Video Fitness

Burn It Up

Debbie Siebers

Burn It Up is one of six videos included in the "Slim In Six" package that is available through infomercials or you can go to beachbody.com for more information. As some of you may know, I've got a resistance tubing/pilates routine going on right now and since these videos use tubing for resistance, they caught my eye and my credit card.

However, there is so much more going on in these videos besides the use of the resistance tube. You get everything from kickboxing, to resistance training, to floorwork, and yoga. This truly is a well rounded workout.

The so called "science" surrounding the Slim In Six system is that you use these six videos for six weeks to help you to slim down. The Burn It Up video is recommended after using the program's other two videos for three weeks. Since I'm an advanced exerciser, I used this one after the second week and totally skipped the begginer video "Start It Up."

Burn It Up is about 60 minutes long. You start off with a five minute warm up, move on to a combination of cardio and lower body exercises which consists of easy to follow kickboxing moves that are pretty intense but not Billy Blanks intense, squats, lunges, dips, plie squats, standing side crunches, standing oblique crunches, jumping jacks, running in place and marching in place. The lower body resistance moves like the squats are not performed with any weights or resistance tubes.

Then it is on to upper body training using the tubing. You do two sets of double arm lat rows, two sets of overhead shoulder presses, two sets of bicep curls, and two sets of overhead tricep extentions. My arms were on fire by the time I was through. Next you move to the floor where the real fun begins. There is some killer leg work consisting of donkey kicks, hamstring curls, and butt blaster work (bending your knee, flexing your foot and raising your leg up and down). At this point I could see why you did not need to use any tubing or weights for the standing lower body work, they wanted to make sure you had enough energy left for the floor work where your legs will turn into jelly! Oh yeah, I can't forget the push ups that Debbie threw in between working the legs. I would have preferred more chest work but two sets of push ups was enough for me with this workout.

After blasting the legs, a series of pretty tough ab crunches come next and you finish with a very nice, calming six minute yoga stretch.

According to the instructor, by doing such low resistance everyday for six weeks will give you a long lean look and not bulk up the muscle since you are not giving the muscle 48 hrs. to rest. I have heard of other similar programs doing this like Laura Drayton's Lower Body System, and even the Firm was advocating alternating between heavy and light weight workouts for a while. So I'm going to try this and see what kind of results I get.

I would definately rank Burn It Up as an intermediate to advanced video. The moves are very athletic and easy to follow but they are tough. I was dripping with sweat at the end of this workout. The production quality is good but not great. The set is a little too dark for me. There is a clock at the bottom of the screen counting down the minutes until the end of the video and advice and tips are occasionally flashed at the bottom of the screen (i.e. follow Debbie's breathing, push off with your heels when doing lunges and squats, etc). At first I though that little clock and the tips would bother me but now I appreciate it. I think beginners and anyone new to resitance training will also enjoy the tips and information featured at the bottom of the screen.

I can't judge the whole program yet (I'll know after six weeks) but the video is a winner. Excellent workout!

Instructor comments: Has a pleasant personality but her cueing could be better. Especially since there is not any difficult choreography in this workout.

Tiffanee Saunders, CFT
TSaund2786@aol.com
6/4/2002

This is my favorite video in the Slim in 6 series. It was long, hard, fun, straightforward and just a great workout. I am one of those people who enjoys Debbie as an instructor and likes the Slim Series (which I started with) a great deal. I have done Start It Up and Ramp It Up from the Slim in 6 Series. Burn It Up is the most difficult of the three. It had more repetitions and different moves (although many were similar to the ones in the prior videos). I used light weights during the cardio portions of the other videos, but did not in Burn It Up. It wasn't necessary. I was working hard, sweating and enjoying the movements which are simple, repetitive and no-nonsense. If you want variety in choreography and get bored with basic moves (but ones that are intense) this is not the workout for you, but if you want your workouts served up clean and hard and that are sufficient targets for each muscle group, then Burn It Up is for you! The BUN BURNERS at the end are killers. Each side was worked out (right and left legs) for almost 4 minutes. A long pushup segment was at the end of each leg segment. The video format is warmup, cardio (including standing abs and legs via lunges and squats), upper body weight training (they used tubes, I used 8 lb. dumbells), lower body work, floor work for legs/glutes, abs and stretch. Overall, a good, hard, SOLID workout. I enjoyed it.

Instructor comments: I really like Debbie's personality and smile. She is very pleasant, friendly, nonintimidating and motivating throughout. She is not chatty like Charlene, but does keep talking and counting throughout. Sometimes her cuing comes on too quickly, but it did not bother me. What I really like is that she kept most movements slow and controlled.

Janet ONeil

July 1, 2003

This an excellent video. I love it. It combines high-rep/fast strength moves (endurance), with cardio.

Others have talked more about it in detail, but i'm just putting this review here because I love it so much.

Instructor comments: Excellent. Motivating, friendly. I like her voice.

Sometimes off the beat.

Leela
leela@theworld.com
7/29/03

This is a hard tape for me to review because I try really hard to be thorough with my VF reviews but I just don't know what to say about this one. It is exactly like every other Debbie Siebers workout I have ever done. There is literally nothing to distinguish this in any way from any of the other workouts in this series. You do squats with arm motions. You do lunges. You mess with tubing. I think I remember floor work. Yawn. If you have seen any other Debbie Siebers workout---or if you have seen any other review of any Debbie Siebers workout---you will know exactly what to expect here, and there really isn't more I can say. Many love the "Slim" series. I am one of the few who is so-so about it. The routine is okay (if a little too lower body focused) and Debbie is okay and all in all it was a whole pile of merely okay for me.

