Though I don't post too often, I just wanted to write a quick review for the above video. I thought I would write it since not sure if much of VFers have heard of it and thought some of you "heavy lifters" or for those of you who are not doing Cathe's Slow and Heavy series because it is too time consuming, might be interested.

Although the title says Awesome Hour, the workout is actually only 45 minutes long, but in the 45 minutes, you get a pretty thorough upper body workout. The workout covers chest, back, shoulders, triceps, biceps and abs in this exact order. The instructor John Basedow, is pretty motivating as he is "groaning" with you during the weight lifting and you can see that he's putting his all into lifting as well. Overall theme of the workout is that it is a "gym style" weight lifting routine using basic exercises, but he goes slow (not as slow as Cathe though) so that you can really heavy up on the weights. I used heavier weights than I would normally doing other tapes and today I am really feeling it, especially in my chest area (I used a total of 45 lbs for the decline bench press, which I normally don't). I think if I stick to this tape for 6 weeks, I will see noticable improvements. The music is hard to describe, it is not music from dynamix, but it is not elevator music either. It is audible but you don't really notice it too much while you are working out. Also if you like, once you know the routine and since the exercises are basic, you can always put in your own favorite music on the stereo and just work along with him. Here's the breakdown:

CHEST--- Flat Bench Press--3 sets
Incline Dumbbell flys-- 2 sets
BACK------Bent over rows with barbell--3 sets
Single arm rows--1 set
SHOULDERS--Dumbbell press --3 sets
Lateral raises --2 sets
TRICEPS---French press --2 sets
Tricep extensions -- 2 sets
BICEPS----Barbell curls --2 sets
Alternating dumbbell curls -- 2 sets
Concentration curls -- 1 set
ABS-------Ab crunches---2 sets of 50, alternating fast & slow moves
Reverse crunches---2 sets of 30
Oblique crunches --- 1 set of 30

Overall, I really like this tape because the pace is nice & slow and I feel I'm getting a really effective workout for my upper body. It is expensive though with a price tag of $29.95 (www.fitnessmadesimple.com), but I feel it's worth it because it does motivate me and although you can do the workout without the tape, following along with John makes the workout "almost fun"! Doing this workout is like having your own personal trainer right there along your side. He also gives a lot of form pointers so that you make sure you are using correct form to really emphasize the particular muscle you are working.

Instructor Comments:
Nice body, easy on the eyes.

Linda P.