20 Minute Body - Trilogy 2

Brett Hoebel
Year Released: 2014

Categories: Abs/Core , Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts , Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance , Total Body Workouts


This is a review for 30 Hi 30 Lo – Trilogy 2 (29:18)

Main Menu – 30 Hi 30 Lo, English subtitles, Spanish subtitles

Set, Music, and 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 women as background exercisers. All of them are wearing athletic tops and bottoms and no one is noticeably mugging for the camera or acting in an obnoxious fashion. One woman shows lesser impact modifications.

Equipment – a mat is required if working out on a hardwood floor or slick surface. Have a towel and water bottle close by because you’re going to sweat in this workout.

Warm Up – The warm up is the same one from Hitman and is probably used in all Trilogy 2 workouts. It’s a combination of dynamic stretches and explosive moves to get the body warmed up and limber. The moves include forward fold to plank, spider lunge w/ a twist, 8 jumping spider lunges, child’s pose, chaturanga from knees to shoulder stretch and cobra, 4 push-ups, down dog w/ foot peddle, 4 knee drops to down dog, walk back to sumo squat w/ twist, 4 X squats.

Main Workout – This is a predominantly cardio workout with a bit of strength work to give it a metabolic component. As the title would suggest, this workout has 30 seconds of work followed by 30 seconds of active recovery. There are 5 exercises that make up this workout. Each time you complete the 5 exercises is a round and there are 4 rounds in this workout. Each time through the exercises you are shown options of how to progress the exercise to make it more challenging. Progressions may include increasing the speed, adding an element to the base move, increasing range of motion, or adding direction. The exercises are below.

Squat thrust
Star jumps
Walking planks
High knee run w/ tuck jump
Crab kicks

Cool down – This is the same cool down throughout the series and uses a towel to help increase the stretch. Stretches include seated twist, laying glute/low back, laying hamstring, laying figure 4, and laying twist.

Overall Impressions: Just like the 30 Hi 30 Lo workout in trilogy 1, I found this workout to be challenging and fun. I liked the 5 exercises repeating but with slight variations each round to keep it interesting. I didn’t have to think about choreography at 5:30 am! If you follow Brett and most of the backgrounders this is a solid high intermediate/low advanced workout. If you push the pace and add in additional elements to the base move, advanced exercisers will find this a very effective shorter workout. The modifier showed variations with less impact, not without impact, so those folks with knee and wrist issues may need to modify even further. That being said, I think as done by the modifier this is a low intermediate workout. If you’re okay with drill based cardio workouts, this one is a winner!

Instructor Comments:
Brett is still very enthusiastic and energetic in this workout. There are quite a few fist bumps, loud ‘UHs’, and ‘whoos’ that let the at home exerciser know Brett is into the workout. There were also a couple of cartwheels or other extravagant movements that could be distracting. Most of Brett’s talk during the workout is on working at your pace, what modifications you can do if your wrists or knees are an issue, and offering encouragement. I found him to be really motivating and encouraging and was happy to see that he was as gassed as I was at the end of the workout.

Sabine Reuter

03/26/2015