NOTE: I received a free review copy of this DVD from the instructor.

Kelly Coffey-Meyer has become perhaps my very favorite instructor. Not only does she now teach in the town where I grow up, but also she's about my same age (mid-40s), and I just really click with her low-key, down-to-earth style. That being said, I DON'T always click with all of Kelly's workouts, nor do I own all of her DVDs. Furthermore, I'm not a huge fan of cardio. However, after I saw the clips of CARDIO QUICK FIX, I thought it looked like fun, and I was interested in trying it.

Kelly works out here with two of her usual background exercisers, Sam and Laurie, plus a new modifier, Noelle. The Main Menu offers options for Introduction - Workout 1 - Workout 2 - Bonus Abs/Hips & Glutes - Premixes and a Music On/Off option. (I found the music to be fun; it's mostly vocal and very upbeat.) Other than an optional mat for the Bonus segment, no equipment is necessary for these workouts. I have broken down each in detail below.

WORKOUT 1
This workout starts with an approximately 5-minute warm-up. Kelly runs through moves such as marches, heels front, squats right and left, toe taps, front cross, knee hops, and body lifts. She does not do any stretches. She then moves right into the cardio portion of the workout. This basically consists of two long sequences--e.g., she teaches a series of moves in add-on fashion, running through this several times, then moves on to the second series. The first sequence is significantly longer than the second at about 10 minutes. Moves include marches, hip dips to either side, body lifts, insole tapes (adding a bit of impact), shuffle with arms in/out, step/grapevine with jab/cross and flurry, and a softball pitch and catch. Although Kelly does repeat the sequence (a.k.a. "take it from the top"), I found the moves to be fun, different, and engaging. The second series is shorter at about 6 minutes. Here the moves are more standard--e.g., side shuffle, jog, 3-knee repeater, step heel, jump rope, side-to-side, and curtsey push--but Kelly ups the intensity with a bit more impact. At the conclusion of this workout, Kelly moves quickly through approximately 2 minutes of all-standing stretches, bringing the total workout time in right around 25 minutes.

WORKOUT #2
For this 29.5 minute workout, Kelly ups the intensity somewhat by performing higher impact drills. (Viewers always have the option of staying low impact with Noelle.) Following the same warm-up as Workout #1, there are an additional few minutes of low-intensity moves (e.g., squats right-left, marches, jogs) which feel like sort of an extended warm-up. Kelly then begins the drills. She starts with a lower impact move, then she switches over to a more intense version of this move for about 30 seconds. The movement pairs included marches to jogs, pop squat knee lifts to knee pops, side-to-side steps to skaters, elbow smash to elbow smash with hop, bob & weave to front punch with side leg lift, jacks to jack with jump, side-to-side step to chasse with floor touch, squat to squat pop, and back lunge to squat. As usual, Kelly finishes with a quick (<2 minutes) stretch, moving through hip flexor, quad, and hamstring stretches.

BONUS: Abs/Hips & Glutes
Here Kelly and crew start standing with their mats nearby. Kelly begins with a shallow reverse lunge, adding in a Figure 8 arm motion. Next comes a "lunge with pull" move standing with he legs in Warrior position. Both of these moves work the abs, hips, and glutes, especially in the second round, when Kelly repeats both moves holding a light dumbbell. She then moves to the floor for a core move which begins from a hovering table position and moves out to a 3-legged down dog. Coming onto her side, she performs what she calls "ugly runner," a sort of running legs move to work the hips. The final exercise is performed in an elevated reverse table position (or optional on the floor) dropping the knees to either side. Kelly finishes with some quick seated stretches. I loved the standing portion of this Bonus in particular; it even kept my heart rate up!

As always, Kelly includes a wealth of Premixes on this DVD. These are really a great addition, as they make you feel like you are getting 10+ workouts on one DVD! Here is the list of Premixes from that menu:

*Quick Fix 1 (1st set workout 1 and 1st set workout 2) - 27 min
*Quick Fix 2 (2nd set workout 1 and 2nd set workout 2) - 23 min
*Quick Fix 3 (1st set workout 1 and all of workout 2) - 36 min
*Quick Fix 4 (2nd set workout 1 and all of workout 2) - 34 min
*Quick Fix 5 (both workouts) - 44 min
*Quick Fix 6 (workout 1 1st set and bonus) - 29 min
*Quick Fix 7 (workout 1 2nd set and bonus) - 27 min
*Quick Fix 8 (workout 2 1st set and bonus) - 29 min
*Quick Fix 9 (workout 2 2nd set and bonus) - 27 min
*Bonus Workout with Abs, Hips, and Glutes - 15 min

Overall, I really enjoyed these workouts. Although I consider myself a high intermediate exerciser, as noted above, I don't really like cardio, and so I don't tend to seek out high-intensity cardio workouts. For that reason, I provided Workout #1 on this DVD, which was probably more at an Advanced Beginner/Low Intermediate Level. I definitely found Workout #2 to be a solid Intermediate workout and one that is definitely modifiable to different levels depending on how much impact you choose to do.

So, I would definitely recommend this DVD, but it is probably most ideally suited to exercisers who are at the low- to mid-intermediate level.

Instructor Comments:
I just love Kelly's style--I find her enthusiastic without being over-the-top and completely warm and relatable. I've never had any problems whatsoever following her excellent mirrored cuing.

Beth C (aka toaster)