazy option - When I work out at home I usually play the DVDs on my computer, and cranking up a DVD takes so many seconds, man. Downloads are a mere double click into action!
• Good for travel - a couple of workouts stored on my laptop squashes those feeble dang I left my DVDs at home! excuses.
• Tailored to your taste - all Cathe's multi-disc series are broken down into the individual workouts - you don't have to purchase the whole set. I can skip stuff I don't dig (like high-impact Step) and just buy the bits I enjoy.

For example:

• I got a fab 15-minute Stretch routine for $3.97 that is a wee component of her massive Shock Training System series ($299 for 40 DVDs). I like Cathe stretches when I'm not in the mood for proper, la-di-da yoga. Also good for a quick stretch when I get home from kickboxing.
• I got the Kickbox part of her 4-Day Split series, $15.97 - I've wanted this one for ages but wasn't willing to fork out $79.99 plus shipping/customs fees for the entire 4-disc series.

Shopping
You can browse all the workout categories via the Products menu. There's sample video clips too. You can purchase with PayPal or a debit/credit card. To download the workouts you need a good internet connection.

Viewing
To view the downloaded files you need a computer or a video-capable mobile device, like a phone or MP4 player. Apparently you can watch them on television too if you have an iPod/Phone and an AV cable. There's plenty of support and tutorials on the website.

Quality
I'm not a technical person but the video and audio quality was great on my MacBook and Gareth's aging PC laptop. The workouts have chapter points like the DVDs, so you can skip past any too hard bits.

I haven't tried them on my iPhone yet - I don't know when or why I'd need that. Perhaps if I could listen to a weights workout while I lifted at the gym? Or watch a workout on the train and wiggle my feet around a bit?

Conclusion
I like my Cathe downloads - they're more affordable, convenient and ideal for trying out something a different, since you don't have to buy a bigass DVD series.

If you'd like some ideas, here are my favourite Cathe workouts:

• Pyramid Upper Body
• Kick Max
• Kick, Punch & Crunch
• Butts & Guts
• Muscle Endurance

And some ideal for beginners:

• Low Impact Step
• Basic Step
• Body Fusion
• Total Body Stretching

UPDATE June 2010: I've now become a Cathe Downloads affiliate, so if you purchase any Cathe workouts using this link, I'll receive a small commission. Any sales will go towards hosting fees for this blog so if you fancy supporting Dietgirl.org I will love you for life. Thanks for your consideration! :)

Review - Jillian Michaels: No More Trouble Zones

I don't really like the use of the phrase "trouble zones". A dimpled arse or a wobbly arm is not on par with Basra or the Gaza Strip.

But you can't blame Jillian Michaels - these products need magical all-promising titles to suck in the crowds. If she gave her DVD a more honest and accurate label, such as I Am Going To Kill You In Forty Minutes Flat, she would never make a living.

No More Trouble Zones, henceforth known as NMTZ like a failed boy band, is a full body resistance workout in a circuit format. There are seven six-minute circuits, each consisting of two sets of five 30-second exercises.

It's less complicated than that sounds. All you need to know is - no matter what torturous exercise Jillian throws at you, you only have to endure it for 30 seconds at a time! Just when you are swearing at the telly and spluttering up your lungs, POW! She moves on to something else. This is the beauty of circuit training - it is brief in its brutality. Unlike say a Body Pump class, where you must perform bicep curls for the duration of an unfortunate Bryan Adams techno remix.

The best part of NMTZ is its simplicity:

• Easy to follow structure
• Straightforward moves like squats, lunges and old school floor exercises
• Minimal space - since it's weight training, not cardio, you don't move around too much. If you can step back and forward into lunges you've got enough room.
• Minimal equipment - just some light dumbbells, a mat if your floor is hard, and your own body weight.

It's also efficient. Jillian bangs on about maximum calorie burn in minimal time, so she does compound moves like squat with shoulder press and lunges with bicep curls. Your whole body gets involved so your heart rate goes through the roof.

I was skeptical - she uses only three pound dumbbells in NMTZ. How was that going to achieve anything? But the relentless pace and big moves ensure a tough workout. I used 3, 5, and 8 pound dumbbells depending on the muscle group and was pleasantly crippled the next day.

Verdict: NMTZ is a tough and straightforward workout, perfect for those days when you can't be bothered fussing around with lots of dumbbells and barbells.

Jillian explains the moves well but it is worth watching the DVD on the couch first so you know what's coming, as they really fly through the circuits.

NTMZ is aimed at the more experienced exerciser but you can easily modify the moves. For example, I could not for the life of me safely perform a chest fly with a double leg raise, so just raised one leg at a time. Another modification is to just do each circuit once then skipping forward to the next, instead of repeating them. You'll still get a  good sweat going and you can gradually build up to the whole thing. This is also an option if you're pressed for time or a nice compromise for Cannae Be Arsed days.

My heart rate definitely climbed higher than with non-circuit weight training. That said, I've been missing lifting heavier weights like in Cathe Friedrich's DVDs so I'm planning to alternate the two for the next wee while.

Aside to the lads out there: I managed to persuade poor Dr G to give it a go. He can confirm this is not a wussy girl workout! Direct quote: "Hard, but good. I loiked it."

Here's a detailed breakdown of each circuit.

Note: This is just notes I scrawled between circuits so the exercise names may not be entirely accurate.

Warm up
March in place, jump rope, arm circles, skaters, jack jumps.

Circuit 1 - Shoulders and Legs
- squat and shoulder press
- chair squat with anterior raise
- back lunge with shoulder raise - left leg
- back lunge with shoulder raise - left leg
- press out

Circuit 2 - Chest and Core
- chest press with crunch
- chest fly with double leg raise
- bicycle crunch
- squirms
- push ups

Circuit 3 - Biceps and Bum
- deadlift with hammer curl
- static squat with concentration curl
- alternate lunge with wide grip bicep curl
- side lunge with bicep curl

Circuit 4 - Thighs and Triceps
- chair squat with kickback
- sumo squat with French press
- surrenders
- crescent (?)
- lunge & press

Circuit 5 - Core
- double crunches
- twisting plank
- plank with toe tap - left
- plank with toe tap - right
- windshield wipers

Circuit 6 - Upper Body and Core
- evil plank rows with dumbbell
- supermans
- scissors
- hip raise thingy left
- hip raise thingy right

Circuit 7 - Lower Body and Core
- side plank
- side raise
- inner thigh lift
- repeat above on other side
- donkey kicks - left and right

Cool Down
The usual cool down sort of thing.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review; I just liked the DVD and want to convert you to my working-out-at-home-in-your-jammies religion. Cheers to Diana from Soap & Chocolate for first writing about Jillian's new DVDs - I was off to the shops in a flash.