The video is set in a renovated theatre. The set is very dark and the light is unflattering to Charlene and her two background exercisers. The two background exercisers are Renee, Charlene's long time workout pal, and Pete, a newcomer. The background music is quiet an unobtrusive. Lots of different props are used throughout the workout. Charlene talks a lot throughout the whole workout and there were several times when I found myself fast forwarding through the talking segments to get to the exercises. As usual Charlene is a veritable encyclopedia of fitness information, but it does break up the continuity of the workout. If you are interested in the information presented, you may want to watch the video sometime when you are not trying to work out. In most of the segments she shows the exercises in order of increasing difficulty.

The intro shows the two background exercisers warming up (one is riding a stationary bike and one is jumping rope) while Charlene talks for 5 minutes. Then she tells you to pause the tape and warm up for 5 minutes and gives suggestions for what you might do as a warm up. If you want to listen to Charlene's intro you could warm up while she talks. If not you could just do your own warm up and then start the tape after the intro. The tape is 90 minutes long and broken up into 5 segments of varying length. I have described the individual segments in detail below. I don't think there are very many people who would want to do the entire tape through every time. But the most of the segments are short (5-10 minutes) would be good for adding on to another workout. Each segment is preceded by a title screen which states which muscle group will be worked and what conditions it will prevent so it would be easy to find a specific segment if you were fast forwarding.

The first segment works the deep abdominal muscles (transverse abdominus) and is intended to prevent sway back and protruding belly. It is 28 minutes long. Charlene talks for a full minute before she starts doing any exercises. She begins with spine range of motion stretches (like cat stretches) and talk about how to find neutral spine with your transverse abdominus contracted. Next she does shoulder & back stretches using a roller (she uses a rolling pin, while Renee uses a foam roll and Pete uses a dumbbell). Throughout the workout she show various workout gear and household items that you can use to substitute for the props. Then she leads you through several exercises increasing in difficulty while lying on your back. She starts with simple abdominal contractions and then moves to stabilization exercises, adding difficulty with each set. After that she does bridges on the floor. For the second set one exerciser stays with the floor bridges and the other move to bridges on balance balls. Next she holds a prone plank position on the elbows for a full minute while she explains the form & benefits. Then she lets you rest for a moment before holding the plank for another 30 seconds. The third set of planks she does with her elbows on the ball.

The second segment works the mid-back muscles (rhomboids and lower trapezius) and is intended to prevent rounded shoulder posture. It is 10 minutes long. She starts with shoulder retraction using resistance tubing while sitting on the ball. Pete does the exercise with dumbbells leaning over a barstool. Then she shows an anatomical model of a shoulder and talks about problems that can happen with the shoulder joint. The next exercise is tricep pushups on the wall followed by the same exercise on the floor. Then she does shoulder and chest stretches lying on either a bench or a roller or phone books.

The third segment works the neck muscles (short neck flexors) and is intended to prevent forward head posture. It is the shortest segment at 5 minutes. She does neck flexion using a hand against the forehead for resistance followed by neck stretches and lifts lying on the floor.

The fourth segment works the posterior hip muscles (gluteal muscles and hamstrings) and is intended to prevent low back, hip, knee and sciatic nerve problems. It is 10 minutes long. This segment and the following one are more like traditional muscle work then the rest. She starts with side-lying hip lifts (she calls them clams). One exerciser uses ankle weights. Then she does bridge work on the floor followed by bridgework on the balance ball (which is quite challenging). Pete uses the option of doing standing hamstring curls with ankle weights. She ends the segment with a very good stretch.

The fifth and last segment is for hip mobility and is 12 minutes long. She starts with stretching in a full squatting position. Then she does static lunges. As usual there are different options presented (without weights, with dumbbells, holding onto two chairs). She finishes up with range of motion exercises and stretches.

Loretta Sandoval