Petra Kolber
I thought this workout was fun and had creative choreography. Petra's cues were excellent. For those stuck in a rut with Leslie and Debbie this workout bumps it up a few notches. Both in choreography and intensity. I did not like that each segment had a warm up and cool down. The longest warm up is in the Athletic Cardio 20 minute segment. I think Petra or Acacia intended this to be the first segment to be played since Petra also greets everyone to a wonderful morning. This workout also includes a Bonus Stretch of 5 min., a Bonus from "Weightloss Cardio Sculpt" 5 min., and a Bonus from "Yoga For Beginners" 7 minutes. I feel this workout should not have included a Warm Up and Cool Down in every segment. It should have been like Denise's "Burn Fat Fast Cardio Blast" which includes a separate Warm Up and Cool Down and it also has the option of Play All.
Instructor comments:
Petra is very motivating and friendly. Petra cues very well.
Sundari
March 18, 2009
If you are looking for straightforward, easy to follow choreography that is seriously for all fitness levels, then Cardio for Beginners with Petra Kolber is for you. Petra provides easy to understand cuing and her positive "you can do it" attitude will keep you motivated.
The dvd has 4 different sections and you can play them in any order. Two contain athletic based cardio moves and the other two are more dancy (but nothing is too intricate).
The dance moves include such moves as step touches, grapevines and mambos. The athletic moves are more basic. They include marches, repeaters and v-steps.
Petra keeps it simple for beginners by taking it from the top (TIFTing) which encourages the viewer to pick up the moves more quickly. (she'll demonstrate a combo, then adds another, then you'll repeat the sequence adding combo 1 now with combo 2...) Everything is low impact (both feet always stay in contact with the floor), however it is quite easy to "bump up the intensity" in any of the 4 workouts. You can make a squat a powerful plyometric squat or use arms all the time--advanced exercisers should be able to increase intensity/impact where they see fit.
Each of the 4 sections contains its own brief warmup. I found that when doing all 4 segments together, I'd do one of the warmups and then march in place during the brief warmups of the other 3 so my heart rate would stay up.
This has quickly become a favorite, 'go-to' cardio workout for me. Petra is delightful and encouraging.
Instructor comments:
Denise R
4-5-09
