Video Fitness

I Want Those Buns

I have been a huge Tamilee Webb fan for many years now, and was very excited to get my hands on her newest releases, the "I want those" series.

I have only had the chance to review the buns one first. This bun video is composed of two 15 minute toning 'bun' workouts The video shows Tamilee working out alone is a spacious aerobic studio. There's funky, electronic music playing in the background, not bad but not hip either.

The warm-up is very short. You begin with stepping two steps to one side then the other. This lasts all of 1 minute. Then a few standing leg stretches, one for hamstings, glutes (may need to hold onto something for balance) and quads.

The workout begins with what she says is the 'grandfather' exercise the basic squat. She is very good at always telling you about safety pointers and what muscle(s) your working etc. On all the exercises in the workout she does a set of 8 or 12 full reps followed by those 'pulses' or as she calls them 3-in-1 reps.

Then she moves into what she calls "iso lunges" where one leg is in front, the other leg back, and you lunge up and down without actually moveing forward. I've seen it referred to as dips before or split squats.

The next move is a 'sumo squat' nice and deep, feet wide as in a plie.

Back to the alternating front lunges, where she is always telling the user not to push off through the toe, but the heel. Even thought the exercises are tough, she talks her way through it so easily, like its nothing. By the way she wears no ankle weights, nor does she hold any hand weights. She does say a few time in the video that as soon as it becomes too easy to pick up a pair of hand weights. I felt this should be explained at the begining of the workout.

The alternating front lunges is then done with a little "kick" at the top, where the back leg come up for a front kick at the top of the movement. I felt this in my working butt cheek more.

Basically the first 15 min workout is: Regular squat, Iso lunges, alternating front lunges, and sumo squat. There's enough variety to not have it get boring, and even though she moves through the exercises fairly quickly, its not hard to fiqure out what she's doing, or keep up. Next time I do it I'll need some 5 or 10 lb hand weights. I don't think ankle weights would do much here.

The first workout ends with same quick stretches as it begun. Most people may feel it's not enough and may want to do more stretching on there own.

The second workout also begins and ends with the exact same stretches. This second workout is a lot harder and may not be for those with bad knees. This workout begins with a type of squat where you are in a lowered squat positon, but you stay there, then you take one foot and tap it to the front, side, back then repeat for 6-8 more taps. All the while the leg your standing on is bent, and quivering like crazy! After all the taps on the one side, you raise up and repeat on the other leg!

After that you do a one-legged squat. This time the upper body is fairly upright, and you bring one leg out in front of you slightly, and rise up and down on the working leg. In this workout, Tamilee likes to do more of the (pulses) or she calls them 3-in-1 reps after you complete a set of full-range reps. The next move requires a chair for balance. You then bend over at the waist, and the working leg extends out behind you until its parallel with your upper body, then its brought back in again for reps. This one reminded me of the floor "table" work you see in alot of The Firm tapes, but your standing instead. Ankle weights would be helpful here.

The next movement is definately not for those with bad knees. It's called the Runners lunge. I'll try to describe this move. Your knees are very bent, and your low to the ground. Your upper body is also bent over at the waist somewhat. Then you bring one leg forward, one stays back, and you rock back and forth from one bent leg to the next. All the while staying low to the ground, crouched over. After you do this one on both sides, she has you stand back up and you do more one-leg squats. She finishes the workout by doing a sort of 'giant set' where you go through all the above exercises for 6-8 reps each and you move quickly from one exercise to the other.

Then the workout finishes with the exact same standing Hamstring, Glute, and Quadricep stretch that began the workout. Tamilee only holds each stretch for not even 5 seconds, its very quick.

I give this tape an A+ I've always felt that Tamilee Webb produces excellent videos. The quality of the new videos is nothing like the old Buns of Steel tapes. It is somewhat like the Buns of Steel 2000 series in production quality.

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS: I find Tamilee Webb very motivating and very imformative. She tells you things about the muscle group your working, and lots of safety pointers. Just remember this is not a complete 'whole' body workout, there are no aerobics, or abs or upper body. She has a separate tape for the abs, arms and the body in her "I Want That Body Series" I'll try to write a review for the other ones once I get a chance to workout to them.

Lisa Keats
7/21/01

My background: I’m just getting back into exercising regularly after having been extremely inconsistent for a couple of years because of chronic back problems. I used to consider myself an advanced exerciser before experiencing multiple back injuries. My favorite strength tapes were FIRM: Standing Legs and FIRM: Tough Tape.

This tape is divided into 2 separate 15 minute workouts although they can be done together if you want a 30 minute leg workout.

I definitely wouldn’t call this a beginner video even though Tamilee gives lots of form pointers and talks about what muscles are being used throughout the workout. As someone just starting to get some leg strength back, I still haven’t been able to work through the entire first leg section and I’m not using any weights. I think part of the reason for this is because of the more aerobic nature of the workout. It reminds me of FIRM: Standing Legs and Cathe’s CTX: Leaner Legs because you go from one exercise to the next without a break. I guess that’s also why I like it and am willing to continue working at getting stronger with it.

I decided to get this video rather than use videos I already own because I already have a history with them. I remember how much I used to be able to do and how much weight I could use, etc. I have the chance to work at getting stronger with a brand new video and when I can’t do the whole thing, it’s not as discouraging to me.

Some people might get annoyed by Tamilee’s chatter during the workout but it doesn’t bother me. Charlene Prickett’s banter also doesn’t bother me so that’s a category in which I’m not easily annoyed. In fact, even though I’ve known all of the information about correct form and what muscles are being used during the exercises, I appreciated what Tamilee said because it kept me focused on working hard.

The music could have been louder and I would have preferred more of a warm up. I think the beginning stretch could have been skipped by either filling that time with more of a warm up or adding more stretch time at the end. That being said, I really do like this video and plan on continuing to use it to improve my lower body strength.

Grade: A-

Sharon Muha
smuha@nc.rr.com
1-24-2002

Tamilee Webb, a well-known veteran instructor, has put together a new series of "I want those..." tapes. Each tape contains two 15-minute workouts focused on a particular part of the body. At the start of the video, Tamilee explains that she did exhaustive research to determine which exercises were the most effective and then included the exercises that rated highest in her workouts. For each workout, Tamilee is exercising solo in the same studio from her "Quick Toning" series (minus the two televisions showing her from different angles). In fact, the entire feel of this video is similar to the QT workouts, but it moves much more quickly, including shorter workout and cool-down times. Tamilee is an excellent instructor and good at cueing, but in this video, she moves so fast between the exercises that it is sometimes difficult to keep up.

The first segment consists of fairly traditional moves. Tamilee begins with squats, moves on to lunges, the "sumo" squat, and a combined lunge/kick. She does three total sets with some variations each time and moving from 12 to 8 to 12 repetitions. The second workout consists of more unique moves. There is a strong emphasis on one-legged squats, combining these with a toe tap, buttocks kick-backs, and a "runners" lunge (which I liked a lot). According to the tape, the second workout is supposed to be more challenging, but I found that each one had its tough parts.

Overall, I enjoyed these workouts. The next day, I really felt it in my buttocks rather than my thighs, which is what usually happens with other lower body workouts. These two workouts are tough enough to shape up this hard-to-change body part without being too grueling to do.

Instructor comments: Veteran instructor Tamilee is terrific as always: she is motivating, encouraging, and down-to-earth, and her cueing is perfect.

Beth C

September 8, 2003



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