Personally, I like Joyce Vedral, although she might
not be for everyone. She is very motivating and
encouraging, but she can be a bit forceful, and her heavy
Long-Island accent might annoy some people.
Susan Cossette Eng
Joyce Vedral is great for us baby boomers. She's 53, I
think, now and was pushing 51 when she made these tapes.
She has a Ph.D. in English literature which, to me, means
she relatively smart and can write. Her books are great!
She's short and squat, and she has made the most of her
body type. She inspires me. She makes me think, "If
she can do it, so can I." She's very human in her
videos, and she makes some mistakes. But her enthusiasm
keeps me going. If you read her books, Joyce will tell
you that she has no style when she works out, she's a
klutz. She'll also tell you it doesn't matter. Follow
form and work hard. Even if you look awkward, you'll get
results.
Karen Borak
COMMENTS ABOUT JOYCE VEDRAL
Joyce Vedral gets some eye-rolling here, so I felt it worthwhile to share
my experience and perceptions concerning her.
Let's face it. Joyce Vedral shines in her books, but not so much in her
videos. In her videos, Joyce doesn't give great form pointers and she
doesn't stretch or warm up sufficiently. Some say she goes way too fast in
her videos. She uses light weights in her workouts, which is, I suppose, to
make beginners feel more at home with using weights. Those are her
weaknesses. Joyce Vedral knows about these criticsms, but seemingly doesn't
care. So it doesn't look like Joyce is going to slow down and use real
weights any sooner than Cathe Friedrich starts doing low impact. It's
Joyce's way or the highway, from what I can tell.
Her strengths? Joyce Vedral's routines really do reshape the body fast.
They work better than anything else I've tried for the past 3 years,
including the Firm and Cathe Friedrich. Joyce makes weight training
accessible to the average person who, unlike me, doesn't want to own oodles
of videos. She is perfect for those who want to reshape their bodies on
their own, without workout videos, personal trainers, and weight machines.
That having been said, there's great value in Joyce Vedral's videos if
you are a serious student of her book routines. It's easier and quicker to
"grasp" her routines by reading her book and then studying/attempting her
corresponding video. Also, some of her videos are, indeed, very good! They
produce results. My favorites are the upper body segment of Fat Burning II
(40 minutes) and the Bottoms Up - Upper Body workout video (also roughly 45
minutes).
Here's one other reason I'm a big fan of Joyce Vedral. In 1997, her
Weight Training routine literally changed my body in a matter of 3 months.
Women at my healthclub who had used personal trainers for years would come up
to me and ask me what I was doing, because it was obviously working! (At
that time I had gone from a size 8 to a size 4 in a few months without
changing my eating habits. I also saw great improvements in my upper body,
going from a pear shape to an hourglass shape.) I just gave them the name of
Joyce Vedrals book. One woman had such good results with Joyce's Weight
Training book that she quit using her personal trainer!
Michelle Easton
October 26, 2000
