Super Chizel-It

Charles Harris
Year Released: 2003

Categories: Circuit Training (cardio and weights)


I wanted to try this video because it was billed as “Firm-style” weight training. What perhaps should have occurred to me is that the Firm has earned this eponymous category by being the best of its kind—carefully planned, balanced, and complete. Instead of the Firm’s smooth progression of exercises deliberately selected to work specific muscles, Super Chizel-It (SCI) seemed to consist of a hodgepodge of compound strength exercises that were easy to throw together. This meant bicep curls in nearly every weight segment (maybe another reviewer will be curious enough to actually count the total number of reps!), lots of military presses, and all kinds of delt lifts/raises peppered throughout the workout, since they pair easily with stepping up and down. But even in Firm workouts, there’s much more variety in the lower-body movements during their four-limbed aerobics. The bicep curls also were the exact same exercise every single time here, without even a hammer curl, a supinated curl, or a curl using different timing.

Probably my main complaint is that SCI overworked exactly those muscle groups that I don’t like to work that much: biceps, deltoids, and quadriceps. There was very little opportunity to work the triceps, back, and hamstrings (except for some much-appreciated one-legged deadlifts), and essentially no work for the chest, never mind the leg adductors and abductors—all my “favorite” or “most important” areas to strengthen. However, the best part of SCI was the 8-minute ab work, with a very strong emphasis on the obliques and lower abs, which I need more than the upper abs. In this regard SCI excels.

The tempo of the exercises (~140 bpm) was a little too fast for me to concentrate on using good form, so I used my own pace to avoid injury. I was also mildly irritated that the music was loud and had a strong beat, but the exercisers weren’t well synchronized with it. Nor does Charles move in sync to his own cues (“Up! Up! Up!”) and constant counting. The set-up of each exercise was a bit too slow, in contrast, with Charles explaining and demonstrating what to do while you sit/stand and wait. This kept my heart rate low rather than providing a helpful rest period. The moves are so easy to follow (such as side steps, step-ups, and knee lifts) that I don’t think they warrant this much explanation. There is a small quantity of kickboxing-influenced cardio, which I always enjoy, but the exercisers are somewhat lackluster in throwing their kicks and punches, and their form isn’t great.

Although Charles demonstrates a low-impact variation for one exercise (jumping in and out of a plank position), there are plenty of unmodified high-impact moves elsewhere in the workout. In the same segment in which he describes the low-impact variation, there are 30 seconds of scissor jacks, with no discussion of modifications. There is also a segment near the end that contains 2 minutes of jump-roping, jogging, and jumping jacks.

Some pluses of this being a non-Firm workout are that there was comparatively little equipment-changing, and there are no forward lunges or tall-box presses. Charles also speaks extemporaneously rather than from a script, but this makes more of a difference for instructors who offer lots of helpful form pointers and motivating encouragement. I much preferred the silly cartwheels and tuck jumps that concluded the Firm Classics over the extremely cheesy “inspirational” speech Charles gives at the end, which I have to cut short so I don’t hear it while putting my equipment away.

Overall, I would rate this as an intermediate-level workout, rather than advanced. I think it would be best for people who like very straightforward and simple choreography; who enjoy working the biceps, delts, and quads (but who aren’t expecting to build lots of bulk here, since the reps are too fast to use heavy weights); who are looking for four-limbed aerobics other than the Firm, but aren’t expecting the Firm’s production standards; or who want an oblique-focused ab workout. I don’t think it’s a standout along any of those dimensions except for the last category. In my case, I was glad to have traded it so quickly; what with the muscle imbalances, the poor flow, the inability to keep time, the inconsistencies about impact, and the painfully hackneyed closing speech, this workout had too many dealbreakers for me to tolerate it.

Instructor Comments:

KickDancer

09/10/2004