Just ordered my first Kelly Coffey Meyers..

[Karen Beckwith]

Originally Posted by juberann

How about the stretching in Kelly's workouts? Are the cool downs long enough,in your opinion? Judy

I've never thought the stretching was lacking so I guess it must be OK. Of course, I always do some extra stretching at the end of almost any workout (I have this little routine I like to do).

[ssgilby]

Originally Posted by juberann

How about the stretching in Kelly's workouts? Are the cool downs long enough,in your opinion? Judy

Personally, probably my only "gee, I wish . . ." moments with KCM's workouts are during the stretch sections. I do with that her stretch sections were a bit longer. She does seem to hit every area that's been worked, but she seems to hold stretches less than 10 seconds even. Too short, IMO. But, like Karen, I just add some of my own at the end.

[Vee]

I always do my own stretches anyway. I've stopped doing the stretches in workout DVDs because I like stretches from yoga better and I never feel stretched enough from the rather short stretch that concludes most DVDs I own.

[antbuko]

I do my own stretching too. This week while Kelly was doing the second round of abs in NYC I did my own stretches. I think most instructors don't take enough time to stretch but I don't really mind.

[toaster]

Originally Posted by juberann

And now after reading comments about StepBoxing,I may give it a try in the near future. I figure if I can get (most) of the FIRMs choreography down I should be able to get Kelly's down. Hopefully I am right in assuming that. I am not sure how I will do with her "cuing on the fly",that MAY pose some problems for me but at least when you get the steps down you don't have to relearn them over and over again every time you do the workout so I do see the sense in teaching the way Kelly instructs.

Hmm, Judy, I'm not sure if this is a safe assumption--to me, the choreo of SB2 was WAY more complex than the Firm! Kelly also moves quite fast, which makes it really challenging for choreo klutzes like me--as much as I like Kelly, I traded this one after a single attempt.

But I do really like Kelly's other stuff, and I just did The Shape of Things to Come this morning. Here the cardio segments are short and the choreo is quite simple--right up my alley! And the weight work is different and interesting, including some moves you won't see anywhere else. The only thing I don't really like is the abs work, and yes, a little more stretching at the end would've been nice. I have and like NYC too; I think Kelly does a better job with the abs in that one.

[juberann]

Hi Beth~ I kinda figured the StepBoxing would be tricky but what about the cardio segment in her CardioSculpt workout that came out not too long ago at the same time SB2 did? Is that any easier? I see myself passing on the Stepboxing workouts but I am definitely going to get 30 Minutes to Fitness,now that one looks like a winner.
Kelly lifts differently then I'm used to seeing and that also concerned me but I signed up on her message boards and read her explanation of why she lifts the way she does and I felt better about it. I also seen some names of other VFers over there,including you,toaster While it's a tiny community there I like the fact that Kelly herself responds so often Judy

[gtmrfc]

I just did the mixed total body premix from "Thirty Minutes to Fitness" this evening. I used 10 - 15 pound weights. It was exhausting! (I was think throughout that the workout was just as tough as my kettlebell workout was on Tuesday evening. I would love to see Kelley make one!)

Anyway, what I love most about Kelley's choreography is the way in which she just throws you in there. It starts out fast and stays that way. This means that I have no chance back out -- you start moving your feet, and, all of a sudden, you're in the middle of the workout. There's no dread factor!

In addition, the little tifting she does keeps the workout fresh. It may take some time to learn it, but it doesn't get boring with the repeated explanations that are still there long after you have learned the workout. Finally, I LOVE her standing ab work in Ready, Step, Go!, and I am not a big fan of crunches or planks or bicycles or . . .

[naturallove]

I tried this yesterday morning and I liked it. There certainly isn't a lot of breakdown, and Kelly's cueing is sparse, but I caught onto everything pretty quickly. (I didn't use it, but there's a separate tutorial.) I did everything up to the floor kickboxing segment. The one complaint I do have is that the fourth combo didn't flow very well. It wasn't intuitive what the lead foot should be on certain parts of the combo and it was my least favorite. There is a decent amount of TIFTing, but it wasn't too bad. I did the (kneeling) abdominal section on the BOSU, Kelly does it on a piece of a half foam roller. I don't have the strongest abs in the world, but I thought it was pretty boring and repetitive. I'll skip this one in favor of another ab workout, like Cathe's Stability Ball abs (Butts and Guts) or maybe even TJ Ab Jam.