Cindy Crawford used the routines in this video to get back into shape after her second child. With the help of fitness expert Kathy Kaehler, she designed this workout to help new mothers ease back into fitness. Although I've never had a child, I was interested in the variety of workouts that this video had to offer and decided to give it a try. Throughout the video, Cindy and Kathy work out together in various settings, and Cindy is also shown working out alone in her bedroom and on the beach; at times, images of Cindy with her baby and her husband are woven in as well. The background music includes some popular hit songs but is generally unobstrusive.

Workouts A and B are both short (12 and 16 minutes, respectively), fairly gentle routines to help you slowly get used to moving your body and beginning to work your muscles.
Section A starts with a gentle upper body stretch, moves into slow plies and lunges, and continues with just a bit of abs work (Kathy shows how to modify if your abs muscles were torn during labor). This section ends with Kegel exercises and pelvic tilts, both of which are included in all three workouts. Section B begins with a 4-minute warmup and stretch using a chair. It then moves into a segment described as cardio, but it is really only a few minutes of side to side moves, knee lifts, etc. which can be performed with or without light weights. Next are a few sets of squats and lunges using playing cards which you pick up off the floor, and then it's on to the floor for pelvic tilts, Kegels, and a bit more abs work. As an intermediate exerciser, I found these first two segments too easy, and I was disappointed by the lack of cardio and upper body work. Although I don't expect to use these sections often, they are likely to be perfect for their intended audience of those trying to get back into fitness, especially since the time went by very quickly in both workouts.

To my surprise, the third section made a pretty big leap from the first two, as it was actually quite challenging. Again, there was not much cardio work: only two short cardio segments were included, and as in Section B, these consisted mainly of very basic moves such as knee raises and side kicks (the second segment used light weights to increase the work). On the other hand, the toning segments in this section really worked the muscles, particularly in the upper body. After a brief stretch, Section C begins with upper body toning using the weights and working shoulders, biceps, and triceps. Next is the first cardio interval (4 minutes), and then a lower body focus which includes plies and lunges (again using the playing cards), glutes work (using a chair for balance), and more upper body with push-ups against the chair. Following the second cardio interval (3 minutes), there is additional toning work for the arms using the chair, a tough push-ups segment (with Kegels inbetween), some pretty strenuous abs work, and finally, pelvic tilts. This section ends with a 2-minute stretch.

I will definitely continue using Section C when I want a full-body strength workout that I can do in a relatively short (40 minutes) period of time. Although I think those new to or returning to exercise will enjoy the gentleness of the first two sections, keep in mind that it might take you quite awhile to work up to the third segment. This is definitely a video which allows for growth and which can provide some benefit to all but the most advanced exercisers.

Instructor Comments:
Kathy offers good basic instruction, although as you might expect, the camera focused more often on Cindy, whose form is good, but not perfect. I found it a little odd that Cindy offerred more form pointers than Kathy did, but her prompts were generally appropriate.

Beth C (aka toaster)