Kristin McGee
This review refers to the DVD edition
I submitted this same review at amazon.com, but a friend urged me to post it here as well, so here goes.
I'm a guy in my 50's who loves to exercise. I enjoy resistance training, vigorous aerobics (especially rebounding), and most of all, yoga, which I've been practicing for many years. My favorite styles of yoga are Bikram's and "power yoga." I have dozens of yoga videos, and am very glad that the MTV Yoga DVD is now part of my collection. This is an excellent workout! I would rate it “Intermediate,” although modifications are shown throughout, so I don't think it would be beyond the reach of a beginner in search of an energetic workout.
If you enjoy power yoga style routines, and you're looking for something fresh that doesn't feel and look like just another Baron or Bryan video (as good as they are!), I think you'll be very pleased with this one.
The instructor is Kristin McGee, and she is excellent! She's very “normal,” down to earth, and has no annoying traits or habits, like some teachers do. There's not a trace of woo-woo on this video! Her instructions are precise and very helpful. I only caught one mistake — she does a variation for one of the poses on one side, and neglects to do it for the other side (in the pigeon pose with the bent right leg forward, after extending upper body over the leg, you sit upright, still in pigeon pose, reach back with the left arm, grasp the left ankle and bring it towards you to stretch the left quadriceps. She doesn't do that for the right quad). That surprised me, since she pays so much attention to details. Now when doing the workout, I just come out of the forward bend pigeon on the right side a few seconds before they do, and stretch the quad.
The workout is 45 minutes long. It's nonstop flowing, but never grueling. I really appreciated and was impressed by her breath cueing. She tells you when to breathe in/breathe out throughout the entire workout, but does it so quietly and with such rhythmical regularity, that it's kind've hypnotic and almost becomes subliminal. Hers is the best and most consistent "breath coaching" I've seen in any video.
There is one sequence I especially like for its dance-like feel: at one point you go into Warrior 1 and hold for several breaths, then into Warrior 2 for several breaths, move through Plank, Updog, Downdog, then repeat for the other side. Kristin then repeats this sequence 3 times, matching 1 breath to each movement, so it flows quickly and smoothly. Nice!
This is a total body workout, with a good selection of Warriors 1 & 2, Extended Side Angle, Triangle, Wide Leg Forward Bend, etc. There are balancing poses, starting with Tree pose. From Tree pose, you grasp the big toe of the bent leg, extend the leg straight out, then take it to the side while gazing over the opposite shoulder, bring the leg back to front, release the toe and hold the leg in the air for a few seconds, then bend the leg as you start to extend it out behind you while bending forward at the waist. You then straighten the rear leg and you're in Warrior 3, or Balancing T pose! You have the option of keeping your arms in airplane or extending them straight out in front of you.
There's a bit of back work (baby cobra, easy locust, bow) and seated forward bends. There's a seated spinal twist and the boat pose. There is no plow, no shoulder stand, no bridge or wheel.
The music has a good beat, but I never found it intrusive; was mostly just aware of a beat in the background. The DVD lets you choose between the workout with music, or with no music at all!
The set is pleasant. There are 3 students in the class; a young man showing the more advanced version of the poses, a young woman showing intermediate modifications, and Lori Trespicio (from MTV’s The Real World) is the “beginner.” They work in “mirror image” which I always appreciate!
After the workout, several of the poses are broken down in a Q & A format. Lori, who “hosts” the video, tells Kristin that she has some questions about several of the poses, and Kristin walks her through those particular poses, giving helpful pointers. Lori asks questions that anyone fairly new to yoga might ask, so I thought that was a great way to do it. Even more experienced practitioners might find some helpful advice in Kristin's pointers. While Lori is in a Warrior pose, Kristin steps on the outside edge of Lori’s rear foot, to remind her to keep it actively pressing into the mat. That image really stuck in my mind, much more than just a verbal reminder would have.
This is definitely a legitimate yoga workout, led by a very competent and likable instructor!
Ronn Gladwin
12/8/02
I think the previous reviewer has drawn a pretty good picture of what you should expect from this video. Basically the video is good. The only thing I'd like to point out: the camera-man's work unfortunately done very un-professionally.
Apparently the camera-men had a lot of fun while shooting this video. The view-point constantly travels all over the place. Sometimes camera randomly gets focused on a little body fragment of a student, which makes it difficult to follow the instructor. Once or twice he even tilts the camera which changes the shooting angle! I found this quite annoying. I mean this style might have been "OK" for a hot MTV music clip, but it is a little too much for an exercise video.
Once again - this is a little bump on overally good video.
Instructor comments:
I agree with the previous reviewer that Kristin McGee did an excellent job with this video.
Indigo
01/23/2004
Annie S. is the only one who has reviewed MTV YOGA here on VF, which surprises me. I agree with Annie S. (and the many Amazon reviewers) who give this workout a big thumbs-up. I'm not a yogini, so I can't provide an expert review here. I do, however, take yoga classes, and I've tried at least 30 yoga VHS and DVDs since 1998. MTV Yoga is one of my top 5 favorite workouts.
(NOTE: If you want to compare your yoga tastes to mine, please know that I dislike breakneck-paced power yoga. I also dislike slow, gentle yoga. I prefer yoga routines with a nice flow and deeply held poses. Some favorite workouts are Bryan Kest's Power Yoga Vol. 1, Yoga with Ateeka, Yoga Zone Relaxation & Conditioning, John Friend's Yoga for Meditators, Erich Schiffman's Backyard Yoga, and Rodney Yee's Yoga for Energy and Yoga for Athletes. I also like AM-PM Stretch with Madeleine Lewis.)
We should all be grateful for "mute" bottons on DVDs these days. MTV Yoga is case in point. The music here really bothered me at first because it's loud, un-yogalike, and -- well -- rather MTV'ish. The music annoyed me so much that I nearly turned the DVD off the first five minutes so I could run to my computer and post this as a VF trade. I instead continued with the workout -- and quickly forgot about the music. In fact, I keep the music on these days because I don't notice it anymore. It might bother you, though.
What I do notice about MTV YOGA is the yoga routine. The flow to this routine, as well the length of time each pose is held, is perfect: not too quick, yet not too slow. It's a fun yoga DVD. I reach for MTV Yoga time and time again..... Now if only MTV would release its MTV Advanced Workout 30-minute yoga routine from VHS to DVD! That's another winner.
Michelle E.
February 5, 2005
