10 Pounds Down Total Body Tune Up

Jessica leads this 60 min strength + cardio in the Miami studio that she actually leads live classes in! The studio is a cute open space w/ blue background with flowing water in the backdrop and hardwood floors. You will need dumbbells for this workout- Jessica uses 5's but you can vary yours. Jessica works out alone and offers various intensity modifications throughout.

This is workout is mostly strength but includes nice cardio bursts between strength sets. Jessica uses lighter weights - I used 10's & 15's and it really amped up the cardio effect of this workout! I was sweating & my heart was pumping. The pace is quick but not so quick that I had trouble with my poundage. There is no wasted time and she really keeps the workout moving along. And she includes tons of great combo moves.

Exercises include: pulsing curtsy w/ a torso twist & overhead press, lunge w/ a back fly & bi curl, pushup knee pulls, criss cross jacks, cross punhch, jumps, 1 legged squats w/ a side tap & torso twist & bi curl, lat row w/ an outer thigh raise, runners lunge to the floor & up, squat jacks, 180 burpees, chest press & reverse crunch, pec fly & knee drop, plank moguls, Mt. climbers, superman variations, diagonal rear lunge & tri kickback, close stance squat w/ an overhead Y push, lunge & french press, jump rope, 1 arm swing, dip & knee up, tri pushups w/ a leg raise, side plank w/ a front kick, plank knee pulls, scissor ab pulses, triangle leg drops, and bicycles.

With lighter poundage I would rate this a solid intermediate workout that really hits all the muscle groups. By using heavier or lighter poundage this workout can really be adjusted to meet the needs of most exercisers. As always Jessica's cuing and energy are excellent, making this a great addition to any workout collection. I am impressed with: the pace, the UNIQUE moves, and the tough ab section! Great workout!!! I look forward to more 10 Pounds Workouts. I received this dvd to review

lindseylu8

I admit, I was a bit confused by this DVD. I received both 10 Pounds Down "Total Body Tune Up" and "Weight Loss Cardio" on the same DVD. The minimal chapter menu listed both workouts, but it gave no idea of the times, breakdowns, etc., so it took me awhile to figure out which workout I was doing, especially since both contain cardio and toning work.

Total Body Tune-Up features Jessica Smith working out alone in a gym room with a sort of waterfall water feature in the background; behind that, you can catch glimpses of gym members exercising, which I found distracting. She begins here with a 5-minute warm-up that includes moves such as knees and curtseys. For the weighted work, Smith performs two sets of most exercises, usually with some type of alternate move in between (such as push-ups), although this was not consistent (which was one of the things that I didn't really like). Most of the moves are compound, such as curtsey with twist and overhead press and a lunge forward with wide plie. Between the strength sets, Smith does cardio intervals. The majority of these were high impact--e.g., split jumps, hop squats, squat thrusts (aka Burpees), mountain climbers--with no modifications offered; if anything, Smith encourages you to push harder and go higher.

There is not a separate abs segment in this workout; rather, core work is incorporated throughout. At about the 24-minute point, Smith has you on the floor for a chest press with hip lift, leg lowers to work the abs, and then flies with hip lifts. This is followed by some moves on the stomach, including supermans and wide push-ups. However, then you are coming back to standing for triceps presses and other moves. I didn't like this sudden transition, and overall, this workout felt "fussy" to me. This might be a good choice for someone who enjoys strength/cardio intervals and who doesn't mind high impact work as well as a lot of complex moves.

Instructor Comments:
I do like Jessica and have used many of her online workouts. Her DVDs tend to be pretty hit or miss for me, however--although she instructs well, I just don't tend to enjoy the format of her workouts.

Beth C (aka toaster)

This workout has already broken down so I'll just add my thoughts. I really liked the big spacious high rise building background with the waterfall water feature, and thought the music was really good! Sometimes the music drowned out her cues but it didn't really bother me.

She uses one set of weights (does not say what poundage but I would guess 5s or 8s) for this higher rep toning with some high impact quick cardio bursts between circuits. I used a variety of weights to get the most out of the workout.

The pros-I loved the tough combined exercises and the constant core focus. She does not waste even a second in the workout. It is no rest between the toning and cardio exercises and really kept my heart rate high. I would say this one is a little tougher than some of her later workouts. I've recently done her Walk Strong Boost Metabolism + Muscle workout (the total body and upper body chapters), 10 Pounds Down Cardio Abs (the total body HIIT chapter), and her 10 Minute Solution Ultimate Bootcamp and found this one slightly tougher than those, but it is also the longest at 60 minutes.

The cons-I agree with Beth C that the mat work in the middle of the workout seemed disjointed. I would have preferred if the mat work was all combined at the end. This workout has an overall less polished production feel than her other DVDs.

Overall I am pleased with the workout and will keep it in my collection. I got the DVD (which is the combined DVD with the cardio workout) at a steal when it was about $5 shipped from Amazon a few years ago. It appears to be out of print now. With all of Jessica's other awesome offerings, I wouldn't pay a huge out of print price for it.

Instructor Comments:
I'm a big Jessica fan and have many of her workouts, from her 10 Minute Solution, 10 Pounds Down, and some of her Walk Strong workouts. She also has an amazing Youtube selection. She is always very personable, fun, and encouraging. In this workout she gave a big smile about halfway through and said "did I tell you how great you are doing?" and it made me smile.

Emily B.