“You love me, remember?” Bob grins into the camera, “I’m the Nice One!”

The Nice One from The Biggest Loser bought out a series of workouts in 2010 called Inside Out Method. I have three and gave them a spin for this 100% Bob episode of the Great DVD Dust-Off.

I reckon Bob must get sick of being called the Nice One all the time. Nice is one step away from dull and snoozy. I think Bob wanted us to know with these workouts that he’s actually cool and badass.

They’re very stylised compared to a Jillian DVD, for example. There are funky slow motion shots and occasional split screen bits, kind of like the opening credits of Law and Order. There’s edgy music throughout, even the yoga one. I thought they’d been filmed in a sepia tone at first, but then spied a stray fluro water bottle in the background. It’s just that the whole set is shades of brown – the carpet, the punching bag, the lockers and all their clothes! Très edgy.

As well as sexy styling and Bob hilariously growling, “you said you wanted me as a trainer, well now you’ve got me”, they’re great workouts. Bob explains the moves very clearly, starting with a more simple move then adding on stuff. He counts down the seconds like he does on the show too… threeeee tewwww wuhn! 

16. Yoga for the Warrior by Bob Harper (2010)

I didn’t like this one when first purchased – the guitar riffy bits don’t really get me in a zen mood. But I enjoyed it more this time around. I particularly like how he kinda picks on Robert, the only bloke. Are you okay back there Robert? Robert, you can do this modification if you need to.

It’s not a Om kind of yoga workout – it moves faster and is more about strength than relaxation. I couldn’t really keep up but enjoyed it anyway. It reminded me of how Bob does yoga with his Biggest Loser contestants. All I have to do is develop a creepy crush and expect him to rescue me from my emotional issues then it would be just like being on the Ranch.

Verdict: MAYBE

17. Body Rev Cardio Conditioning by Bob Harper (2010)

It’s called “Cardio Conditioning” but there’s a lot of resistance work here. There are some cardioish jump squats, jumping jacks, mountain climbers etc, but also compound moves with dumbbells. Since you don’t really stop moving you get the heart rate right up. I had to modify the jumps obviously, but overall it was a nice workout and you only need some dumbbells and a small amount of space.

Verdict: KEEP

18. Pure Burn Super Strength by Bob Harper (2010)

I really like this one except for the Orgasmic Girl. She’s the one on Bob’s right and she never stops grunting and groaning and gurning throughout the whole bloody show.

It’s a great total body resistance workout using dumbells and simple moves. I liked the isolation ones, where you just hold a dumbbell out until you feel like your arm is going to fall off. We used to do that at kickboxing and it’s awful in the good way. Again I couldn’t really keep up with this workout, but it’s something to aspire too!

Verdict: KEEP

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I’m still huffing and puffing my way along in the Great DVD Dust-Off. This week took 8 days. Shhh!

13. Muscle Endurance by Cathe Friedrich (2002)

This is a good old-fashioned 64 minute full-body resistance workout using a barbell and plates, dumbbells and a medicine ball. I did the 45 minute upper body premix. That sounds like a lot of equipment but you can adapt: I don’t have a medicine ball so used a dumbbell instead, nae bother. Also, if you didn’t have a barbell you could easily substitute with dumbbells.

The disc also contains an excellent 60-minute circuit workout called Boot Camp so it’s great value.

This is another goodun for Body Pump fans as it breaks up the moves into separate segments for chest, back, shoulders, triceps and abs. There’s a nice variety of moves and Cathe seems to be in particularly cheery mood so it feels like a gym class in your living room. More details and reviews here.

Verdict: KEEP

14. MMA: Boxing by Cathe Friedrich (2009)

This is a good workout if you miss your kickboxing classes like mad but no longer have the knees to do them. I still get my RAH! KAPOW! fix without the soreness. Running for 49 minutes, it’s got shades of a Body Combat class where a sequence of moves are broken down slowly then put together. I’d call it an Intermediate workout by Cathe standards which suits me just fine!

The boxing combinations are simple but if you really put your all into them you’ll get a good workout. There are cardio intervals that involve some jumping so I just did my own low impact shuffle-around kind of thing. There’s a killer core section that uses a dumbbell and it’s pure torture. More details and reviews here.

