This tape was a disappointment. I was coming back to weight training after a long break, and I thought this might be a good tape to ease back in with. The box promised two sets of 12 reps, which seemed both little enough to be do-able, and intense enough to be worthwhile. At 45 minutes for a total-body workout, I thought I would be fine.

Instead, I found this tape to be all talk, no action. Literally. With 12 exercises in 45 minutes, I was thinking it would average 4 minutes per exercise, or two minutes per set. Nope. Instead, Tracy York speeds up the reps enough to dispense with the work in half the time, and spends the remainder lecturing. She begins each exercise with a longish explanation of how the move works, and how to position yourself. She speeds through the first set, leads a brief stretch, speeds through the second set, then pauses to explain the next move. I tried doing jumping jacks in between, but I still found myself getting impatient. I understand the need to position oneself properly for an exercise, especially in a beginner-oriented tape, but the philosophical musings and muscle physiology stuff dragged on, and would certainly be boring after the first viewing. I felt she might have been better talking DURING the exercise, rather than pausing the workout and leaving us sitting there with nothing to do.

I also felt that the exercises were a little unbalanced. She gives three lower body moves, but only one ab move. Shoulders get three exercises, but triceps only get one. Biceps get two, if you count pushups. I was not sweating by the end, possibly because of the frequent breaks, and her lifting speed was fast enough that I was not able to take advantage of the long breaks by going heavy. Overall, I felt that the pace of this tape just was not right for me. Collage ranked it as a favourite, which made me think that perhaps it might be suitable for someone starting back, or wanting a light day routine, but I think this tape would really only be suitable for someone who has never worked out before. And I think even they would be bored with the patter after the first few times.

Joanna