I admit, I was a bit confused by this DVD. I received both 10 Pounds Down "Total Body Tune Up" and "Weight Loss Cardio" on the same DVD. The minimal chapter menu listed both workouts, but it gave no idea of the times, breakdowns, etc., so it took me awhile to figure out which workout I was doing, especially since both contain cardio and toning work.

In the Weight Loss Cardio workout, I didn't realize until the very end that there is only actually about 40 minutes of cardio; there is an additional segment called "Total Body Toners" that lasts about 24 minutes, and finally, there is a 4.5 minute cool-down segment. The cardio begins with a 6-minute warm-up that consists of moves such as side taps, hamstring curls, and some light stretching (it was hard to see what Smith was doing here). Smith continues with some alternating side taps, but then she makes things more complicated by adding both movement and directional changes. There are a few boxing moves, which I enjoyed because this was low-impact, but then Smith made this high-impact by throwing jumping jacks on the end, which I hate. The next segment was also high impact with scissors, skiers, and jumping rope; Smith provided NO modifications for the impact moves. There were a few more boxing moves and what felt like starting to move into a cool-down, but then suddenly Smith brought the tempo back up again! There is no cool-down after the cardio, as Smith goes right into the Total Body Toners segment. She starts here with just a few standing moves such as plies, but she then moves to the floor for additional Pilates-like moves. Part of this segment is what she calls "Corset Abs," and it includes Pilates-like abs work such as frog, leg circles, leg extensions, and v-sits. I could certainly see how some would like this workout, especially if you enjoy hi-impact cardio with a good deal of variety, but it wasn't for me.

Instructor Comments:
I do like Jessica and have used many of her online workouts. Her DVDs tend to be pretty hit or miss for me, however--although she instructs well, I just don't tend to enjoy the format of her workouts.

Beth C (aka toaster)