Reebok: Power Blast
Lisa GaylordYear Released: 1997
Categories: Circuit Training (cardio and weights) , Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance
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I was expecting this video to be tough, with a lot of kick-boxing moves- a real "blast"- but I was sorely disappointed. Firstly, the Tai Chi-style warm-up was very uninspiring. It was not fast-paced enough to get me prepared for a workout. The workout itself had some good power moves, but they weren't performed long enough to be at all challenging. A couple of the moves I thought were downright dangerous- especially the one where you jump in the air and land in a squat position- this would be a killer for anyone with weak knees (especially with the insufficient warm-up and stretch.) I found the cardio sections way too easy- they didn't come close to getting my heart-rate up. The only parts of this tape I enjoyed were the kicks, punches and the unique push-up section at the end. I am an advanced exerciser (I have been working out for about 12 years and have many exercise videos) and I would rate this video as a low-end intermediate tape. I have done it three times, but find it too boring to do again, so I will probably be giving it away. This is the only Reebok tape I have (I also have Intense Moves and Power Step) that I don't like.
Instructor Comments:
Lisa's personality is very bland in this tape. She is very masculine and far too sreious.
I loved this video! It's a circuit style workout with upbeat, fast-paced cardio and toning intervals. Each toning interval ends with a tough plyometric segment. The toning uses the resistance of your own body weight. I typically use pretty heavy weights with FIRM tapes, so I was surprised at how challenged I was by the toning segments. Here's a more detailed breakdown:
WarmUp: The warm up was a tai-chi/yoga inspired stretch with deep breathing.
Aerobic 1: JumpRopes, Double-Touch JumpRopes and Twisting Jacks
Toning 1: Squats (lots of hover sqauts, too!)
Plyometric 1: Plyometric Squats
Aerobic 2: Jump Ropes, Skiers Lunges, These Jumps with lead foot changes (don't know what to call them!)
Toning 2: Lunges (very tough with no breaks!!!)
Plyometric 2: Plyometric Lunges
I won't breakdown the entire tapes but there is a couple more aerobic, toning and plyo segments, followed by a kickboxing segment.
I had a great time doing this tape. I felt it gave me a good aerobic challenge and it wasn't dancy at all! It made me feel really athletic. I also really liked the plyometric segments.
I will use this tape to alternate with my FIRM tapes (after a heavy weight day). Also, I think this is a great tape to travel with because it doesn't use a lot of space, and you don't need extra equipment.
Instructor Comments:
I find Lisa Gaylord to be extremely motivating. She has a very powerful, lean physique but still moves very gracefully. She's very serious about the workout, but still seems to enjoy it. The way she moves, looks and acts epitomizes female athleticism. Her cues could be better, but the choregraphy is very basic and easy to follow, so it doesn't really matter too much.
I watched this video first and it's a good thing I did. Lisa doesn't cue many of the moves at all and is off count quite a bit too. I think advanced exercisers would be disappointed in this tape. I love the concept of this video but there are too many side to side steps so she can tell you what is next. The moves are fun, she does a short aerobic section then follows that with toning/power burst sections. You do squats, lunges, dips, plies, and you do the plyometric version of the moves before moving on to the next short aerobic section. She doesn't do enough of the plyometric moves to keep your heart rate up. I think this would be a very fun intermediate workout or days when you want a shorter workout. The best part of the tape is at the end, she does an unusual version of push ups and then you do regular push ups and you do 3 sets and that part got my heart rate up. I would not recommend this tape if you are interested in a high intensity workout because you won't get it with this tape.
Instructor Comments:
I really like Lisa and think she has a lot of potential but she is way off on her cuing and that makes the workout less enjoyable.
This video is for the person who likes an athletic workout w/ non-dancy moves. This video incorporates a lot of boxing moves w/ some cross country skiing moves, kicks, jabs, etc. This isn't for the person who likes to dance.
