Well, I finally got around to doing the new Tae Bo Advanced last night and let me just tell you, this tape ROCKS. Mandy Lee is not kidding when she says this tape gives you a great rush. Everyone is probably right that there are a few less kicks in this one than in the original tape, but there is some KILLER standing leg work (including a soon-to-be-infamous plie squat where you just hold and then go lower and lower and lower-- OWWWW!) and some floor work as well. I love the camera movement in this tape . . . Billy really gets up close to it and puts his hands up so you can punch toward them, and you really feel like he's motivating you along with everyone else. He talks directly to the camera as well as to the background exercisers.

Almost all of your old favorite participants are there, and let me just tell you, if you thought they were buff on the original, you should see them now. Shellie, Billy's daughter, had great abs before but now the woman is nothing but lean muscle with such serious definition in her abs, legs and arms it is almost unreal, but get this: no bulk!!!! I know people say Cathe's abs are almost concave they're so tight-- well, guess what? Shellie's actually ARE concave (check out the side view on the sidekick-and-step-back segment. WOO, that girl is buff). If Tae Bo can give me that, I am even more hooked on it than I was before! Also of note-- remember the beautiful short haired black woman in the beige outfit in the initial advanced tape who also had great abs then but some trouble finishing the floor work (who didn't? :0) )? Well, she looks like she's lost about 12 inches off her hips since then, and she is one lean, mean kickboxing machine. Plus, there is an Angela Bassett look-alike (took me about three shots of her to decide it wasn't actually Angela Bassett! :0)), a number of participants from the original tape who are even leaner than before, and the Michael Jordan look-alike is also back. Everyone who's seen the infomercial will also recognize a number of the students who gave comments who are now background exercisers.

As for the actual tape itself, it has a nice warmup (still fast, I was sweating before the stretches), and then some good stretches. There are a number of new kicking combos, as well as some new punches which are really tough for the shoulders and back (yes, I'm talking about those new, high uppercut punches that are KILLER on the delts). The standing leg work is really tough, and good, and is followed by brief floor work which is mostly a condensed version of the floor work in the original advanced tape. Let me just tell you, my bum is SORE today like it hasn't been in quite a while, as are my hamstrings from all those static plie squats. Finally there's some abs and a nice cooldown/stretch. The whole tape is 60 minutes long, and you know when you're half way through because Billy stops the music and talks right to the camera and gives you a little pep talk which is essentially "anybody can do the first thirty minutes of a workout. Now's when you have to push yourself." He is so great with the timing-- that moment got me through the rest of the tape.

My only complaints: I second whoever it was who observed that the abs section is too short. It occurred to me, though, that this would be a perfect tape to do the day after Bodymax or MIS where you've already worked your abs pretty hard the day before. I also had one slightly upsetting objection to the tape, which was actually something Mandy mentioned: I felt that Billy going to the guy in the wheelchair was insulting to him, especially all the comments during the floorwork about how "he wishes he had legs so he could be doing what you're doing right now." Billy does this twice in the tape, and the first time is more of a "look at all the motivation people in this room have, including this guy over here." The second time, though, felt a little smarmy and exploitative to me. I mean, who knows whether the guy in the wheelchair wishes he could do floorwork or not, and at the very least, do you really want to slam home the fact that he doesn't have working legs on a tape that's going to be distributed to millions worldwide? Depite all of the clear accomplishments of this guy, I really thought Billy's last little bit was humiliating to the guy and unnecessary. It would have been better to include him as a part of the many many people in that room who clearly work SO

HARD for the bodies they now have, however differently abled those bodies might be. On the other hand, I suppose Billy does deserve kudos for even including a differently abled person in his exercise video-- NOT something you see ever in mass market videos. Somehow, I can't imagine someone like the FIRM, for instance, would ever even consider putting a wheelchair user in one of their videos.

All in all, I give this tape an A. It doesn't get an A+ only because I was a bit irritated by the above, but in every other respect this tape is AWESOME. It's been a while since I've been really excited about a new tape, and this one did it. WOO. Straight into the regular rotation for me!

Instructor Comments:
Billy is his usual, effusive self. He (thankfully) goes easier on the religious stuff than in the first set of tapes (although his daughter Shellie does appear to actually PRAY at one point during the static plie squats!). All in all, he is a great motivator, and more even in this tape than in the previous four-pack. Kudos to Billy for another great tape!

Elizabeth