I've only done this workout once. I did not preview, just jumped right in. I consider myself a high intermediate/low advanced exerciser.

The DVD: chaptered into warm-up and chest, arms, shoulders, legs, butt and back circuits. Also separate "bonus tips" section about stretching and accupressure.

The WORKOUT: Full workout starts with an intro (skippable) then a 5-minute warm-up with standard step-touches, arm reaches, calf pumps, brief stretch. Ironically, this section had the best music, sort of funky with some low vocals. I thought that meant the muscic would be good throughout; I was wrong. The rest of the music was forgettable, at best (IMO). I really remember nothing about the rest of it.

Then, six segments as above. It wasn't until the first segment that I realized where the 3-2-1 came from. While it wasn't a party in a box, it was sort of fun. Each circuit seems to have a cardio theme: old-school hi-lo, sports drills, dance, kickboxing, yoga is how I would describe them. The "dance" section (what I call it), besides being the easilest (bar the yoga segment), was also the least fun. The bootcamp part was probably the most challenging (jogging, jacks, etc). There was a fun move in the sports drills section you "do a little defense" where you are in a sort of shallow plie/squat and you do "fast feet" with a little extra wiggle than usual. Chalene Johnson would have been proud. My HRM was on the fritz during the workout so I can't tell you how long I was in my target heart zone or calorie burn and I suck at perceived exertion. It seemed like the lightest workout I had all week but I did get my sweat on. I would rate it an intermediate level, like Collage, easily modified down but with limited ability to be modified up (I did all the impact moves). What keeps it from easily being modified up is the length of time doing each segment, IMO. Some of the cardio sections were more challenging than others but nowhere near Cathe, of course. And, the weight sections suffer from the lack of repititions because of time constraints. While you can go heavier (I used 5's and 8's....too little for me) it doesn't quite move slow enough for you to go REALLY heavy.

There is no time wasted and I did think the exercises were very effective ones, though, except for what I dubbed "the sprinkler" where, while sitting on the floor, you have your arms out like you're hugging a tree and kind of turn your torso by "ticking" 4 times to one side, then the other....nevermind, hard to explain. It was just wierd and I've never seen it before. There are generally 8-12 reps per exercise from what I recall.
OVERALL: It certainly doesn't suck. Total time: 48 minutes. Also should mention there is a (inadequate) 3 minute cooldown. I liked it and the w/o would be good for someone who wants a beginner/interm circuit workout with uncomplicated floor aerobics. My main problem is that the DVD lacks versatility. It is not chaptered into all-cardio or all-weights/ abs for about a 20 minute workout each, and I can't see myself doing any circuit alone as- is. Maybe you can do all the upper or lower at the same time but I can't think of a reason why I would do this. There is no way to program the DVD to do that, though, like on the Quick-fix DVDs. I would really do all or nothing. This DVD, therefore, doesn't really fill a whole in my already extensive collection. On the other hand, if you are a new vidiot and don't have a lot of workouts, or you would like more workouts of this intensity, or you just take a stronger liking to the workout and/or the instructor, I think it would be a good one to add to your collection.

Instructor Comments:
I like Chris Freytag. She reminds me of Petra Kolber a little buzzed on caffeine. I'm not completly sure why, but, there you have it. Her cuing could be better but the choreo is not difficult. She consistently leads right, so I wouldn't expect any difficulties the second time around. There are 2 women in the background, one showing beginner modifications, the other sometimes shows more advanced options. They both are unobtrusive.

toa2002