Tae Bo Advanced

Tae Bo Advanced (2012) is a 60 minute, advanced, non-stop cardio workout that is high intensity right from the start. The set is bright and the cast is somewhat familiar (of course Shelley is present, as well as a few people I recognized from his PT 24/7 set). There is the typical 8 rep counting out loud of each movement throughout the workout that is signature Tae Bo. Although it's not indicated on the front or back cover of this workout, Billy calls this workout "Push It". I noticed right away that Billy's voice is much louder than the music. The more I turned up the volume to hear the music, the louder he got. That was an annoyance for me since I personally prefer a nice, louder beat with kickboxing workouts.

It begins with a warm-up, if you can call it that, with fast jogs forward & back, side taps, speed bags, overhead reaches side to side, knees up, front jabs, upper cuts, etc. It was a little too fast for me right off the bat and I wish it had included some dynamic stretching like some other Tae Bo's I have tried, but it did not.

You will find familiar moves such as round house kicks, front/back kicks, crescent kicks, kick/punch combos, arm circles, jumping jacks, etc., as well as push-ups, mountain climbers, jump squats and more. Most of the moves/combinations started out slow and then were performed at double speed. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to why he would do one move after the other either. I suppose there doesn't have to be, but it was kind of like "Here's the move, now do it while we count down. Now here's the next move... etc". It just lacked any kind of flow for me that I normally enjoy. The cool down starts at 56:13 so expect to be working hard for almost an hour right from the start! It truly earns the name "Advanced".

MY IMPRESSION
I tried to like this workout, I really did. I don't know how to quite explain it, but I just didn't connect with it like I have with other Tae Bo's. However, I was drenched in sweat and winded by the end so I have no doubt that this is a calorie scorching workout that will burn fat and tone you up from head to toe (though note that there are no separate segments devoted just to toning). I just won't be reaching for it again. It filled me with dread and I clock watched the whole time. I'll be honest and also say that I just don't prefer doing intense cardio workouts for an hour. It just felt too long and overkill-ish for me. As I mentioned above, I wish I could put my finger on it; it just didn't engage me like the older ones. I prefer the old school "red carpet" Tae Bo's that seemed more fun!

furmomof4

Billy introduces this workout as Tae Bo Push it and constantly makes comments about it being Tae Bo Push it. The title must have been renamed to Tae Bo Advanced from his Tae Bo Do Jo Series.
I just finished this Tae Bo Advanced workout and I've been a Tae Bo fan since the first Tae Bo workouts came out on VHS. This IS advanced and has alot of variety of kicks(side kicks, roundhouse kicks slow and fast combinations, swivel kicks, front back kicks, step-step roundhouse.) Billy shows modifications if some moves are too tough. There is also many different variation of punches and movements that work the arms. The warmup is all cardio, no stretching. One thing I have noticed in this Do Jo series is the music is very low so I have to turn up the volume really high and still, I can't hear the music that well. Shelly's mic doesn't work. At one point of the workout, Billy has Shelly talk to us but you can't hear what she said. Billy's new wife is in this workout. She is in the black in cute pig tails. She keeps up pretty good too! This Tae Bo Advanced is pretty much all the regular Tae Bo moves with a few new exercise. There is a new move with a squat front punch which I loved! There is no floorwork for lower body. Just low knee repeaters into pushups(this is where he forgets to go the other leg) and mountain climbers into pushups. Billy introduces a plank position where you bring one leg out to the side. I just did standing side ab oblique work. There are some tough fast punches at the end that reminded me of the old Tae Bo Advanced live series. There are also 1 arm upper cuts slow and then fast and speedbags with hops. And he does a Mike Tyson move that really works the oblique. The hi-lo punch move gets tougher because you don't pulse but hold the squat in a static hold. I liked that there was alot of ab focused moves that have cardio and abs together. And I loved that there was no equipment.
The music is blah. Nothing inspiring. Its what I call instrumental inspector clouseau movie music. Nuff said. Billy does make mistakes and forgets one side of knee repeaters as well as makes mistakes in what leg he is kicking. He then reminds us that this is a real workout and real sweat. Its annoying when he forgets one exercise on the other leg. But you can always just do the other side of knee repeaters on the other leg because he repeats it twice on 1 leg. Billy also sounds like he has a cough and keeps coughing up stuff and clearing his throat.
He is wearing a blue t shirt.
He does do alot of moves at 2-2 count and then picks up the pace. I was pretty spent at the end of the workout and was wishing it was ending. There is also some plyo moves that made me go anaerobic.
Billy goes around the room throughout the workout talking to the class. Its a Do Jo Karate setting. There are some old school Tae Bo moves. He does a shout out to mother's which I thought was great;)
Just on a side note, they did cut to let Billy's wife fix her hair which came undone..something I haven't seen done before in past Tae bo workouts.
There isn't much stretching at the end..some hamstring and hip stretching and neck stretches and its alot of Tai chi moves.
All in all, I liked this Tae Bo workout about the same as Billy's Ultimate Tae Bo 90 minute workout. There was only 1 part where the cast got out of sync with the music which really bothers me. But it was only 1 time so it wasn't as bad as the Tae Bo Classic workout

Mandy Lee