This video includes a pep talk, an approximately
5 mintue warm-up and stretch segment, and three very
different, ten minute ab workouts, two on the floor, one
on a step. Each exercise in each workout is divided into
beginner, intermediate and advanced segements; Tamilee
and her two hardbody guy pals, Rick and Pepper, do the
advanced workout, but there are modifications and
suggestions for less advanced exercisers.
While I have given away my other Tamilee
Buns/Abs/whatever-of-steel tapes, this one has stayed in
my regular rotation. I find the first two workouts in
particular to be very thorough and challanging. Most of
the work is done at a slow pace, so you really feel it.
Workout #2 ("Super Abs") has some of the best
work for the external obliques I've seen, better even
than Karen Voight. The step workout does some serious
reverse crunch work on an inclined step, which I find I
feel perhaps too much in my lower back on some days, so I
usually stick with the first two workouts.
I usually do one of the routines on this tape after a
lower body emphasizing tape when I want to get in some
extra ab work. I do my own stretching while the first
tape rewinds, then pop in Tamilee & crunch away. A
very solid "A", particularly for the first two
routines.
Lesley B
3/97
Three 10-minute ab workouts for beginners to advanced. However, I
don’t think advanced exercisers would really be challenged by it (I’d
say I’m at intermediate level, and I usually continue on with this
tape’s advanced sections, yet the abs section of KV’s Your Personal Best
can still give me a good burn). Tamilee tells the
beginners/intermediates when to stop, and there is also a time bar at
the bottom of the screen, but it doesn’t really serve much purpose – I
just watch the two male background exercisers if I feel the need to
stop! The tape starts with a short motivational speech, followed by a
warm up/stretch. The first workout is the one I do least often, because
it contains lots of reverse curls, which tend to bother my lower back if
done often. I enjoy the exercises in the second workout most, and it
feels like the most thorough of the three. There is some very good
oblique and upper ab work. I’ve been using the tape fairly regularly for
about a year, and the second workout still leaves me feeling slightly
sore the next day. The third workout is done using a step bench, but can
also be done on the floor (that’s how I do it, as I don’t have a
full-size step bench). This workout ends with a longer stretch than the
other two (they finish with a couple of brief stretches). I prefer to
stretch a little longer, though, as I think it's still a bit on the
short side. What I really appreciate about this tape is the slower pace
with which almost all of the exercises are performed. This makes me
concentrate on form and prevents me from letting momentum take over.
Although I wouldn’t class this as a revolutionary abs tape, it’s a good
no-nonsense tape for beginners/intermediates to have for variety, as
it’s not just up-and-down crunches and side crunches. The 10-minute
format makes it ideal for adding on to the end of another workout.
Instructor comments: Tamilee is friendly and encouraging, telling you
to keep going even though it might be getting hard. She cues well, and
tells you which muscles should be feeling the work.
Glynis van Uden
gvanuden@worldonline.nl
22 April 2000