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Old 05-23-10, 08:35 AM  
Sandi S
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
what are your favorite Margaret Richard workouts & why

I purchased Margaret's Good 'N Strong DVD and love it. I enjoy Margaret's soft demeanor, music, the outdoor setting but most of all the choice/variety of exercises. I like that she varies the exercise when working a muscle group and also some exercises are standing and others are on the floor. So, what are your favorite Margaret Richard's workouts and why? I've read the reviews and did multiple searches. Help! I want to buy more of her workouts. I think Sculpture, Beauty to the Bone and All My Best sound interesting - are they ones that you reach for over and over?

Sandi
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Old 05-23-10, 09:10 AM  
rogerskoler
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
I only ventured out and tried one of hers. I have All My Best. It's a good variety and has 4 one half hour workouts. They look easy to just view but when you actually go to do them, they are killers. She makes them look easy because she's all smiles and not a drop of sweat on her and she makes it look effortless. Looks are so deceiving on these.

Her floorwork is killer. I pull this out every so often because there are no squats or lunges which I enjoy taking a break from. I did 3 of the workouts on the DVD yesterday and I'm a little sore today. It's a good DVD to throw in when I want to work muscles differently and I don't dread it too too much, but it's a killer with all the reps.

If I had to say anything negative about this particular workout it's the ab sections. They aren't that great so I do my own ab workouts in place of what she does.

People here are saying her Upper/Lower Body Sculpting DVD is tougher than Squeeze Stronger so I will stay away from that one. lol But maybe if you love torture, you'd like that one too.
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Old 05-23-10, 05:24 PM  
videofit
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
All My Best 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 are great ways for newbies to sample her other workouts. The first AMB was how I got hooked into buying all the DVDs featured in that one.

If you really like Maggie, want variety and don't mind a dated look fashion wise, you might get more value for money from The Classics, which are four different older workouts, my two faves are Home Improvement (floorwork chapter) and High Voltage, shot at a marina.

Perfect 10 has two challenging workouts broken down into four chapters with some different kinds of moves. 1994 I think.

Unplugged 1900 Series Vol. 1, eight short outdoor workouts and they look like they were shot at the same time as Good'n'Strong or Triple Threat.

Triple Threat and Sculpture are her toughest ones. I alternate them on the weekend, so I can devote one day to upper body and the next to lower body.

Muscle & Grace and Strong & Limber for Life are two different DVDs with one strength and one stretch workout each, so you might only want to get one.
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Old 05-23-10, 07:37 PM  
Sandi S
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
thank you for your replies

Deciding would be much easier if Margaret had video clips. Collage Video has All My Best - I'll look at the video clip again. I've watched Margaret's Body Electric show years ago and didn't think I'd enjoy her workouts until I tried Good 'N Strong. It's a pleasant surprise.

Sandi
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Old 05-23-10, 07:54 PM  
rogerskoler
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandi S View Post
Deciding would be much easier if Margaret had video clips. Collage Video has All My Best - I'll look at the video clip again. I've watched Margaret's Body Electric show years ago and didn't think I'd enjoy her workouts until I tried Good 'N Strong. It's a pleasant surprise.

Sandi
I agree that it would be nice if there were some videos we could preview to help us decide especially since they are a bit expensive. Maybe try digging around youtube to see if you can find something.
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Old 05-23-10, 10:39 PM  
Sandi S
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
all I needed was a friendly nudge

I watched the All My Best 1 & 2 video clip at Collage Video again and ordered it. I haven't ordered from Collage in a long time and it was cheaper than Margaret's site. :-)

Sandi
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Old 05-23-10, 11:34 PM  
Pam61
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Sandi,

I think you made a good decision with "All My Best" because the variety for so many different workouts is really terrific.

I have a special fondeness for "Good 'n Strong" as it was my first, too! Love the outdoor setting!

I like them all for so many different reasons. This past week, I've been doing "Beauty to the Bone" and it's also very good with four strength selections containing an upper or lower body focus. There's a brief warmup and cooldown between each hour. I like that one of the lower body sections is mostly standing, while the other is on the floor. You have the option to use ankle weight or not. Both upper body segments are a bit different, one with Margaret doing pushups for pecs, and the other section she does chest flyes. She again does two different options for abs, some seated in a chair, and the other more traditional crunches on the floor. For triceps and legwork she pre-fatigues the muscles so they've really had it by the time you're done. Her shoulder work will make you decrease your weight selection pretty quickly, and she says she "loves shoulder work because it makes her feel empowered!"

The setting for "Beauty to the Bone" is indoors, with Margaret and a couple background exercisers (either Tanya or Stephanie.) Margaret's hair is curly with bangs and her outfit doesn't seem dated like so much of the shiny outfits she sometimes wears. I believe she's in black from head to toe. The floors are bare and the backdrop is more modern looking with curtains and contemporary artwork. The music is a nice variety.

The standouts for me in this particular workout are the standing lower body (just because it's different doing table top work with the legs in a vertical position.) I also really like her tricep, shoulder, and glute work!

Heck, they're all good. I'm just thinking about this one because I just did it this weekend!

Have fun with AMB!
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Old 05-24-10, 01:35 AM  
Janga
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
everything she does is good.
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Old 05-24-10, 08:35 AM  
agatha
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Pam, how does the "intensity" of Beauty to the Bone compare with Muscle & Grace?
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Old 05-24-10, 12:31 PM  
Pam61
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Hi agatha,

Gosh, that's a tough question. I have to say for the Upper Body, Muscle and Grace is slightly more intense because she pre-fatiques many of the muscles, and she crams a lot into those 30 minutes.

She does pushups (at least 40 or more) then, proceeds to chest flyes. For triceps she does the exercises with a weighted bar, and then does dips right afterwards. Biceps are done with a very fast tempo, and then she changes to concentration curls doubling up on the weights. I really like that by the time you get to Deltoids she uses the bar, but then this is the DVD that shows variations on the types of weights each person uses, so it makes it nice to change up the workout each time you do it! For the back she does more upright row type exercises that she did for shoulders, but with your elbows out to the sides of waist, with you pulling your shoulder blades together. And, I think it's great that Margaret demonstrates her form for Shoulder and Back work, as she has a beautiful back!

When she gets to the Lower Body she does pretty typical exercises for abs (crunches) but then she has her leg weights above the knee for outer thigh exercises (and I really like that!) By the time you get to the inner thighs you're already sore from the weights! Glutes she does with the weights draped across her lower abs/hips which makes it more challenging. Then she does Quad/Hamstring work standing with the bar used for balance. You do your typical plies, squats, etc. The calves are also worked using the bar/chair to lean against with various pulses/tempos.

But, I actually think the standing leg section in Beauty to the Bone is tougher and I also like the fact that you get multiple choices for upper/lower body. I would rather have two lower/upper body workout options, as opposed to the one strength workout on Muscle and Grace! I also think the shoulder work in Beauty to the Bone is tougher because she does so many fast pulses and tempo changes. Even though in Muscle and Grace your arms are already sore by the time you get to the Delt segment from everything you've done before.

See, I'm no help, am I? I like them both and the intensity is what you make it with the weights you choose.
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Last edited by Pam61; 05-24-10 at 12:40 PM. Reason: typo
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