Tighter Assets Cardio Blast

Tamilee Webb
Year Released: 2002

Categories: Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance



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This workout has been well broken down by previous reviewers, so I will share my general impressions.
I have done this workout a number of times, including this morning. It is fresh in my mind. This is a cardio workout led by the beautiful Tamilee Webb. I find her physique inspiring. I would classify the workout as intermediate. This is a nice change from the current trendy cardio as there are no burpees/mountain climbers/plank jacks featured. Instead the combos feature steps like step-touches, mambos, shuffles, jogging, high knees etc. I was able to use this workout in the weeks after my most recent child was born (1 year ago) so it isn't too crazy and is a nice challenge for a low-intermediate. Collage rates this int/adv and I disagree. Today I didn't even break a sweat and I was really going for it. The 30 minutes flew by and no dread with this workout.

Instructor Comments:
Tamilee's cuing isn't the best here. Sometimes I really like athletic drills because they are easy to follow and a few times she left me standing there. I admit I am a little choreo challenged so I don't always know what foot we are on etc. unless you tell me and she doesn't always or cues right as we are going into it. But the routine is simple so the second time around likely you can remember the steps without her prompting. Also she is quite pretty to look at and very professional; no whooping or nonsense.

Melissa P

11/19/2011

I’m reviewing this workout after doing it a number of times since acquiring it almost two years ago.

General workout breakdown: After a short 3 minute warm up combining basic aerobics moves and stretching, Tamilee leads you through about 27 minutes of cardio. There is a 2 minute cool down with a quick stretch for a total of 34 minutes.
In the cardio section Tamilee teaches 5 sections. She first breaks down one or two basic moves, then adds in a plyometric and finally a balance move (e.g. a step touch becomes a lateral hop and later a hop with a hold every third move). The first and last sections are not as intense, which is appropriate given their placement towards the beginning or end of the workout. Most of the moves are based on athletic (e.g. jogging, hops) and hi/lo aerobics (e.g. mambo, shuffle, repeater) styles, although Tamilee’s style definitely is more athletic than dancy. I’ve read that people consider this too dancy. I guess that’s in comparison to walking videos, but this is nowhere near Christi Taylor, Rob Glick, Marcus Irwin, Patrick Goudeau, etc.

Level: I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who didn’t consider themselves at least an intermediate with respect to cardiovascular activity. I first got TA when I was just switching from beginner to intermediate, and it was super tough. Now that I’m at least a solid to high intermediate (I normally do Christi, Rob, Marcus, and Patrick’s hi/lo as well as Cathe and Janis Saffell’s kickboxing, for example), I still get a great workout, but I don’t feel wiped out afterwards. An advanced exerciser might find this a good, quick lighter day workout or something to tack on before or after weights, yoga, Pilates, etc.
And this is definitely a workout where you get out of it what you put into it.
Overall the choreography is pretty basic; I don’t remember having much difficulty picking up the moves the first time around and felt comfortable with them the second time. Tamilee expects you to know what a grapevine is, for example, but otherwise the moves are basic. A real choreography junkie would find this boring.
Since there are plyometric-type jumps (I guess they’re more power moves than pure plyometrics), shuffles, and pivots, I’d rate this fairly high impact. I can’t remember feeling this in my knees, but someone with sensitive knees and/or feet could have problems with it.

Class: 2 young blond women work out with Tamilee. I remember reading somewhere that one woman is in her 20s, the other in her 30s, and Tamilee is in her 40s. I can’t recall the source, but it looks about right.

Music / Set / Other Production Notes: The beat-heavy music is instrumental (except for the first song) and standard exercise video stuff. The brightly lit set has a few pieces of exercise equipment scattered around off of the hardwood floors. (This is the standard set used in the Natural Journeys videos, but here the “windows” are covered with dark cityscapes.) As you might expect from Natural Journeys, the picture and sound quality are very good.

Equipment: sneakers.

Comments: You may want to eliminate the pivots if you’re on carpet, and you may want to expand the warm-up and cool-down.
You don’t need a ton of space for this workout. I do it in a space big enough to take one big step forward and backward and two big steps to each side, although I often skip the traveling part.

DVD Notes: The DVD allows you to select the chapter (each section, e.g. warm up or cardio section 3) or play the workout with music only. Bonus features include a 10 minute buns workout (with mostly squats), a nutrition guide with menus and recipes, a photo gallery of Tamilee, trailers for other Tamilee workouts, and testimonials from people who do Tamilee workouts with before & after pictures.