The video starts off w/ a warmup that I find kind of boring. It sort of simulates some yoga-stretching kind of moves. Then it moves into the first aerobic segment. This video alternates aerobic segments w/ the intense move segments - jumps, kicks, squats, lunges, kickboxing, and cross country skiing. The video is pretty intense, but has too many recovery periods in my opinion. I broke sweat w/ this video, but not a great sweat. This video is okay w/ a lot of intense moves, but it needs less recover periods. Its not nearly as intense as Gin Miller's Intense Moves on the Step. Its a nice change of pace, and it does have a lot of hard moves, but I didn't break a great sweat. I still could have done more after this tape was over. I'm a big fan of kickboxing, so I enjoyed these athletic type of moves, but I could have used more of them.
Grade: B
Instructor Comments:
Lisa Gaylord seems to be a very athletic instructor. She has a no-nonsense approach and does cue well.
I purchased this video with the intent on adding variety to my video collection. I enjoy all types of vids, from step, boxing, floor, etc. So, with that said....Lisa does not disappoint. This video is extremely easy to follow and has a no-nonsense approach to the workout. It is a great workout for your legs and is a "cardio interval" workout, which means your heart rate will lower during sequences of the video, but if you want to keep it high I would suggest jogging in place, but save some energy for the lunges, ski-moves, basketball jumps, and last but not least the wide leg push up. I always have fun doing those in karate.*s* This video uses your largest muscle group in your body (the legs) to get that heart rate going and to build up your endurance, and make that heart muscle stronger by working in intervals. This tape I would classify as an upper-intermediate tape. It is a great tape on those days where you need a good workout, but don't want to deal with complexity.
Instructor Comments:
Lisa Gaylord is just like her video...no-nonsense. She is very strong and athletic and her video is presented in this manner.
I bought this video due to the advertising copy of "fencing moves"....as a fencer for 7 years, I can tell you there is nothing resembling fencing in this video, though Lisa does say "fencing" once.
The push-up variations at the end of the tape were interesting. I would've like to see a little more kickboxing, though.
This is a great tape for folks who like plyometrics — it really gets you airborne and elevates your heartrate, but be warned! The moves aren't in time with the music, so if you're the kind of exerciser (like me) that can't deal with that, don't get this tape!
Overall, I'd give Reebok Power Blast a C - not too good, not too bad.
Instructor Comments:
Lisa is a bit TOO intense and monotone, though a little of that is a nice change from "perky".
I was disapointed with the intensity level of this video. I felt that it was pretty much a waste of my exercise time. I LOVE intensity and after Cathe's MIC and Reebok's Intense Moves this video just does not cut it. It's a shame because I really liked the music. I found that there were too many side to side steps and the warm up and cool down irritated me.
Instructor Comments:
Lisa doesn't cue very well.
I wasn't impressed with this workout. No weights were used for the toning and doing squats with no weights is a waste for me since I use heavy dumbells. The background to this video is a boxing room. I also thought it was strange that there was no stretches.
This video is very high impact and for me, I HAVE to have a good calf stretch for the warm up and cool down. This video has only a Tai Chi type warm up so don't get any good stretches before such high impact moves. The moves are squats, lunges, dips, lunge dip combo with hamstring curl, ski squats, side kicks. I was impressed that Lisa is a 5 degree blackbelt karate but I wish she did more kicks! There is some boxing and jabs at the end of the kicks.
She also does a lot of high impact for the aerobic section and counts too much. This was annoying. She also explains the move too long which can get tiresome if you do the video over and over. She also does 3 sets of pushups on her toes which was impressing and tough. One good thing about this workout is that the music is really upbeat but I am going to put this video on the exchange because for me there is too many (-'s) than (+'s) in this workout. After doing this working, I didn't feel like I was in a good mood compared to when I finish a happy Cathe Friedrich tape.
