Another terrific tape in the Body Sculpting Basics series. I hate working my legs, but this tape makes it a little less hideous for me. Part of the reason is that the tape isn't too hideously long. Part of it is that the squats and lunges (the two exercises that I hate the most, even though I know that they're two of the best for legs) come early in the workout, so that everything else seems downright pleasant.

The tape is primarily composed of solid legwork, with one back exercise and some ab work thrown in at the end. Except for the ab work (three sets of 25 crunches), you'll do two sets of fifteen reps for each exercise. Cory starts us right off with squats (ugh), then goes on to leg extensions, lunges (double ugh), and leg curls. She and her team do three different versions of each exercise, so you can pick the one you want, or the one that you can do at home or at the gym. The next exercise gives you the choice of a hack squat, sissy squat, or leg press, depending on your equipment. These are followed by step-ups, calf raises, and one back exercise, the good morning. Cory explains the inclusion of the good morning by pointing out that the lower back is often involved in leg work, so working the lower back at this time makes sense. As in the other tapes in the series, Cory has you stretch after each set, and I love the stretches after the good morning.

I'm really impressed with the results that I've gotten from this tape, but I think that a good deal of the reason for those results is that the tape is short enough that I actually do it when it comes up in my rotation. When I lifted without a video, I would often come up with a reason to skip my legs (I used one routine that had all the leg exercises at the end, and I would often just skip the legs with the excuse that I'd worked them well with step aerobics). Hips Thighs Calves is short enough that I finish it every time. Of course, I've never felt the slightest desire to pause the tape to add a third set!

Cory has worked out a rotation (included with the video) that has an advanced exerciser lifting five times per week. The fact that I'm lifting five days per week instead of three or four is certainly one reason that I've been getting good results. The videos in this series are all short enough that, even if you have to change plates on dumbbells or the notches on your Soloflex, you'll finish in 45 minutes. The strength training itself is about half an hour long.

Cory also recommends that you log your workouts, and a "workout card" appears on the screen between exercises.

The only negative about this tape is that, as others have pointed out, there's no warmup, but I usually use another video for that. Cory does have a warmup period at the beginning of the tape, and she uses that to give some weightlifting basics, but you really don't need to hear that more than once.

This tape is one of the most economical in terms of time and money (it's a comparative cheapie-I priced Joyce Vedral's tapes and Cathe Friedrich's tapes before choosing these). But it gives some of the greatest returns on your investment.

Instructor Comments:
I like Cory, and I certainly find the sight of her legs in this video to be quite inspiring. I think that what I like best is that she wants us to think lifting is fun as well as good for us. She is also a stickler for form.

Mollie F.