The Hi/Lo Workout For the Urban Warrior The Hi/Lo Workout For the Urban Warrior

Production: CIA set, gray background with pastel color blocks of blue and yellow. Why they didn't use the red Asian set for this is beyond me. The setting would have been better. Two background people, Fred and Isabella. Fred will modify some of the kicks and Isabella doesn't use any resistance in the core work at the end. The group is in black loose pants that are tight at the ankles and they all have white tanks on. Genette is in pigtails and is very fit with well-toned arms.

Sound: Dynamix instrumental blend, very upbeat and Genette’s enthusiasm to the music enhances it.

Equipment: Short section of core stabilization uses “incrediballs” which look just like Karen V’s small green balls. I'm pretty sure a set of light weight dumbbells would work nicely as a substitute. One background person modifies without using anything.

Intensity: Intermediate to higher depending on the energy you put into the Kickboxing moves and how much you want to put into all those marches(She marches a lot)! You could easily control this workout and make it vary depending on how you feel that day. However, with all the changes in tempo and breaking up of the routine with marches, don't count on this as being a very intense workout if you are advanced in Kickboxing. Not to say you can't have fun and a good workout, but you will probably find it hard to maintain your zone throughout the entire workout.

Workout: The bulk of the workout consists of 5 combos, all of which have about 5 little combo moves to make a whole segment. She has you TIFTT with the small combos but she doesn't put the entire workout together at the end and I think she skipped doing the TIFTT on the very last combo.

Warm up: Marches in place (you'll see these a lot), taps to the side, moving into static lunges to warm the legs, adding arms (warrior arms) that have a karate feel to the movement. Horse stance with some strong arm pulling movements. Front lunges with palm strikes. Picking up pace with bouncing shuffles to the side with single, single, double counts…she sings little phrases to the beat. You do the same with a single, single,double scissors move.

Combo 1: (Vs, Jacks, Plyos) March for a few 8 counts. V step move that you add elbow strikes to. Another V step move X3 with knee up and hop hop that you add genie arms too..and that move is pretty cute. More marches. Jumping power scissors with a double hop coming out of it before you go to other leg. Marches;O). Jacks X3 into plyo jack alternating open plyo arms and closed plyo arms with each plyo. TIFTT, complete with all the marching breaks between each little combo;O)

Combo 2: (kicks) Moving forward with alternating knees up that turn into kicks forward and shuffles back but with some fun karate moves to spice it up. A couple of other fun kick combos using side kicks and side lunges/squats. She is really into some of these and is fun to watch, she sings a lot of the beats with little phrases or sings out the cues. Once again you TIFTT once she has gone through them all once. But still broken up with marches in-between.

Combo 3: (sweep kicks, squats) Like the others this has about 4/5 little combos. These seem to focus on sumo squats and sweep kicks along with one that does a back hook. TIFTT…with marches.

Combo 4: (higher impact cardio)She starts off with what she calls a cliff hanger. You move forward and come down into a side plie squat (sumo squat) come up quickly with a little double side kick on same leg, down again, then up with same double side, run back and come forward to do the other side. Next you do a v step running and then with knees up that moves into a knee slam into side to side moving back. This is pretty fun done to tempo and she really sings during this one! This one also contains some high impact hamstrings with warrior arms(extended arms that cross in front while doing hamstrings). Finish with strong alternating plie squats(sumo). TIFTT..marches too;O)

Combo 5: (legs!) March! Slow front lunges with front punch. Front knee chamber that moves into front kick at tempo. Squat/side kick combo. Round house combo that's fairly simple and I think she skipped the take it from the top on this one, so you only go through that series once.

Cool down: Deep breathing, toe taps and wide open arm movements. Circling the hip thingees. Then you grab what she calls,incrediballs, for some core strength movements that consist of slowly moving one leg while balancing on the other and then some isolation holds with one knee up. Also some deep squatting moves while moving the arms around in big movements. Ending with some lunges and side to side movements.

Quirks: This tape will absolutely catch heat for all the marching. If you don't like chatty instructors that sing out cues or add little“ba bum pa baaas” to the beat, you wont be pleased either. You might also find that all the combos patched together with marching in place chops the workout up too much. Although, it does give you a chance to catch up or get on the right foot if you're a choreography klutz like me.

Instructor: I actually found Genette very refreshing and I liked all her sound effects. She is also fun to watch. She moves great and adds her own flair to moves..even those gosh darn marches. She was very good at giving form pointers as well. I liked her, I hope she does more…preferably with less marching and more consistent intensity;O).

Nancy C