Piloxing Express Toning

Viveca leads this 56 minute toning workout in a cute grey gym with purple accents. She works out with 2 background exercisers. You will need optional weighted gloves (light dumbbells would also work) for the upper body segment. This dvd includes Arms, Butt & Thighs, and Abs section. You can play all or skip to the next section with your remote.

Arms: The addition of weighted gloves and/or light hand weights really makes this a tough but fun upper body workout. Exercises include: bicep curl variations, long arm wrist flexion, tri kickbacks, long arm tri work, back fly, 1 arm side tri pushups, and elevator planks. Viveca includes tempo changes to keep your muscles guessing.

Butt & Thighs: This is a floor work section- I started with ankle weights & ended up taking them off as my buns & thighs were on fire! Exercises include: donkey kick variations including side kicks, crossovers, extensions, and long leg kicks. Bridge work including: bridge squeezes, butterfly, and single leg bridge variations.

Abs: This is a floor section that really hits the core. Exercises include: V sit w/ arm pump, V drops, V punch & twists, full V sit w/ legs extended, crunch variations, long leg bicycle, wide leg scissor crunches, plank, plank knee pull and a side knee pull plank.

I would rate this is a high intermediate workout as my lower body was BURNING by the end! I found this dvd to be unique and fun and I think I’ll be feeling it tomorrow. Viveca has a great energy and her cuing and form pointers are fantastic. She does a great job of including unique twists on tried & true toning exercises- love that little to no equipment is required. Received this dvd to review.

lindseylu8

I think this is a great workout for those that like unweighted upper body work (a la Tracy Anderson) or floorwork for lower body (like Buns of Steel or TA). Their is really no warm-ups or stretches for these short workouts; I would consider them add-ons or done with my own warm-up and cool-downs.

The arm section is done with no weights, but their is the option to add weighted gloves. I find weighted gloves (or wrist weights) better than trying to hold light weights, given the arm/hand positioning. The movements include lots of quick-paced pulsing, arm circles, elbow bends, etc. Viveca does these with a quick tempo and lots of verbal encouragement.

The floorwork/legs segment is tough! Lots of moves done in a "tripod" position (1 arm, 1 forearm, 1 knee, while the other leg is working in the air). Nothing new or unusual, but she gets right to work and really gets a burn going in the working leg!

Honestly, I have only ever watched the ab section because I can tell it is beyond my ability. It appears to be Pilates-based and similar to some TA-ab work.

Instructor Comments:
Viveca is talkative and encouraging. She comes across as a friendly, favorite studio-instructor, but a little over-the-top. Don't expect explicit or detailed form pointers.

Alisoncooks