ABSolutely

This is the video that FINALLY helped me figure out how to do stabilization exercises! All along, I thought I was supposed to be able to "flatten my low back" completely to the floor, and I never could! Now I realize that this is just "imagery", a way of trying to get people to contract their abs hard enough to stabilize their spine in NEUTRAL position (which does have a slight arch in it) during the exercise! Because Charlene instructs to "pull the bellybutton in", all of a sudden, I could do these exercises! What a difference this has made! The format of this tape is two 30-minute ab routines (beginner and advanced), though it goes faster if you fast forward though the chatty rest breaks. Stabilization exercise are alternated with traditional (crunch-type) exercises. There is less variety of exercises than with the Keli Roberts' Abs & More tape, but the set is much brighter, and I enjoy the interaction with the cast. Highly recommended!

Instructor Comments:
She talks a lot, but mostly she is explaining form or dispensing fitness information, which is actually quite informative. Simply fast forward through the chat if it is bothersome.

Serena Schlueter

I've only got one word for this tape. WOW. How can such mild-looking exercises hurt so much?

This abs tape is broken into two 1/2-hour segments. The first is for beginners to this style of ab work (not necessarily beginning exercisers), and then the second part is for those who have mastered the first. Charlene tells you that if you've mastered the first part, there's no point in continuing to do it -- you should just do part two all the time.

The exercises are a combination of the Keli Roberts'/Jennifer Kries' style of ab training and traditional ab training, with much more emphasis on the first. There are also some back exercises. A lot of the exercises are extremely challenging, but you need to be careful to follow Charlene's form pointers to get the full benefit. She does give outstanding pointers, and she also gives you a lot of good information about abs in general.

I almost didn't get this tape because I didn't think I needed any more abs tapes. But I'm so glad I did. I give it an A+.

Instructor Comments:
Charlene shares a wealth of information about how the abs work, what exercises will do what, etc. I always learn something from her when I'm doing her tapes. I adore this woman!

Annie S.

This video contains some traditional and non-traditional ab exercises. I've each segment every day for the past month. My core strength has improved tremendously with this tape. I highly recommend it.

Crystal