Instructor comments: Debbie is not my favourite instructor, but she is growing on me a little. I did not mind her here. But for some reason she does not say "fun" to me.

Joanna

07/21/04

I really enjoyed Burn It Up! However, I don't believe it is one I will pull out of my collection very often. I got out of exercising due to injury for several months, and bought Slim in Six as a way to get back into exercising, and it worked.

Burn It Up is approximately an hour long and is a full body workout. Your heart rate stays pretty high due to high repetitions of squats, lunges, etc. There is very little "aerobics" to it. A few jumping jacks and jogging in place sections that last 15 or 20 seconds to get your heart rate back up.

The second half of it is working with resistance bands for upper body work and then floor work for push ups, lots of different legs lifts and ab work. Although there is only one exercise for each upper body muscle group, after six days for four weeks you definitely tone up!

At the end of Burn It Up I was in much better shape and lost six pounds and about 4 inches. Nothing extreme, but I didn't have much to lose in the first place.

If you are already an avid advanced exerciser, I wouldn't necessarily recommend purchasing this workout, unless for some reason (pregnancy, injury, etc.) you need to get back into shape. It does get a bit monotonous doing the same workout six days a week, but that's where the success in it lies--in working the same muscles everyday with low resistance. But it might be a great full-body hour workout once in awhile.

Instructor comments: I really like Debbie in this series. Very calm, helpful and friendly. The only thing I do not like is her counting is off from one side to the other sometimes.

Kellee

February 12, 2005

I started Slim in 6 over 10 weeks ago. I am now well into the "Burn It Up!" phase and while I find all the videos similar, this one is definitely a work out! The moves aren't much different from the few others I've done of the Slim in 6 Series, but the intensity is far greater. I really like the fact that it incorporates strength training (resistance bands) with cardio to get an effective workout in a reasonable amount of time.

I think it's a great workout and really enjoy all of the Slim in 6 workouts. I can see how they would get very boring after some time though as they all seem to be so similar to eachother.

I would highly recommend the entire Slim in 6 Series. Burn It Up is one of the more advanced ones and is, overall, a great workout.

Instructor comments: Debbie seems very enthusiastic and gives very good instruction. However, she can be quite annoying and her counting is off frequently. That can be remedied by switching sides that you start with every day to get a more even workout.

Cleo

10/5/06

I was lucky enough to find a Si6 2-DVD set at a used book sale for just $3!  Although I had previously tried several of the Slim Series workouts and had found them to be somewhat boring, being the vidiot that I am, I couldn't pass up such a great deal. ;)  Plus, I was still curious Si6 as VFers tend to rave about these workouts.

Slim in 6 is filmed in the same indoor studio as Slim Series.  As with all Beach Body workouts, there is a countdown clock showing you exactly how much time is left in the workout; a sidebar also ticks off as each chapter is completed.  The music can be somewhat strident and annoying, but luckily, there is a "music off" option.  Debbie works out with two background exercisers, Sherry and Seth.  Debbie does not mirror cue, and she sometimes counts reps unevenly from side-to-side.  However, she does frequently show modifications for the exercises.

At 59 minutes, Burn It Up! is the longest workout in the original Si6 set.  It is also designed to be the most challenging--you are not supposed to attempt BIU until you have mastered both Start It Up! and Ramp It Up! first.  Overall, however, Burn In Up!, is actually fairly similar to the previous workout, Ramp It Up!  The main difference is that instead of starting the workout with plies, Debbie opens with a lengthy squat segment which includes front, back, and side kicks.  Otherwise, all of the other sections are similar, just slightly longer and more intense, with a bit more jogging thrown in as well.

The exercises are as follows:

*Warm-Up, 4.5--virtually the same as RIU, but ends with a brief jog
*Squats, 9m--includes squats w/kicks, plus front, back, & side kicks
*Standing Abs, 6.5m--start w/jogs & jacks; move into standing abs, including upper & front punches; end with plies and knee ups
*Lunge Series, 5m--brief jog moves into back then front lunges
*Standing Abs, 7m--repeat abs from before; end with travelling plies
*water break, 15 sec
*Band Work, 6.5m--rows, biceps, shoulders, triceps
*Floor Work, 10m--on forearm all 4s, both bent and straight leg lifts; push-ups on knees between sides
*Abs, 4m--various crunches
*Lying Stretch, 2m
*Yoga, 4m--a few basic yoga positions including standing forward bend, exalted warrior, and proud warrior, all performed while still wearing athletic shoes

I really liked the start of this workout--I enjoy kickboxing, so I loved the first segment.  As the workout wore on, however, I got more and more bored. :(  Everything just started to feel so repetitive--e.g., doing the exact same standing abs work twice, doing almost the same band work from RIU, etc.  Plus, I hate floorwork done on hands & knees and yoga done in shoes, so that didn't help.  However, I can see how this workout would be effective, and given that it is well-chaptered, I may still use it by picking and choosing the parts which most appeal to me.

Instructor Comments:  Debbie is friendly and quite perky--she can be a bit TOO perky, although she isn't over-the-top.  She can be a little off-the-beat with her counting though, which may bother some people.

Beth C (aka toaster)

05/15/09



Video Fitness copyright © 1996 - 2024 Wendy Niemi Kremer    All rights reserved