Total Body Workout II

Tom Holland
Year Released: 2004

Categories: Total Body Workouts


Summary: This is a great circuit workout that fills a very unusual niche. But – warning -- if you’re not looking to fill that particular niche, you won’t like it at all.

Tom Holland’s Total Body Workout II is only 24-minutes long, but manages to skim every major muscle group by moving at lightning speed following a circuit format. I used 5- and 8-pound dumbbells throughout and could not have gone any heavier due to the speed of the reps and the way many of the exercises combine upper and lower body resistance training simultaneously. The workout keeps your heart rate and breathing up and it hits all your muscle groups, but it doesn’t hit them hard. (I’ve been lifting for years, but I’m wimpy so still consider myself an intermediate-level lifter.)

Each circuit begins with 30 seconds of pick-your-own-vigorous-cardio such as jumping jacks or running in place. The cardio is followed by one or two combination upper/lower body exercises (lunges with front raises, lunges with overhead presses, squats with side raises and so forth), then various upper body exercises, then ab work, next plank variations and finally push-ups. After the push-ups, get up and start over again with the 30-second cardio. Three rounds of this and you’re done. All the reps are fast, which requires a lot of focus and balance when you’re doing lunges with overhead presses or side raises. There’s no cool down or stretch and you may want to add a warm-up. I would not recommend the workout for beginning lifters because I think the rep pace is too fast.

TBW II is downright pretty. I loved the set and the production values. Tom’s brother Joe Holland provides the original vocal and acoustic soundtrack. The music works well with the exercises and makes the DVD truly exceptional. The set is minimalist, very white background with a bright blue mat, chrome weights – and Tom.

Tom is as blue-eyed and ripped as ever. Somehow he manages to make you feel as if he’s in your home giving a one-on-one personal training session. (Must pause to imagine that. J) Tom definitely breaks a sweat in TBW II, so if that troubles you, prepare to be troubled anew. He sweats and he expects you to sweat too.

I’m very happy with this workout, but it won’t be everyone’s cup of tom. If you dislike combining upper- and lower-body training, you will not like this workout. If you’re looking for slow, measured reps, look elsewhere. If you don’t understand why people like express workouts, forget about it. If you’re hoping to build muscle, nope, not here. However it does accomplish quite a bit and it matches my current strength goals very nicely: I want to prevent injury while continuing to do lots of running and cycling, encourage muscular balance and endurance, lose weight and build core strength. I think TBW II delivers that in a 24-minute package with a beautiful set, a personable, appealing instructor and a unique soundtrack.

Instructor Comments:

Daphne M

03/04/2005