There’s also a bonus 20-minute punching bag workout if you happen to have one of those. I wish I did!

Verdict: KEEP

15. Cardio Core Circuit by Cathe Friedrich (2009)

This advanced cardio interval circuit workout requires no equipment aside from big lungs and a good set of knees. It was way, way too much for me. It came as part of Cathe’s Shock Cardio System series (which also included MMA: Boxing above) and I love most of the others workouts in that series so don’t feel bad that this one has to go. More detail and reviews here.

Verdict: REHOME

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This is a slacker Week 3 DVD Dust-Off Update but I wanted to get caught up since I’m nearly finished with Week 4! I’m enjoying this project but I hope this is more helpful rather than batshit boring for you guys. I have non Dust-Off posts coming very soon so don’t worry!

7. Element: Tai Chi For Beginners with Samuel Barnes (2008)

This was an impulse buy because I loved other DVDs from Element and felt a mad compulsion to collect them all, like I once did Baby-Sitters Club books (even the Super Specials) or obscure Radiohead singles. It’s beautifully made with serene music but the verdict is unchanged from years ago: I find tai chi more a snooze than serenity now! I may revise my opinion when I’m 70 but for now it’s time to pass it on. Also, the bloke reminds me of that bloke in Star Trek whose name escapes me and it was kind of unsettling. Profound, I know!

Verdict: Total REHOME

8. Hardcore Series: Gym Style Legs by Cathe Friedrich (2005)

Despite the cheery faces on the cover this is a serious lower body resistance workout – over an hour with barbells, dumbbells, resistance band and stability ball work. I thought this would be a definite Rehome as there’s so much squat and lunge work, but I’d forgotten there there’s a good 25 minutes of floor stuff using just a resistance band which was doable with my dodgy knee – great moves for the hips and glutes. There’s an evil calf raise section which I could do no worries. So a surprise keeper! There’s lots of info, reviews and a clip on Collage Video.

Verdict: KEEP

9. Low Impact Circuit by Cathe Friedrich (2006)

This workout contains three circuit cycles, each with a step aerobics routine, a step interval blast, a compound strength exercise then an upper body move. Cathe is so creative with her workouts – there’s some great variety in the resistance moves, including some natty resistance band work.

While the step work is low impact on this one (Cathe has some seriously crazyass step DVDs out there), the movements did not feel good on my knee so I just the resisty bits. I only have this DVD as it came as part of set, so I’ll find someone who actually likes step work to make full use of it. If you’re after an efficient mix of cardio and resistance work and like a bit of step action, give this one a burl! More info here.

Verdict: REHOME

Back tomorrow with November Challenge wrap-ups and the lowdown on my big December Challenge!

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Another week of getting reacquainted with old friends for the DVD Dust-Off…

4. Element: Ballet Conditioning with Elise Gulan (2007)

• Description: A lower body workout with ballet-inspired moves.
• Duration: 49 mins
• What I did: The full workout
• Equipment: A chair to assist with balance and act as your barre.
• Space required: Not too much – you’re standing in place. The biggest move is sticking your leg out behind you (I forget the Frenchy name), so it depends on how long your legs are!
• Pros:
  • It’s fun pretending to be a ballerina. It’s also bloody exhausting!
  • I like the Element brand of DVDs – the productions are elegant and tranquil and as per last week’s Pilates DVD the instruction comes via voiceover.
  • It’s pitched as advanced, but I found it easy to dial it back to my level
  • This really worked my hips, glutes and outer thighs which are all areas that the osteopath says I need to strengthen – great way to make rehab exercises more interesting
• Cons: Some of the moves are harder on the knees. But it’s straightforward to modify, e.g. doing a very very demi-plie rather than a grand one. Not that what I did would be remotely recognisable as a plie, hehe. I also skipped the jumping on the spot moves. It’s just a matter of using common sense.
• Further reading: Watch a video snippet at Amazon.
• Ideal for:
  • fans of yoga and Pilates – it’s a great core workout and knowing how to find those muscles will help you get more out of it
  • anyone who was ever told they were too fat for ballet
• Verdict: A definite KEEP

5. Zumba Fitness DVD Exercise Kit (2010)
You might remember I wrote a big review of this in 2010 – lots of detail there. As predicted the time I got bored with the tunes so it had been many months since I’d last touched them. This week I did the 20 Minute Express and the LIVE! one. Enjoyable, but it felt really old. It made me pine for sexy Sue and Samantha‘s brilliant class at Fitbloggin this year, sniff sniff. But this is a fab set of DVDs for someone new to Zumba or someone who can’t get to a class, so I’ll pass them on.

