Fitness level: Intermediate.
Composition: 5 minute warm-up; 8 minutes arm and upper body toning; 35 minutes floor aerobics; 8 minutes lower body toning; 5 minute cool-down
Equipment: one-to-five-pound dumbbells; can do toning without weights if you're just starting out.
Heart Rate Checks: 2
Music: ranges from funk to traditional aerobic-style to Caribbean to 50's rock
Impact: Mixed, but low-impact modifiers shown for most routines
Choreography: moderate
Settings: gym and studio. The settings and decor change with each section. Whenever the music changes, you'll see the song title, and section (warm-up, toning, aerobics, cool-down) displayed in the lower left hand corner of the screen, like MTV.

New mom Kathy Smith opens with her usual low-key but friendly, informative introduction that belies the energetic routine ahead. I don't know if this is the program that got her looking so great after her pregnancy, but she definitely looks wonderful in this video. Kathy has always advertised this as the follow-up to her Fat Burning Workout video. It's definitely on the next level--steps that are "aerobic" in that video are "warm-ups" here, and the first few times I did this workout I was grateful for the nutritional lecture at the end. Not because I needed it--although I probably did--but because all I could do after completing the cool-down was lie on the floor and pant!

However, I persevered and I'm glad I did. I felt results in a few weeks, and saw them in the second month. At the risk of sounding like a FIRM testimonial, I looked better at age 37 than I had at 21! My arms and upper body were toned for the first time in my life. By the fourth month, I had tons of energy, and I looked great in my jeans. Then came pregnancy, and it wasn't until my daughter was weaned that I could once again exercise this intensely. Now that I've returned to intermediate level, it's good to have this tape in my collection. While I've collected other wonderful workouts due to this website (thanks, Wendy!), this remains one of my favorites.

This was the first time I'd ever used weights in an aerobic routine--the Collage catalog doesn't count the weight work for "Weight Loss Workout" as "aerobic" but it sure kept my heart rate in the target zone--especially the lower body work. Kathy suggests that neophytes do the tape the first time without weights--and one exerciser demonstrates the toning that way. (Another exerciser has wristband weights--the rest use dumbbells) I ignored her and started with 1-pound weights, and had no problems.

Two things I loved about the toning: it was "choreographed" so you keep moving instead of sitting or, Heaven forbid, lying on the floor. (At my 9:00pm exercise time, a prone position is an invitation to slumber!) Arms and upper body work follows the warm-up; the lower body work follows the aerobics. If they'd been lumped together, I'd have just skipped them and done only the aerobics, which to me is always the fun part. Also, being new to using weights like this, I don't think I could have done all 16 minutes consecutively--the division gave me a chance to get my second wind, which usually happens 20 minutes into the aerobics section. That reminds me. . .

I haven't said much about the aerobics yet--which is why I bought the tape in the first place--and I don't want to make this too long. Like lots of folks who read these reviews,I love aerobics the way a dog loves bones. Enjoyable routines and great music are part of what I live for, and this program has both. It's a faster pace and a little trickier than her beginner workouts, but Kathy is a master at teaching through "add-ons" and combinations. She also includes modifiers for people who are intermediate level but don't want to do "power moves." I especially enjoy the Caribbean and 50's segments--the crew has *almost* as much fun as the one in "Donna-Mite Workout."

The only problem I have with this workout is that the toning is wonderful, but doesn't include work for abs and back. Kathy implies in her intro that she geared this video in part toward new mothers. But she left out exercises for their most common trouble spots! Had she included them, this would be the video most likely to go with me to a desert island. But since I now rotate videos rather than stick with just one, I can include that work on a "strength day" instead. Not a major concern in my book. I paid $10.00 for this at Suncoast, and IMHO it's better than some of the $19.95 (and up) tapes out there now.

Grade: A

Melissa Cooper