Instructor Comments:
How cool can you be?? I really didn't like the way Lisa acted. So masculine in her speech and in her body. Yes, she is very toned but the "I am so tough and cool" attitude went way overboard. Her cueing wasn't good either and she doesn't stay on the beat of the music which drove me crazy.
This workout is tragically flawed - it’s a tragedy because I like it so much otherwise! As other reviewers have mentioned, there is way too much time spent doing side-to-side steps while the instructor is explaining what’s coming up. The side-to-side steps lower the intensity of the workout, and the explanations don’t help me much. The moves she’s explaining are mostly simple enough to catch on to just from watching, and listing them ahead of time doesn’t make the combos any easier.
I solve this problem by replacing the side-to-side steps with more intense moves like running in place, jumping jacks, or if I can remember it, whatever aerobics combo we were doing last. This keeps my heartrate up enough to feel I’m getting a good solid intermediate/advanced workout. It would have been much more fun, though, if the workout had been designed without all the breaks.
Otherwise, I really like the movement style in this video. The moves are calisthentic- and sports-type movements put together in simple patterns. I’m not sure what purpose the tai chi warmup and cooldown serve, since they don’t really provide a stretch or get your heartrate up, but I enjoy doing them - the moves feel exotic and fun to me. You go through several circuits of aerobics, lower-body, plyometrics. The aerobics combos are simple but intense. They tend to have eight counts each of three or four moves, e.g. eight jump ropes (that’s the name of the step, you don’t use an actual jump rope,) eight side-to-side turns, eight ski jumps, eight little jumps. You’ll go through the combo a few times, then move to a lower-body toning move such as squats or lunges, then to a plyometric jumping move. There are no weights used, so I think of the squats and lunges as more aerobic moves than strength training.
The last few combos involve some kickboxing (nothing complicated) and some shadowboxing-style punches. You then go to several sets of wide-legged pushups alternating with an exercise where you simply hold your body in pushup position - then lift one arm off the floor. Interesting.
There’s no ab work (although the kickboxing moves would provide some ab strengthening) and no real stretching.
The set is a moodily lit boxer's gym. The cast consists of four female exercisers besides Lisa. One of them shows lower-intensity options, but she's in the back; she'd be hard to follow.
I’ll continue to use this workout in spite of its flaws. It’s hard to find a video that provides fun, non-dancy, intense floor aerobics in limited space, and with modification, this one does that for me.
Instructor Comments:
Lisa Gaylord strikes me as someone who, in junior high school, might have enjoyed beating up someone like me. She also seems like she’s gotten over it, so I get a kick out of working out with her. (Obviously I don’t mean she actually is this way, since I don’t know her - she might have been the meekest one in eighth grade. It’s just how she comes across to me.) Her cueing is clear (even excessive.)
I expected not to like this tape because of the negative reviews. I only bought it because the concept/exercises sounded interesting. Plus the plastic was gone from the tape so the saleslady gave me 25% off of the price. When I first watched the tape, it was just what I expected. Just like the other reviewers said, Lisa does too many side to side steps. Sometimes she doesn't even move with the music. She says that it doesn't even matter. But then I did the tape and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked it!! It won't be one of my favorites but I'm going to keep it. I usually do a tape at least a couple of times before reviewing it. But that's usually if the choreography is complex and I'm trying to learn the moves. But the choreography on this tape is really easy so I worked as hard as I probably normally would. I must add that I did do my own moves during some of the "rest" breaks. After the aerobic circuits, I did some jump-roping moves. In between the toning segments, I did kicks, knee ups, and punches. When I did that, I got a good decent workout. My favorite part of the video is towards the end. Lisa does kickboxing moves. She then does a series of punches. There is a unique back hand punch. It looks like a karate move. We also punch really fast at the end as if we were hitting a speed bag. I felt the back hand punches and speed work in my arms. It felt great!! There's a girl to the right of Lisa (from our view) that does the speed work with her punches going towards her. I thought it was funny because who would want to punch themself. However, that same girl also had a really nice figure. She had muscular arms, 6 pack abs, and nice shapely legs. She didn't look too buff like Lisa. She was muscular but feminine. That motivates me because I would want a body like that someday. But I can only wish.
