I've been doing yoga since 1997 and have Bryan's first three Power Yoga tapes, which I love. Despite mediocre reviews on the forum (none of which have been posted here yet, grumble, grumble,) I decided I had to give the new 4 pack a shot. Bryan's newest tapes seem packaged to emulate the initial Tae Bo set--an introductory tape, a beginner tape, and more advanced tape, and a shorter tape focused on ab work. Each tape starts with a montage of testimonial clips. I have already submitted a combination review of the introductory and beginner tapes. In this review I will cover the advanced tape.

The advanced tape, Intensive Body Sculpting, exhibits many of the same qualities as the introductory and beginner tapes: set, music, variety of participants, Bryans' Dr. Seussisms ("Inhale. Roll into cobra, kinda easy and free. Exhale. Take your butt cheeks high as can be.") and constant patter.

I did not expect to like this tape as much as I did.

The tape starts out with a *lot* of talking while participants stand in mountain pose. The workout portion of the video starts 1:45 into the tape, but you don't do anything but stand in mountain pose until 7:00 (which is where I will begin the workout when I do it in the future. Yes, I said "when".)

At this point you move through sun salutations A and B two times each. What I found interesting were the poses he squeezes in between the two variations. At the end of the second sun salutation A, he has you, in a forward bend, lift one leg to the sky (or as high as you can) and then repeat on the opposite side. He then has you squat down, and then lower your knees and sit in hero's pose with your toes curled under you. Then he has you slide your hands back and lean back to open your chest and stretch the front of your body. Then you come back into a squat (and here Bryan deliberately falls down, just to show that it's ok) stand back into forward bend, and then move into sun salutation B. I really enjoyed this variation. I am coming to the conclusion that as much as I admire the purity of true Ashtanga, I really enjoy the variety and variations in power yoga.

After the sun salutation Bs, Bryan moves you through a series of poses all on one side, and then you do the whole thing on the other side. The series included side arm balance; static table work (not table pose, but table *work* like in Tae Bo or Firm. You start on your hands and knees and raise opposite arm and leg. Then you flex them and open them out to the sides. This was pretty powerful glute work. You also reach back with the opposite hand and catch the opposite ankle in sort of a criss-cross one legged bow pose); sit back *between* your heels (another hero variation); down dog with one leg raised up behind; warrior 1; warrior 2; crescent stretch; side angle pose; triangle; revolved triangle; wide legged standing forward bend (prasarita padottanasana) variations; revolved side angle pose with arms bound behind your back;and a bunch of lunge variations to open the hips.

Following this series Bryan has you do the balance pose from his Power Yoga Volume One tape that some people call half-moon (right hand in front of right foot, left leg raised, left hand to the sky, stack left hip on right hip and turn to look at the ceiling. Reverse), balancing airplane and forward bend with one foot to the sky. At this point my hips and thighs were completely cooked and I had to keep coming out of it. You follow this with a vinyasa, cobra held for a few breaths, bow pose, cobbler's pose, boat pose, table pose, seated forward bend, lying spinal twist, and then, finally, resting pose. Credits roll at 56:55 in the tape.

Afterward I felt pleasantly wrung out and sure that my hips and thighs will be talking to me about this tomorrow.

Final Judgment: A good workout with some interesting variations. No, in this tape he is not the My. Yummypants that I know and love (I hate the haircut so much I can't even tell you), but I like the workout enough that I can get past that.

Renee Drellishak