Conclusion: It’s a keeper. This video proves that a short workout can be intense, and it’s great when you don’t have a lot of time. It’s not the most exciting workout, but it’s effective. I really don’t do this as often as I should. . .
You don’t have to have the other Tighter Assets workout (Weight Loss) to get the maximum benefit from Tighter Assets; I only have this one.
I think the moves are similar to those in 10 Minute Solution Carb Burner and Kathy Smith’s Peak Fat Burning (although the latter is more athletic in style). I seem to be drawn to “dancy” hi/lo, so I can’t compare this to other workouts very well.

Instructor Comments:
Tamilee Webb is soft-spoken, serious (but not too much), and low key. She restricts her chatter to cueing, reminding you to pull in your core, etc. She mirror cues, although most of her directional cues involve pointing rather than saying “right” or “left.”

KathAL79

09/07/2005

This video has been broken down by other reviewers very well so I wont do that. I just wanted to add that I really enjoyed this video. I found it to be intermediate in nature and a great 30 minute work out.
I am choreo challenged so this was right up my alley. Almost all of the moves are athletic in nature.

Phantom4u

05/18/2005

These have been described quite effectively by the other reviewers but I want to say that this really is a great, short, effective Hi/Lo workout! I love the plyo moves, the focus on core stabilization and just how well it gets my HR up there! It is an intermediate/advanced workout no doubt!

Instructor Comments:
Tamilee is a very good instructor. I think that her cuing is pretty good in this workout.

Lori M

08/13/2004

This is a 30 minute hi/lo cardio routine which consists of three separate blocks of choreography that you learn add-on style, as well as a warm-up and a cool-down. The cardio blocks feature 'cardio blasts', which are sort-of plyo-holds, using your core as well, incorporated into moves which increase the overall intensity of the workout. 'Cardio blasts' can also be described at other times as just 'turning up the volume' of a move, where the plyo-hold trick doesn't fit in a move. The moves are athletic-style aerobics. The moves are simple, but I don't find them boring. The production quality is high, the set is bright and attractive, and her background exercisers look like what I imagine twin-sister fitness instructors from Venice Beach would look like (their outfits are identical as well). The music is not exactly memorable, it's your typical workout music, but I like it just fine. I like this workout. It is not hard to learn at all, it definitely elevates the heart rate, and it is short. I would rate the intensity as intermediate/advanced. This workout fills a mood niche, as well as a workout niche for me. It's a great tack-on cardio routine for a strength day, at only thirty minutes. It's a good choice on a day when I want a solid, mod-to-hi intensity hi/lo routine but don't want to think about choreography. (For the sake of comparison, I want a good all out hi-intensity no-brainer hi/lo, instead of mod-to-hi intensity, I would choose something like Cathe MIC hi/lo).
I think this workout has a moderate fun factor as well. It's no party-in-a-box, but I certainly don't have to talk myself into it! It's fun, and it's also over before you know it - good when you want a good swaet in a short period of time. Try it!

Instructor Comments:
Tamilee is her usual no-nonsense self in this workout. I enjoy her personality and her workouts. She is a real professional.

Kathy Weller

05/23/2003

This is a 32-minute non-dancy floor aerobics workout. Collage rates it as intermediate/advanced and I agree with their rating. I was pleasantly surprised to get such a good workout in a short amount of time. Collage rated it as high impact and I'm not sure if I agree with that rating. The combos all start out low impact, and build up in intensity, usually to a higher impact move. However, because of how she builds it's very easy to modify. There are two background exercisers with her.
One of the things I really like about this workout is that she includes a good variety of movements, forward, lateral etc. The last combo has something of a lower body focus. As far as space requirements, I can perform it in my living room. I think that unless you are very space constrained this will work (for instance I can't make Danceworks 'work').
I have the DVD, which is chaptered for each segment (warm-up, 4 combos, cooldown). Here's crude breakdown:
ad at the beginning - 1:45 (I cannot skip or ff through this on my DVD player - bummer)
intro ends - :50
warmup ends - 4:00 (I'd call this an active warm up)
aerobics ends - 30:00
cool down/stretch ends - 34:00

The DVD has a bonus buns workout. There is not a pre-mix to include it before the cool down, but I find it easy to pop out to the menu, add in the bonus workout, then pop back into the stretch segment. The buns workout is one-on-one with Tamilee, all standing work, lots of one legged work, and reminds me of Kathy Smith's FF Lower Body firming.

For context, I consider myself an int/adv exerciser (I have no trouble with Firm workouts, KV Cardio/Strength or Energy Sprint) I'm time crunched and my knees can't take frequent step workouts, so this workout fills an important niche in my workout collection.

Instructor Comments:
I found her to be upbeat without being perky with a caring, professional attitude. I found most of her cueing very good.

eventmom

04/25/2003