Barry Jay/Cindy Whitmarsh
For perspective I am a low advanced exerciser. Cindy Whitmarsh actually leads the workouts. I think she is a good lead-not too overzealous, not too serious. Barry walks around and says things like "great abs arent made in the gym, theyre made in the kitchen so be sure to eat right too" and he pushes down on exercises shoulders for added resistance. He is quirky and I liked him too. They show a beginner and an advanced modifier with Cindy doing intermediate.
The kit comes with 3 dvds. There is a lower body dvd, upper body dvd, and a code red (get fit quick in 6 days) dvd. The upper and lower body dvds each have a 21 minute w/o and 6 additional Mision Specialist w/o's on them. The MS w/o's are 12 min each and are: upper body-beginner, lower body-beginner, abs-beginner, upper body-advanced, lower body-advanced, and abs-advanced.
The kit also comes w/ resistance cord handles and 2 strengths of interchangable resistance bands. The green band is level 1 (beginner strength) and the black is level 3 of 4 (I believe). It also comes w/ a torpedo shaped ball, the Transformer. The transformer ball is used as a weight bench, stability ball, and a prop for cardio & strength moves. The resistance bands can go around the ball while you are laying on it-so you can do bench press for example.
There is a countdown banner on the bottom of the screen that counts down each minute. I find it less intrusive than the banner on the SS w/o's. A buzzer goes off at the 10 seconds remaining mark and Cindy, barry & crew countdown. This may annoy some (thinking of all those who disliked the Taebo counting). The music is good IMO, upbeat, not annoying or too loud. Its not super motivating but appropriate. I ordered this kit before seeing the infomercial. Before it arrived in the mail I watched the infomercial and thought I would find Barry annoying (I dont). I would not have purchased from the infomercial alone. I wasnt impressed by all the "hollywood stars" comments or the "dont think, just shrink" hoopla. But I am glad I ordered.
Here is a mini-review of what I did today:
Upper Body Fat Blaster: The workout is 21 minutes plus a short warmup. It is led my Cindy with Barry wandering around. There is a beginner and advanced modifier throughout. Each exercise is one minute with a 30 second "rest" inbetween that is used to set up the next move and get your ball or cord ready. She alternates strength and cardio moves. Some of the exercises include pec flys on the transformer ball using the cords, burpees (including a hop at the end-TOUGH!), fast run then down to a Mt. Climber on Barry's cue, upper cuts using the cords, jumping jacks pushing the transformer ball back and forth, tricep dips off the ball (TOUGH), etc.
M upper body is not as strong as my lower and I had a hard time keeping up with the advanced on all the strength exercises. On some I didnt make teh 1 minute and had to go w/ Cindy on the intermediate. I was dissapointed that the bands seemed too long when wrapped around the ball-too much slack to make the moves challenging. I ended up switching to dumbbells. You can use 2 bands in the handles at once, which would make it tougher but that seemed like a lot of extra work.
Mission Specialist Upper Body (Beginner): All strength moves in one minute increments. There are 9 (or 10?) exercises, most using the ball and/or the tubing. The w/o is 12 minutes total. The moves were different than in the main UB w/o and included push-ups off the ball, tricep extensions w/ the cord, bicep curls w/ the cord, etc.
Mission Specialist Abs (Advanced): This was mostly floor work on and off the ball, included Russion twists, jack knives on the ball, bicycle abs w/ the ball, V-sits w/ the ball, etc. They said there was an advanced and beginner modifier but I don't recall seeing anything done differently.
Lower Body Fat Blaster: it is 21 minutes plus a short warmup. The moves are typical bootcamp type moves and each exercise lasts for only one minute. Typcially alternating between strength and cardio moves. The moves included crabwalks w/ the band, mountain climbers, squats & lunges w/ and w/out the band, one legged hops, etc. It was tough! Because each exercise only lasts 1 minute it is very doable-but still tough. In between exercises you have 30 seconds to "rest" which is used to put down your band, get your ball, etc and introduce the next move. I kept my feet moving during the 30 seconds. My HR really stayed up the entire workout.
Mission Specialist Lower Body (Beginner): 1 minute segments, each one focused on the lower body. The exercises had a cardio effect but (I think) they were all toning exercises. It uses the bands and the ball. Some of the moves were done on the floor and some standing. The exercises were different than in the main lower body w/o. Both a beginner and an advanced option were shown.
Mission Specialist Abs (Beginner): Ab work done in 1 minute increments. Used the ball and the bands in some of the exercises. Most were done on the floor or ball. Both a beginner and an advanced option were shown.
This clocked in at just about an hour (including my own stretch). I feel like a I got a great workout! I burned alot of calories especially considering the last 24 minutes were strength only, 12 of which was ab work.
Instructor comments:
Lindseylu8
9-9-08
