Tonique

Sylwia Wiesenberg
Year Released: 2009

Categories: Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance , Lower Body Strength


Tonique – Bum Bum Live meets Insanity!

With a little High and Tight thrown in for good measure!

The instructor is Sylwia Weisenberg, and Toniquefitness is her debut workout. [She has three more due out.]

Those who like both Brazilian Butt Lift and Insanity will like enjoy Tonique. Like Bum Bum Live, it’s set in an urban studio and it includes squats and lunges from every angle! Like Insanity, it is fast paced and slightly grueling. It's not quite as intense as Insanity, but it is advanced if done as recommended.

Unlike either BBL or Insanity, however, Tonique has a voice-over so you don't really get the instructor's personality as part of the mix. This is a draw-back. Especially since the person who does the voice over makes a lot of frivolous comments about appearance (which at one point she says will be "delicious").

The workout has 5 parts: Opening Drills, Squats, Lunges, Mat and Cool Down. These parts can be accessed separately from the menu.

The Opening Drills consist of jumping jacks, high knee job, and plyo jumps. It is suggested that you use these in between the workout sections to increase intensity. There are water breaks between the main chapters, but otherwise the workout maintains a very fast pace.

SQUATS:

The Squat portions are chaptered and can be fast-forwarded from one section to the next (although you can’t choose the individual squat segments from the menu).

Sylwia has light dumbbells during most of these exercises; sometimes she does shoulder raises, bicep curls or lateral raises – often she just holds the weights. I used 3 lb. dumbbells, and by the end of the lunges my arms were talking to me!

 Basic Squat
 Basic squat with dumbbell shoulder raises
 Squat with front kick
 Squat with side to side leg extension
 Double squat jump in and out
 Squat with side kick
 Double kick with no squat
 Squat jump (basket ball move)
 One leg squat
 Butterfly squat (a back leg raise with lateral arm raises)

LUNGES:

 Basic back lunge
 Basic back lunge with front kick
 Back lunge/cross (=curtsy) lunge combo
 Cross lunge with side leg lift
 Cross front lunge
 Back lunge and squat combo
 Brazilian style lunge (looks like a cross between a ginga and a curtsy lunge)
 Skater lunge with bounce
 Lunge with leg raise and shoulder raise
 Side lunge

MAT: (this section is not chaptered)

Starts off with mountain climbers and high knee jog to get the heart-rate up. Then down on mat:

 bent leg raises
 donkey kicks
 cross over raises
 hip lifts
 basic ab work
o v-sit to lying extension
o tricep leg extension front
o tricep leg extension oblique

COOL DOWN: This section includes basic stretches, but it moves pretty quickly.

This is an intense, though quite doable, workout. I wouldn't recommend it for those with knee issues, and I don't think it can be modified to be more knee friendly. I like the workout, and I'm interested in seeing what else she puts out.

Instructor Comments:
Sylwia is clearly very fit. She looks serious during the workout. Although Sylwia is dressed in sports bra and shorts with running shoes for the workout, for some reason, she changes into a cut-out swim suit for the cool-down. This seems a little odd and might be a turn-off for some.

Acescholar

01/22/2010