30 Minutes to Fitness: Sculpting Rx

Kelly Coffey-Meyer
Year Released: 2019

Categories: Total Body Workouts



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Kelly Coffey-Meyer is my favorite video exercise instructor. I love her 30 Minutes to Fitness series, as each DVD offers 2 (approximately) 30-minute workouts plus premixes for plenty of exercise variety. I own about eight of the DVDs in this series and am always looking for more.

I was on the fence about whether to purchase Sculpting Rx, as it seemed similar to workouts I already own, so I tried it from my library first. As Kelly explains in her introduction, the first workout offers heavier supersets, and the second is a cardio sculpting routine with lighter weights. Options on the Main Menu are Introduction - Workout One - Workout Two - Premixes [described below] - Credits - Music On/Off. Both routines use the same 4-minute warm-up, which is separately chaptered when you select either workout, so you have the option to skip it (if you select it, the DVD will continue to play the main workout). I have described each routine in further detail below.

WORKOUT ONE (35:55 minutes)
Kelly teaches here with 4 background exercisers. They are using dumbbells plus a weight bench. For each superset (2 exercises together), Kelly performs a total of 3 rounds, performing every exercise for 2 repetitions.
Superset #1, biceps/legs - hammer curls, alternating squats, bicep curls, front lunge with knee raise, supination curls, squat/deadlift
Superset #2, back/shoulders - single arm row, front raise, double arm row, side raises, seated rows, overhead press
Superset #3, chest-triceps - (lying on step) chest press, alternating triceps kickbacks, push-ups, triceps dips
There is a 1-minute stretch to finish. I liked this workout a lot! It was definitely more upper body focused--only one of the three supersets included any lower body work--but I felt it all over the next day. It is very customizable depending on the weights you choose.

WORKOUT TWO (30:50 minutes)
Kelly recommends keeping the weights light for this 5 or maximum 7 pounds. I stuck with my 5-pound dumbbells and got a great workout! Each move is performed for about 45 seconds at a steady, moderate pace. Kelly is again joined by her familiar 4 background exercisers here.
Standing moves:
-squats, add lateral raise
- lunge back, add alternating front raise
-plie squat side, add upright row
-(no weights) 2 knees, add side push kick
-front lunge with hold, add reverse fly
-high pulls, single then double
-rocking side lunge with row, add 4 rows center
-(no weights) rib shift 4, add overhead reach
-roll dumbbells 4x (somewhat like uppercut), add squat
-lunge L-R, add hammer curl
-alternating straight leg lift rear, add biceps pulse
-(no weights) straight leg front kick, add standing crunches 2x
-tricep kickbacks with palms up, add ski squat
-curtsy lunge, add shoulder press and tricep extension
-(no weights) 4 twists, 4 punches
Floorwork:
-staggered hand push-ups
-plank with hip drop/knee pull
-duck hand push-ups
-lunge with twisting crunch
-lying crunch
-reverse crunch (leg push) with hip lift
-twisting crunch with legs raised
-explosive situp with alternating knees
This workout concluded with a 1.5 minute stretch. I loved the standing portion of this routine, which ran about 20 minutes. I was much less enamored of the floorwork, as it felt like it went on forever. I would have preferred that the entire workout was cardio sculpt, especially given that this is how it is described.

Kelly is great about including premixes on her DVDs for more variety. She often has 10 or more, so I was disappointed that this DVD had only a few:
-Workout 1 and Workout 2 (60:35 minutes)
-Workout 1: One Set of All Exercises (21:44 minutes)
-Workout 2: No Cardio Core (26:52 minutes)
-Workouts 1 and 2: Intervaled Body Parts (38:46 minutes)
-Cardio Core and Floor Finisher (18:45 minutes)
I would have liked to have seen a cardio-only option plus more shorter (<20 minutes) routines to use as add-ons and or to string together.

If this DVD had contained a better variety of premixes, I almost definitely would be purchasing it, but I am on the fence. Still, Kelly has done an excellent job as always here; she has great energy, and her production values are always top notch (although the music here is only so-so, especially in the second workout). I would not hesitate to recommend this DVD.

Instructor Comments:
I like that Kelly is fun, down to Earth, and cues well.

Beth C (aka toaster)

08/13/2019