The Ultimate Body Shaper

Stephanie Vitorino
Year Released: 2009

Categories: Circuit Training (cardio and weights) , Lower Body Strength , Upper Body Strength


This dvd has two 30 minute AWT (aerobic body shaping) workouts, a seperate 5 min warmup and 6 min cooldown, plus a bonus 6 minute ab workout. Stephanie works out with 2 background exercisers in a nice open room with hardwood floors and her V Body logo in the background. There is a small countdown timer in the corner. One workout is a high step and one is a mat (mostly standing strength with some intensity bursts). You will need a high step or fanny lifter and 2 sets (or more) of dumbbells for this w/o.

This workout is, what the Pink Firms should be IMO. It has enough strength work to count as a strength day but it gets & keeps your heartrate up with cardio bursts & intensity intervals. Fun, effective, NO dread factor but still a booty kicking workout!!

The 1st workout is 30 minutes of nonstop strength + cardio work using the tall step and dumbbells. There are a lot of moves that use multiple muscle groups-they are all paired nicely so the poundage works for all components of each move. She does some straight cardio (high knees jumprope, etc.) and a lot of the strength work will get your heart pumping as well- squatting off the high step while doing a frontal shoulder raise, tricep dips off the box, a back V raise, etc.

The 2nd workout is a "mat" workout. Its a strength workout with 1 min intesity intervals throughout. She incorporates a lot of core and balance work in a lot of the exercises. A side raise while in tree pose, a twist while holding the dumbbell, squatting low holding the head of a dumbbell, a "toss the laundry bag over the shoulder" type move, a TOUGH roll back and then jump up move, and ends with a few minutes of lying ab/ chest work.

The ab workout is 8 of Stephanies favorite core moves and includes crunch, plank, and spinal work variations. Stephanie works out alone in this segment.

There were a lot of unique moves in this that were fresh and not at all awkward like some "new & exciting" exercises can be. She really packs a lot into each of these 30 minute workouts and the pace is right on-no wasted time but I didnt feel at all rushed or frenzied. I also like that the w/u and c/d are seperate as I usually do my own and skip those anyways.

This is a high intermediate that you can make a bit tougher by modifying. I would say an intermediate would be able to do this but its not a beginners workout. Stephanie is a wonderful lead! She is very motivating and has great form pointers & reminders throughout. There is even the *cutest* feature on this dvd-a miniature Stephanie runs across the bottom of the screen from time to time (only 4-5 X total) with a pointer or form reminder! Its not distracting AT ALL! You do have the option to turn it off if you choose though.

lindseylu8

03/29/2010