Note: This is not a complete review because I only did one of the premixed sections (there are three).

This DVD has one warm up and one cool down, and three separate chapters. Interestingly I was unable to choose a warm up+chapter+cool down but there were three premixes that took selections from all three and included the warm up and cool down. Maybe it was just a DVD player issue. There are three kettlebell circuit sections that had cardio and strength intervals and are about 20 minutes each (so there is about 60 minutes of kettlebell work) along with a warm up and cool down, about 5 minutes each. So the premixes are roughly 30 minutes each, and like I said incorporate sections from all three chapters.

My experience with kettlebells has been fairly limited, I have never had in person training and the videos that I have tried are the 10 Minute Solution kettlebell workout, Kettlenetics which is really more of a fusion workout, the Firm 5 pound kettlebell kit with TransFIRM Your Trouble Zones which uses light poundage and incorporates kettlebell swings with more traditional weight training moves, and Kettleworx which from my dappling has dismal editing. Based on those experiences I found the 10MS workout to have the clearest explanation on kettlebell swing. The Kettlebell Dynamics with Amy Bento has VERY little cuing (if any) and based on that might or might not work for a kettlebell purist (probably not).

I tried the first premix which clocked in at about 33 minutes. I rarely say this about a video but just about every single thing was to my displeasure (see below), and I am so turned off that I am not going to even try the other two premixes (I’m getting rid of this thing asap!)

First off the warm up IMMEDIATELY started with jumping, not even a few step touches or marching in place to get started. Certainly the immediate high impact in the first part of the warm up is bad for the joints. At the very least it was very abrupt.

Secondly, the entire workout (warm up included) was hurried, almost franticly paced, and I was uncomfortable swinging the kettlebell with the quick pace that she was using. For instance for her five swings I would do four swings. She was using a 20# bell (I used 10#) and it looked like an injury waiting to happen.

Thirdly, the editing was very poor in this workout. When the workout skipped to another section, the music was cut off as was Amy’s sentence sometimes. The music would jump to another tune and she might be in a different position than she was before. As would be expected the workout felt very disjointed and disorganized.

Fourth, as I noted earlier, the cuing is nonexistent. She does not give form pointers or explain the workout, and sometimes she stated her poundage (usually a 20# bell) but other times she picked up a lighter bell and did not say what poundage it was. She sometimes used one, sometimes two bells, but she did give a pointer for what to do if you only have one bell. For a kettlebell workout, I think one needs especially thorough cuing, because it is so easy to get injured, and she did not take that into consideration at all. The workout is “Advanced” but even for an advanced workout I think form reminders would be useful, so you get the most out of your workout.

Fifth, the workout was REDUNDANT. This was my biggest frustration (out of many) in the premix that I did. While the reps were quick and it was (I assume) intended to be used as a circuit workout, she did the same strength then cardio move THREE times. I think a two time repeater might have been acceptable, but doing it three times was just really boring. And from the Collage Video clip I thought the moves would be a lot more interesting, but they really weren’t that creative. In no particular order, we did one arm swings and two arm swings, “farmers walk” holding two heavy bells, punching in place, jumps with “speed bag arms”, side lunges with the kettlebell, pushups with one hand on bell. The moves were challenging and got my heart rate up but they were rushed, overly repeated, and not all of the moves used the kettlebell. --->For those that have tried Kettleworx, this is very similar. The clips move quickly and while in Kettlebell Dynamics the actual clips aren’t repeated, the moves are repeated so frequently that it sucks away any fun that you might have had.

Sixth, the music. It was the generic “musak” that you hear in many videos, so that’s not uniquely bad to this workout, but unlike some of the better made videos the music was not synchronized to the moves at all. And as I mentioned, since the transitions from clip to clip was so abrupt that it further interrupted the workout.

Based on all of these negatives, I would not recommend the video. The kettlebell genre (for a general audience – wider produced and less expensive) is still new so there aren’t any other videos that are advanced to compare Amy’s to, but my recommendation would be to wait for other workouts to come out (because they certainly will) because this one isn’t a keeper. Grade D.

Instructor Comments:
I have a couple other workouts with Amy Bento, the one which I use with the most regularity is her 10 Minute Solution DVD Hot Body Bootcamp. She definitely has creative moves but she isn’t my favorite, her 10MS workout is somewhat rushed and disorganized, like Kettlebell Dynamics was (but worse in the kettlebell workout). Her cuing was never the best, but was particularly bad in this workout. She is down to business and does not give any encouraging words, which might appeal to some people, it’s just a matter of preference. From the VF forum it appears that people either like Amy or they don’t. Based on these two videos with her, I am very unlikely to try any of her other offerings.

Emily B.