All I can say is "Wow!" This is a tough and FUN workout! If you've been looking for a Body Pump type workout, but longer and more challenging, you've found it! It's very similar in feel and style to Body Pump. You do a LOT of reps of everything with somewhat lighter weights. It actually looks like they're using a Body Pump weight set, although maybe it's an imitation. Any breaks are much shorter than I would have preferred! :-) The music has a lot of vocals and is really good, much better than the stereotypical stuff from CIAs past. It could have been a little bit louder, but it was really good. I'm not good about being able to identify songs. Maybe someone else will be able to ID some of them. Shannon and Alison are cheerful but not perky, and very "get down to business." They say that the workout isn't fancy, but it will get the job done. I have to say I agree. :-) The workout starts with lighter versions of some of the exercises you'll be doing later on to warm up: squats, dead lifts, dead lifts with barbell rows, overhead barbell presses, pushups on the step, etc. You start out with a couple of very slow reps to counts of 8, then counts of 4, 2, and finally singles. That's the general pattern in all of the exercises.

The main workout starts with squats, squats with leg lifts to the side, and squats with legs lifts to the back. Then you do plie' squats, some with 1 heel lifted up like in Nancy Tucker's section in Firm Super Sculpting.

Next is back work doing dead lifts and dead lifts with rows in various combinations. You do 1 long set with an overhand grip, then take a short break and do a set with an underhand grip. Alison has you stading up on your step for this, which I didn't really understand the purpose of. I did the second set on the floor, because I felt a little bit nervous elevated like that.

Chest work is barbell chest presses with one end of the step elevated. You do 3 sets, changing the width of your grip on your bar between each one. Then you get a short break and and do it again. The narrowest grip really has your triceps screaming too. :-) You finish up with flies.

Then it's back to legs and lunges onto the step. You have several variations in the count, including what Cathe fans would call static lunges, although you lunge onto the step in count 1 and THEN do a count of 6 static lunges, and back up before switching legs. By the time I got to the end of the section, my legs were screaming for mercy ( In a good way ). :-) You get a really nice leg stretch at the end of this section.

For shoulders you do overhead presses with varations in the count, 4's, 2's, and singles. Then you do variations of flies and front raises in combination that are hard to describe but really toast your shoulders. You're READY to be finished by the end! :-)

Biceps look deceptively easy. You're just doing bicep curls with the barbell in various count variations. BUT YOU NEVER STOP!! I started out thinking I should up the weight I used the next time. In the middle I was thinking I would increase the weight, but only by a few pounds. By the end my biceps were fully as pumped and burning as at the end of PS BBA. There will be NO extra weight the next time around! :-)

Triceps are skull crushers ( okay, technically they're french presses, bt I like the other name better :-) ) and triceps dips, alternating sets. They have the option of the bar in your lap for the dips or not. This section was shorter than some of the others, but since you already did those chest presses that hit the triceps, this was PLENTY! :-)

Abs were wonderful! You use your bar for some challenging work rolling the bar out away from your body and pulling it back in, using abs and lower back, like with an ab roller. It was hard to do on my rug, but I was starting to get the hang of it by the end. It takes a lot of control to keep from rolling on out and smashing you nose on the floor! :-) Then you flip over on your back for more traditional abs work with an optional weight on your chest. They even show you how to put a weight on you lower abs for the reverse crunches. THEN (yes, there's a fair amount of ab work ) you put the bar between your bent legs and push the end of the bar upward as you do obliques.

The workout ends with a short, but very welcome stretch section. :-)

I think I'm really going to be feeling this workout tomorrow. It's a definite keeper! There are so few really good non-Cathe or Firm weight workouts. THIS workout is a very welcome addition! :-)

Erin Ferragut