The Aero-Pump/Kick DVD offers two solid workouts, each about 31 minutes long. The first, Aero-Pump, is full body strength workout which uses a body bar, dumbbells, and a step (I got by with my dumbbells and stool only). Instructor Silk Manning jumps right into the workout (the warm-up is separate; see below) with leg work; using the body body, he performs squats in both wide and close leg positions, starting with slow and then moving to faster sets. Other leg exercises include dead lifts and one-legged squats (with one foot on the step behind you); because Silk does several sets of all moves, you will really feel the work. Silk works the shoulders next, beginning in a standing position and then moving to lying on the step (or the floor) for additional exercises such as chest presses and flies. Returning to a standing position, Silk moves on to the back and then begins the arms work. For the biceps, he does 24s, which are 8 reps of lifting from down to halfway up, 8 reps of lifting from halfway to all the way up, and then 8 full bicep curls; these are tough, and he goes through the entire sequence twice. Next comes triceps work, again performed both in a standing and in a lying position. Silk finishes with a few abs crunches plus some back strengthening moves on the floor. There is no cool-down, but the DVD includes a separate yoga cool-down (see below). Overall, this was a very good, full-body toning workout. Furthermore, since Silk moves very quickly, you also get some cardio benefit, although the fast pace also made it more difficult to change the weights.

Aero-Kick is the cardio kickboxing workout. Silk starts right in with the kicks, performing them at a nice, easy pace. After you spend some time practicing kicking drills, he then moves on to the punches before combining the two. Silk introduced fairly simple kick-punch combinations which followed a simple pattern: perform combo on side 1, step forward and repeat combo on side 2, step forward return to side 1 to repeat combo, and then take a few steps back and repeat the entire sequence starting on the other side. In a few places, Silk adds quick double punches, but these are still very controlled, and he gives you the option of keeping it slower. He includes all four punches (jab, cross, hook, upper) plus front, side, and roundhouse kicks. As with Aero-Pump, there is no warm-up or cool-down for this workout. I enjoyed the simple, easy-to-follow but fun moves, and I definitely worked up a good sweat.

As mentioned, neither of the two workouts above includes a warm-up or cool-down; instead, these are on a separate section of the DVD entitled "Warm-Up/Cool-Down," which includes three 15-minute segments. The first segment is taught by Angela Huang which I would describe as sort of a dancey Tai Chi warm-up. She begins with slower moves, picks of the pace for a short period, and then slows things down again. The second segment is a more traditional warm-up led by Silk. He gets you moving with simple exercises such as side steps, marches, and reaches; once you are warm, he adds some moving and static stretches. The final segment is a bit longer (19 minutes) and performed by Sarah Kane. This is intended as the cool-down, and it consists of a flowing series of yoga stretches performed entirely on the floor (either seated or lying). Although this was a nice stretch segment, the pace seemed to slow to be used as a cool-down for either of the above workouts. Furthermore, Sarah teaches via voiceover, and her instructions were often out of sync with the screen (Angela teaches using voiceover as well, but Silk teaches live).

Overall, I really enjoyed the two main workouts on this DVD, Aero-Pump/Kick, and know that I will use them often; they were short but effective. However, I am more likely to substitute my own warm-up/cool-down than to use the ones included here, although Sarah's segment might find its way into my schedule as an occasional yoga routine.

Instructor Comments:
I wasn't sure what to expect from Silk--he looks kind of scary on the covers of his Khi Bae videos! But he was actually quite down to earth. He's definitely very buff, but he wears normal workout clothes which do not accentuate this. He moves quickly, cues well, and comes across as a friendly, encouraging personal trainer.

Beth C (aka toaster)