T-Tapp System

Teresa Tapp

Categories: Total Body Workouts


All of Teresa's videos are done in what I assume to be her family room. All take up very little space, just enough to do side to side lunges, and T-Tapp is different than ANYTHING I have tried before but there are somethings people will recognize such as lunges, squats, etc. T-Tapp is for toning and Teresa encourages you to do the Primary Stretch (about a 3-5 minute sequence) daily before doing any physical activity.

It is really hard to explain the moves in detail because there are a lot of different moves with few reps, 8-12 at most (12 on the advanced tape). All tapes (except Hit the Floor which I will review later) start with the primary stretch and most go into a plie sequence. The beginner, intermediate, and advanced tapes are basically total body toning workouts utilizing isometrics. You do things such as lunges, squats, standing spinal torque twists, lots of stretching in between moves, a workout for your inner thighs which looks like someone speed ice skating (in fact one of them is called "speed skater"), an arm sequence which burns my arms out each time with no weights, and tons of other moves.

The key to T-Tapp from what I got is completely different than weight training, you DO lock your joints during some moves and the emphasis is keeping all muscles tense during the workout. Another key factor is KTL (knee to little toe) simply put that means stand with feet hip width apart, do a pelvic tilt using your lower abs to raise your pelvis, and push your knees out towards your little toe. The tendency for most people is to turn the knees inward toward the big toe. If you do this in front of a mirror you should notice a difference in your saddlebag area (if you have those).

The Mini-Max workouts are four tapes, a middle body, upper body, lower body floor tape, and lower body standing only tape. The tapes range from 17-29 minutes and are for intermediate to advanced only. There are new moves not seen in the original and their small amount of time allows you to add them onto a cardio workout and/or strength.

Since adding the arm routine in addition to Tae Bo and strength training for my upper body twice a week I have seen more cuts in my arms and I have even nicer shoulders now than I did last year when I started my Pure Strength rotation. I think that T-Tapp is perfect for people who want to do resistance training in a small space without weights or for people who do like weights (like me) to work the little intrinsic muscles that may not get as much attention during traditional weight training. Your heart rate may become elevated for a secondary aerobic affect, but like I said Teresa does encourage an aerobic activity such as walking to supplement fat loss. I do not have her cellulite system and cannot comment on that.

Instructor Comments:
Teresa is very inspirational to look at, I think she has a fantastic physique. In the original tapes (the two instructional, beginner, intermediate and advanced) there are a lot of form pointers and water breaks in the first four; in the Mini-Max workouts (which are advanced) there is no instructions on moves that were done in the first four videos; however, new moves such as Eye of the Tiger and Awesome Legs are explained in more detail. There is no music during the workouts, just Teresa talking.

Stephanie Bridges

03/26/2000