What follows is some general information about the 20 Minute Body System and Brett Hoebel and a detailed review of the first workout in the first trilogy, Primal Movements.

About Brett and the 20 Minute Body System: Brett Hoebel is a celebrity fitness trainer who also has a passion for the Brazillian martial art of capoeira. Many of his previous workouts are infused with moves from this martial art and 20 Minute Body is no exception. Luckily, you don’t need training in capoeira to enjoy this workout. Brett contributes to a lot of fitness magazines, has been a trainer on the TV show the Biggest Loser, and has partnered previously with fitness giant Beachbody. I believe he has a good reputation in the fitness community as a well-respected and credible trainer.

The 20 Minute Body DVD set is divided into 3 different levels called trilogies. Each trilogy has 3 main workouts. Trilogies 1 & 3 each have a bonus workout, Cardio Capoeira and BPS Booty & Abs/Chest & Abs/Stretch & Recovery, respectively. Even though the set is called 20 Minute Body, the 20 minute refers to only the main workout. When you add in the warm up and cool down it is closer to 30 minutes total.

This review is for the Primal Movements workout in the first trilogy.

Main Menu– Introduction, intro w/ English subtitles, intro w/ Spanish subtitles, Primal Movements (PM), PM w/ English subtitles, PM w/ Spanish subtitles. From what I saw, there is no music off option.

Set, Music, & Background Exercisers: The set is nice, light, and airy looking. There are some 20 Minute Body banners on the back wall and it’s not cluttered looking and the exercisers aren’t too close together. The music is instrumental and I can’t recall it at all which means it was neither really good nor really bad. I do remember that it helped pace the workout nicely. Brett works out with 4 background exercisers. There is 1 man and 3 women and all are wearing athletic tops and bottoms and no one is noticeably mugging for the camera or acting in an obnoxious fashion. Brett and Jesse demonstrate each exercise using dumbbells (when applicable). One woman shows modifications using exercise tubing, another woman shows bodyweight only modifications, and the third woman shows modifications suitable for those just starting out with fitness.

Equipment: Everyone has a mat, towel, and water bottle. Depending on how you want to do the workout, other equipment may include 1 set of moderate to heavy dumbbells (you may want to have 2-3 sets on hand depending on the exercise) or exercise tubing w/ handles.

Warm Up: cat/cow, spider lunge w/ twist, sumo squat/forward fold adding in a twist, 8 jumping jacks.

Main Workout: Six different moves make up the workout and are done in a ‘45 seconds on/15 seconds off’ format. You repeat the six exercises a total of 3 times. However, each round you are encouraged to progress the movement and Brett offers ideas of how to do this for each exercises, for each piece of equipment, and for each fitness level. The 3rd time through Brett calls the Spice round and everything is amped up a bit to finish with a flourish. You end the main workout with a two minute drill. Below are the exercises.

Squats to overhead press (spice round side squat to overhead press)
Push-Ups (spice round push-up jacks)
Side lunge to overhead snatch (spice round both dumbbells)
Bent over rows (spice round piston rows)
Wood chops (spice round is done in single count)
Low plank (spice round add alternating arm reach)

2 Minute Drill: split shuffles/jog

Cool Down: Brett uses a towel for most of the cool down stretches. Stretches include seated twists, laying glute/low back stretch, laying hamstring stretch, figure 4 stretch, laying twist.

Overall Impressions: First off, let me say that I liked this workout immensely. I think this workout has a chameleon quality to it and could feel like a strength workout or like a cardio workout depending on who you follow. I chose to use dumbbells and follow Brett and Jesse and for me it felt like a solid weight/metabolic workout. When using the weights, you are encouraged to go heavy (Brett is using 25s, I used 10s and probably could have gone heavier) and the exercises are done a controlled pace. Had I chosen to follow one of the women, I imagine the workout would have felt more cardio as they often move faster because of the different equipment or bodyweight only. I thought the modifier did a great job of showing easier variation of the exercises and keeping the pace moderate. The only place I didn’t think the modifier did a good job was in the 2 minute drill, and it would be easy enough to make your own modifications as the moves were very basic. I think this workout could appeal to many fitness levels as the amount of weight you choose, the pace you choose, and who you follow could make it anywhere from high beginner to advanced level.

Instructor Comments:
Brett can be a little cheesy and over the top at times. I personally didn’t mind it as I tend to like instructors who are boisterous and quirky rather than reserved and stoic. I adore Tony Horton and BJ Gaddour and, while I think that Brett is not as in your face as they can be, he is cut from the same cloth. Brett does most of the workout with you and occasionally will stop to walk around and show what each person is doing, show how they are progressing the exercise, and to offer encouragement. There is the occasional fist bump, ‘UH’, and moment of nuttiness, and nothing that distracted me from a great workout.

Sabine Reuter