PowerBar Training is one tough, long strength video. I can usually get through Cathe's strength tapes without stopping, but I had problems getting all the way through this one without stopping to take a break. One of the hardest things about this video to me was that you do so very many reps, and don't take any kind of break between sets. I really expected to be sore today, but I am only a little bit sore in the rear.

The warmup actually has you using a bar with minimal weight to warm up each muscle group individually. You do each of the exercises briefly that you will do later on. I felt very warmed up by the end of this session, and this was a unique warmup since you are using weight and work each muscle group individually. The approach they use (8,4,2,1) is not one I have seen before, and while it was interesting, in some cases it did not work well for me.

Someone else broke down the exercises and how they are done (8,4,2,1s) so I will just give my impression of each session.

The first leg session (squats, squats and more squats) goes on forever. This section made my shoulders ache from holding the bar up there for so long, so I tried the alternative method that Shannon demonstrates- wrapping the arms around the bar and holding it in front of you. That helped my shoulders but I just wasn't comfortable with this. There is no break during this section at all, and it really went on longer than necessary if you were able to use a heavier weight.

The inner thigh work was great and I really felt that deep in my thighs.

The back work was truly unique. There were a lot of deadlift variations-which I usually try to avoid, but I was able to do these. I did notice that my forearms ached during all of these exercises. I also did not see why this section was done on top of the bench.

The chest work was the one section I absolutely could not finish. I got through the first set of each of the three hand grips (last one of which was very awkward) and thought we were done, but nooo. A whole other set of chest, followed by flies.

The shoulder work was equally tough but bearable. Here they have you hold plates to do lateral raises and front raises.

Biceps section did not seem like it lasted as long as the others, and this section was not as challenging, probably because I kept my weights lighter anticipating a longer section.

The triceps work was very effective and also a bit shorter. I have not been able to do the ab roller type exercise with the bar the way it probably should be done. This exercise feels very awkward to me, and I since I have a tile floor I am always afraid of the bar rolling so far that I fall forward. The rest of the ab work was good old fashioned crunch type work, and worked every part of my abs. I kept the weight during the entire workout.

Overall Pros: I really liked the music- it was mostly popular songs with a good beat. The sisters interact very well together and are motivating to work out with. The workout was very intense and effectively worked each muscle group. It was non-stop so there was no time taken up chatting or explaining what was going to be done next (which is one complaint I have in Cathe's vids)

Overall Cons: I can easily see getting bored with this workout. Rather than doing fewer of a lot of different exercises, they do tons of the same moves. I just get really bored doing squats for 100 reps.

My shoulders really bothered me during the long leg sessions. There were not a lot of form pointers offered during the workout. They did say if your form started to suffer to stop. I am experienced enough to know what good form is, but a beginner might not be. Shannon also does not always demonstrate good form during the workout.

It would be helpful to know what total weight they are recommending. Alison tells you what size to put on the barbell, but since every barbell is a different starting weight it was hard to judge which weight to use.

Tara Whitmore