I’m reviewing this workout after previewing it once and doing it twice in the several months that I’ve had it.

General workout breakdown: Other reviewers have already broken this down so well I’ll skip this. I will say that this has the glute raises I found so effective in Cathe’s Muscle Endurance.

Level: I’d recommend this to solid intermediates through low advanced exercisers. I think that this could work very well for mid-to high intermediates in a rotation, and low to mid advanced exercisers could use it in a recovery week. The cover says it’s for all fitness levels, but due to some moves which require careful attention to form (e.g. deadlifts) and Janis’ assumption that you’re familiar with basic weight training techniques (read: some form instruction but not copious amounts of it), I would not recommend this to beginners. I consider myself a solid intermediate in weights. I’ve lifted on and off over the last decade but only introduced heavy lifting into my home workouts just over a year ago. I found this workout appropriately challenging with weights suitable for me.

Class: Five women join Janis. You’ll recognize Evie if you have any of Janis’ other workouts. As this is a Janis workout, I must issue a cleavage alert.

Music / Set / Other Production Notes: The music is mostly repetitive beat-heavy instrumental with little to no vocals. This is the CIA set from 2001: the red walls decorated with Native American-inspired artifacts and a window looking onto what appear to be dead branches. (I recognize it from Christi Taylor’s Still Jumpin’.) The picture and sound are fine.

Equipment: Janis recommends adjustable 10 lb. ankle weights (I’d recommend some you could quickly put on and take off), a pair of 1-8 lb. dumbbells, floor mat, and a towel. She has one exerciser use a weighted belt, although I’m not sure this worked quite as well for all exercises as intended. I used no ankle weights (which I was glad I skipped when it came time to jump around), pairs of 3-5 lb. dumbbells, a mat, and sneakers.

Comments: You’ll need some space for this. You should be able to take a couple of steps to each side, lunge to the back, and extend your leg out in front of you as well as lie on the floor and be able to move your limbs around freely.

DVD Notes: This was recently transferred to DVD, which has a new cover showing Janis from the front. The chapters are Introduction, Warm-up, Standing Sculpt, Floor Tone, and Stretch.

Conclusion: This isn’t a bad workout, but I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, besides give it to someone who’d have a better idea of how to fit it in her fitness program. I prefer traditional weight training (e.g. Cathe), and I spent so much on those SmartBells I should be using those as my functional fitness / recovery week workouts (or else use some of my fusion and longer yoga workouts). I already have a lot of workouts that work the lower body, so I’m not sure why I got it other than the facts Janis leads it and I got such a great deal at DDD. Besides, I just can’t seem to fall in love with floorwork (except for Pilates and yoga), although I liked this floorwork the best out of all I’ve tried.

Instructor Comments:
Janis mirror cues almost right on the move, so it can be a little tricky to pick up her quick move changes at first. She comes off as young here (with some “likes” and other verbal interjections), but it’s definitely tolerable. Janis has a great positive attitude but is still relatively low key (more of a Tamilee Webb or Minna Lessig, although Janis is more comfortable in front of the camera than Minna, rather than a Denise Austin or Kathy Smith).

KathAL79