Patrick Goudeau
“Playball” is a compact, 30-minute routine
that will work up a sweat, while challenging
your balance, core strength and agility.
Set and music: Patrick and his two
background exercisers, Stephanie and
Connie, work out in a light, airy studio to an
upbeat, soft-rock track. The workout takes
up only a minimal amount of space.
Workout: Patrick starts off with some step-
touches and lunges, while holding the ball
out at chest height, then moves into jump
squats where you touch your med ball to the
floor, then jump up while holding it
overhead at arms’ length. Then there are
continuous low lunges (ie you keep very low
throughout, without coming back to a
standing position). Patrick introduces a
burpee-like move, in which you go into a
plank with both hands on the ball, then
quickly jump forward to that both feet are
on either side of the ball. Then there’s a
“basketball drill” in which you weave the ball
around your legs in a figure-eight. (I like to
use a compact, slightly soft Gymnic med
ball for this bit.)
There are also a few balance challenges and
some standing ab work. These exercises
include: standing side crunches using the
ball for resistance; holding the ball up high
as you kick high; a move where you lunge
very low while holding the ball to one side
(“as though you were passing it to a very
short person” as Patrick explains it) then
rotate the ball in a wide arc so that you are
reaching up high on the other side — I really
felt this in my abs!
Then comes the “bowling ball lunges”. You
lunge forward as though you were about to
bowl your med ball, then bring the ball right
overhead at the end of your outstretched
arm. (From the concentration on everyone’s
face, I gather this would be difficult to
execute with a traditional, hard med ball, so
I used a Gymnic med ball for this bit.) The
bowling ball lunge then morphs into a one-
armed shoulder press while standing on one
leg.
By this time Patrick, Stephanie and Connie
had worked up a serious sweat, so it’s down
to the floor for some more ab work. This
included: push-ups with one hand on the
ball; a straight-leg plank with both hands
on the ball, then slowly bringing one knee
into your chest and then — I hope you’re
sitting down! — maintaining that position
while “jogging” (bringing alternate knees
into your chest at a very fast pace). After
some more core work, Patrick uses the med
ball for an extra range of motion during a
brief stretch segment.
Overall impressions: In keeping with its
sporty title, “Playball” is very athletic: there
are no dancey moves here. I think the entire
routine is well-designed: the ball is used
throughout the workout to add resistance
and challenge your balance.
The entire workout is easy to follow, in that
it uses simple movements, but Patrick does
transition very quickly from one move to
another, which can be tricky if you are using
different med balls as I like to do.
The production is nothing fancy, but very
professional. The entire workout is well-
edited: you can see exactly what you need
to see when you need to see it.
I can see myself using “Playball” regularly to
improve my agility and core strength, and as
a fun add-on cardio routine. My only gripe
is that there is no real warm-up, so you
may want to do your own, or use “Playball”
after another cardio session.
I would rate the level as intermediate/
advanced. Some of the exercises reminded
me of Tony Horton and Mindy Mylrea’s, so if
you enjoy their workouts, you would
probably like this one.
Only one exercise is high impact (which you
could easily modify) but due to the number
of squats and continuous low lunges,
exercisers with knee problems would
definitely want to avoid this one.
My rating for both workout and production:
5/5
Instructor comments:
This was my first experience with Patrick. I had
heard that he is prone to giggling (which I
hate) but here he laughed a bit at his own
near-goofs and just because he was having
fun. He joked around with Stephanie and
Connie, and was motivating. I counted “Oh my
gosh!” twice.
RedPanda
November 2008
