Burn It Up is one of six videos included in the "Slim In Six" package that is available through infomercials or you can go to beachbody.com for more information. As some of you may know, I've got a resistance tubing/pilates routine going on right now and since these videos use tubing for resistance, they caught my eye and my credit card.

However, there is so much more going on in these videos besides the use of the resistance tube. You get everything from kickboxing, to resistance training, to floorwork, and yoga. This truly is a well rounded workout.

The so called "science" surrounding the Slim In Six system is that you use these six videos for six weeks to help you to slim down. The Burn It Up video is recommended after using the program's other two videos for three weeks. Since I'm an advanced exerciser, I used this one after the second week and totally skipped the begginer video "Start It Up."

Burn It Up is about 60 minutes long. You start off with a five minute warm up, move on to a combination of cardio and lower body exercises which consists of easy to follow kickboxing moves that are pretty intense but not Billy Blanks intense, squats, lunges, dips, plie squats, standing side crunches, standing oblique crunches, jumping jacks, running in place and marching in place. The lower body resistance moves like the squats are not performed with any weights or resistance tubes.

Then it is on to upper body training using the tubing. You do two sets of double arm lat rows, two sets of overhead shoulder presses, two sets of bicep curls, and two sets of overhead tricep extentions. My arms were on fire by the time I was through. Next you move to the floor where the real fun begins. There is some killer leg work consisting of donkey kicks, hamstring curls, and butt blaster work (bending your knee, flexing your foot and raising your leg up and down). At this point I could see why you did not need to use any tubing or weights for the standing lower body work, they wanted to make sure you had enough energy left for the floor work where your legs will turn into jelly! Oh yeah, I can't forget the push ups that Debbie threw in between working the legs. I would have preferred more chest work but two sets of push ups was enough for me with this workout.

After blasting the legs, a series of pretty tough ab crunches come next and you finish with a very nice, calming six minute yoga stretch.

According to the instructor, by doing such low resistance everyday for six weeks will give you a long lean look and not bulk up the muscle since you are not giving the muscle 48 hrs. to rest. I have heard of other similar programs doing this like Laura Drayton's Lower Body System, and even the Firm was advocating alternating between heavy and light weight workouts for a while. So I'm going to try this and see what kind of results I get.

I would definately rank Burn It Up as an intermediate to advanced video. The moves are very athletic and easy to follow but they are tough. I was dripping with sweat at the end of this workout. The production quality is good but not great. The set is a little too dark for me. There is a clock at the bottom of the screen counting down the minutes until the end of the video and advice and tips are occasionally flashed at the bottom of the screen (i.e. follow Debbie's breathing, push off with your heels when doing lunges and squats, etc). At first I though that little clock and the tips would bother me but now I appreciate it. I think beginners and anyone new to resitance training will also enjoy the tips and information featured at the bottom of the screen.

I can't judge the whole program yet (I'll know after six weeks) but the video is a winner. Excellent workout!

Instructor Comments:
Has a pleasant personality but her cueing could be better. Especially since there is not any difficult choreography in this workout.

Tiffanee Saunders