Super Chizel It! was one of my favorite purchases for 2004. Mr. Harris releases one workout a year. His workouts seem to steadily improve with each passing year, too. This is his latest and, in my opinion, best workout. It's lower advanced level.

Who might enjoy this 54-minute 2004 release, or any work by Charles Harris?

1) Most intermediate-to-advanced exercisers who prefer simple athletic movements (e.g., Gilad, Tae Bo, the Firm, FitPrime, Gin Miller, Tom Holland); and

2) Most men would probably appreciate Charles Harris' easy-to-follow, meat-and-potatoes workouts. Although his background exercisers are uniformly women, I consider Charles Harris' workouts to have a strong masculine appeal.

Much of this workout involves Charles Harris doing various upper body toning segments while stepping on and off the step to repetitious-but-fun music. Oh! and ab work! Despite the girl background exercisers, Charles Harris is definitely a man's fitness instructor. He focuses almost exclusively on male trouble spots (upper body and abs) rather than female trouble spots (lower body). That doesn't bother me. It should appeal to men, though.

All of Charles Harris' workouts remind me of a much more fun version of Gilad's Step-and-Tone workout. Super Chizel It! is no exception. The set is rather nondescript (but fine). The music is sort of like a 2000 "hip" version of Gilad's music -- that is, repetitious but catchy and fun. The workout itself does not require much choreography skill and is usually easy on the feet or knees, but it will definitely have you soaked by the end. It's great for those days you want to go on automatic pilot but get a diverse and challenging workout in. It has both upper-body toning benefits while giving cardiovascular benefits.

Despite its simple movements, I'm never bored with Super Chizel It. Mr. Harris' work is similar to the Firm and Billy Blanks in that he moves from one section to another fairly quickly. Perfect for those who enjoy simple bootcamp-style or aerobic weight training workouts.

I am glad I purchased this. There are certain instructors with whom I know I'll be happy with most purchases - Tae Bo, Firm, FitPrime, Tom Holland. Charles Harris is one of those. I look forward to his future releases. (My only wish is that he diversify his movements a bit with more kickboxing and bootcamp-style movements.)

Instructor Comments:
I think of Charles Harris as being a Billy Blanks-meets-Gilad instructor. Like Billy and Gilad, Charles Harris is motivating, and he favors simple, athletic movements. Although Charles shouts out cues, his personality is much more understated compared to Billy or Gilad. His sets aren't as beautiful as Gilad's beach sets and his music is not as cool as Tae Bo, but that doesn't bother me.

Charles Harris is a particularly appealing instructor for men -- especially when you consider how woefully lacking the fitness market is in male-oriented workouts.

Michelle Easton