I have mentioned this on the forum a few times, but I believe this is the best of the original Core Secrets Series. If you only bought one of the CS workouts, this is the one I would recommend.

As the title says, it is a full body workout. However, the lower body work is very light and mostly done without weights. I have found that holding a heavier medicine ball, instead of the stability ball works great for me. It add that bit of resistance and works the core at the same time.

This workout isn’t organized neatly into sections that you can break into smaller sections. Gunnar mixes up the lower/upper/abs work throughout, so you have to commit to doing the entire workout. It is only 42 minutes total, so that makes it easier to do.

The lower body work is mostly lunging or squating, sometimes with different rotations and twists. The upper body work is mostly traditional, but you use the stability ball for an added twist. There are a few unique total body moves - for example, one move where you have your knee on the ball, you bend down with a weight in your hand, and you pull the weight up to the ceiling.

There isn’t a lot of ab work in this workout, but the ending section is very effective. It includes a jackknife move where you jackknife your body so feet touch the ball above your head, and another move where you are leaning back in a V and lift the ball a few inches off the floor with your feet.

One reason I find this workout so much better than the others is that Gunnar spends less time explaining the moves. There are a few times where you are waiting on him to get started, but they are much less frequent than in his other workouts.

They only use one set of weights in the workout, which I think is a flaw. I need at least 3 or 4 different weights to make this workout effective for me.

I believe this workout is being bundled with Give Me 20 at Collage Video. That workout wasn’t much on its own, but combined with this one will make a very nice 1 hour long total body workout.

Instructor Comments:
I really enjoy working out with Gunnar. He talks and jokes around just the right amount for me, and he is encouraging.

Lisa C