Verdict: REHOME

6. Muscle Max by Cathe Friedrich (2005)

• Description: A total body resistance training workout
• Duration: 68 minutes
• What I did: Upper Body Premix (about 45 minutes?)
• Equipment: Barbell and plates, resistance band, dumbbells, step bench (for chest work)
• Pros:
  • I reckon Cathe makes the best resistance workouts – so much variety in the moves and she fries your muscles from all angles.
  • Like BodyPump, you can never really outgrow this one – just up your weights.
  • The premixes are great too – there’s options to do an express version, upper body only or lower body only. Great value.
• Cons: Quite a lot of equipment required. After favouring Jillian’s fast-paced one-set-of-dumbells workouts for so long it felt annoying to faff around with changing weight plates etc. But as the workout went on I enjoyed the She-Ra feeling of doing a proper grunty weights session.
• Further reading: Watch a snippet on CatheDownloads.com.
• Ideal for: BodyPump fans
• Verdict: I can’t make full use of this one – the lower body stuff (which I used to love; it’s brutal) is too much for my knee, so I’m tempted to pass it on. But…  I have a soft spot for Muscle Max as it’s the first Cathe DVD I bought. It’s on the MAYBE pile!

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Arrgh! The first week of the DVD Dust-Off was eight days long. I was away for much of it and forgot to pack any discs. So I did a lot of walking then played catchup today.

1. Kickbox FastFix by Jillian Michaels (2012)

• Description: 3 twenty minute kickboxing-inspired workouts in a circuit style that will be familiar to fans of JM’s DVDs.
• Duration: 20 mins per workout.
• What I did: Workout 1, which has an upper body emphasis.
• Equipment: one set of dumbells (I used 4kg)
• Pros: Short but highly effective workout, brief intervals so you never have to do the same thing for long, minimal space and equipment required, easily modified for a dodgy knee, some resistance work thrown in. If you’re new to kickboxing watch Jillian’s tutorial first as she does not really pause to explain the moves in the actual workout.
• Cons: Occasionally squeally background exercisers.
• Further reading: Detailed breakdown of workouts on this Amazon review.
• Ideal for: time-strapped BodyCombat fans.
• Verdict: KEEP

2. Stretch Max by Cathe Friedrich (2005)

• Description: 3 twenty minute athletic and yoga-based stretch routines
• Duration: 20 mins per workout
• What I did: Workout 3, resistance band
• Equipment: nothing for Workout 1, stability ball for Workout 2, resistance band for Workout 3
• Pros: Short workouts providing a good solid stretch, poses held long enough to do the job, and it’s kinda fun wielding the resistance band.
• Cons: If you’re hardcore about proper yoga terminology and moves you probably wouldn’t like this one.
• Further reading: Lots of reviews on Collage Video.
• Ideal for: popping on after a cardio session for an extended stretch/cool-down.
• Verdict: KEEP

3. Element: Pilates Weight Loss for Beginners by Brook Siler (2008)

• Description: Pilates workout combining standing and mat work.
• Duration: 48 mins divided into two chapters consisting of 15 mins standing and 33 minutes floor work.
• What I did: The whole shebang.
• Equipment: A yoga mat or friendly floor.
• Pros: I bought this DVD because the lady has red hair and looks a bit like Julianne Moore. She is very elegant so you can let envy fuel your workout. Her clear, calm instructions are delivered via voiceover. I like the variety of classic moves like the Hundred and roll up. I got a thorough Pilates workout and my abs were talking the next day.
• Cons: Stupid title. I hate when they stick “Weight Loss” on there to make people buy it. I also dispute the Beginners label. I’ve done lots of classes so I understood the concepts
• Further reading: Watch a snippet on YouTube.
• Ideal for: those who’ve done a bit of Pilates before and want a good home alternative.
• Verdict: KEEP

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