The pushup section is also good and I felt that in my arms too. Before we do regular pushups (on our toes), we alternate lifting up our left and right arm so that we are balancing on one arm. We do three sets of doing this and regular pushups.
Instructor Comments:
Lisa looks and acts like a super-jock. In high school, she was probably one of the first ones to be picked on a team (I hated when we used to do that because I wasn't). From her attitude, voice, and buff body, she seems super tough. She needs to work on her cueing and not do so many side to side moves.
I really love this video. The first time I did it, I could REALLY feel it in my legs the next two days, from all the squats and lunges, and I do quite a bit of cycling!
This is an intermediate/advanced video, but you could do the low impact version, as shown by one woman in the 'class' and work up to the 'full monty'.
When I do this video in the morning before work, I feel pumped up and happy all day! I get that feeling from Cathe Friedrich's videos, too.
I won't go into detail, as others aleady have done that pretty well.
My only complaint is that the tai chi warm up and cool down aren't really appropriate for this video. I think that Aerobox had a better WU and CD. You really need to get the blood pumping and get a good stretch in your legs before starting the workout, and at the end, you're really pumped up, and she just throws this tai chi thing at you! Instead I do a few grapevines, then stretch.
Don't get me wrong. I love tai chi, but everything has it's place!
A really motivating thing about this video is the six-pack abs on a number of the women in the 'class'. I don't know if they're on fat burning powders and protein drinks, but it makes me think that it's achievable!
Overall marks:
Warm up and cool down: D
circuit workout itself: A
Unfortunately, like all the other Reebok videos, these aren't (yet) in PAL format, just NTSC. It's a darn shame that everyone on Europe, Austrlaia, New Zealand, etc are missing out on this video, as well as Intense Moves, and some others from their line, unless they have a VCR that plays both formats.
Instructor Comments:
Her high-pitched voice doesn't seem to match the macho women in the video, but I don't really notice that anymore. She does say some wierd things like 'I can feel you now', but I tune it out (kind of like listening to your mother nagging you after 35 years!).
I wasn't too sure about the video considering the mixed reviews. The class does have some flaws, but overall I think its a good "interval-type" training tape. It provides a good aerobic workout for about 25 minutes and then goes into punches and kicks for 10 minutes (my heart rate slows down during this part of the class). I agree that I'm disappointed in the warm-up and cool-down. The warm-up is not adequate considering the types of moves done soon after. I'm not very familiar with martial arts, but these sections do not do what they should do-- prepare the exerciser for some heaving jumping and athletic moves and stretch following a strenuous workout.
I agree with one reviewer-- this tape is great for travel because you need no equipment. While it doesn't provide a great upper body workout, the "push-up" section is a nice challenge (and I hate pushups). And the lunges are also good.
One thing no one mentioned in the reviews was that the program is designed to improve speed, agility, and balance. This tape can definitely be challenging and is good for someone who isn't into dance and prefers athletic moves. Also, this tape is a decent length-- under 50 minutes.
I agree with some criticism about the side-to-side "shuffling" in this tape-- you're just moving your feet until the instructor explains the next move, but I think jogging in place or doing jumping jacks can work pretty well. Also, there were a lot of moves that I found difficult to keep up with, but I think they can be improvised on if necessary.
I like this tape for its aerobics and interesting moves. I found the warm-up inadequate and the cool-down dull, but I think this tape is worth looking into for an intermediate exerciser who wants floor aerobics with intervals. I have K Smith's Functionally Fit Peak Fat Burning tape which is OK but not nearly as challenging or inspiring as this one.
Instructor Comments:
Serious but pleasant enough. She explains her moves well enough and demonstrates them beforehand. Not too difficult to follow, even for people with less coordination.
