Rob Glick, Violet Zaki, Gay Gasper, Kimberly Spreen and Kendell
I’m reviewing this workout after doing each workout once.
Note: CC has already described the whole Star Trainers series (which also includes a Strength video and an Abs video); I’m just describing the cardio one here and may repeat what she’s already said in parts.
General workout breakdown: This DVD contains 5 separate ~30 min. cardio workouts, each with their own brief warm-up and cool-down. Each workout has a slightly different feel due to the style of the lead instructor.
*Rob Glick’s Cardio Party (32 min.) begins with basic hi/lo aerobics moves (v-step, step w/ knee lift, box step, hamstring curls) that build up into a short combo; after that Rob just keeps going, teaching two more combos in TIFT style (take it from the top, or combine combos together into one big routine); also, he slices and dices (or weaves) the three parts of the last combo, but never does that with all three combos. The workout ends with a quick cool-down / stretch (~3 min.). Rob continues the slightly dancy-type hi/lo aerobics theme throughout his whole routine; although those of us who have tried some of Rob’s other workouts will find this less complex (and certainly less turn-intensive) than usual for Rob, this is the most complex and danciest workout and thus has the steepest learning curve of all of the segments on this DVD.
*Gay Gasper’s Cardio Espresso (31.5 min.) begins with basic hi/lo aerobic moves (v-step, stomp out, hamstring curl) and some dynamic / range of motion stretches (~5 min.) before teaching four combos, which are thrown away (i.e. not added together and repeated) after finished. This session also ends with a short (but more thorough than on other segments) stretch focusing primarily on the lower body and back (~3 min.). Gay also teaches hi/lo; she’s more athletic / less dancy than Rob but slightly dancier than Kendell.
*Violet Zaki’s Cardio Kick Butt (31.5 min.) begins with martial arts arms (e.g. blocks, elbows, knife hands) and athletic moves (e.g. jumping jacks, jogging or marching, squats) before continuing with push-ups, mountain climbers, football runs, plie squats into crescent kick preps, skater hops, ginga / knee lifts, front kicks, jumping jacks, lunges, standing twists, jump rope, modified burpee, back kicks, and a few other athletic / martial arts / “boot camp” moves. A Tai Chi-inspired cool-down and very quick lower body & upper back stretch (~2.5 min.) closes the segment. This is the least purely cardio of the workouts, as there are some strength moves (which can still get or keep your heartrate up) intermixed. Exercises are done individually or in short series, with no choreography or combos to speak of.
*Kendell Hogan’s Peak Performance Cardio (32 min.) begins with simple moves plus a few static stretches (~4 min.) before building up simple combos with basic hi/lo and athletic moves, with more of the latter than the former, including a few sports-inspired steps; he mixes in moves like squats and lunges, too (e.g. the first combo begins with a v-step into a squat into a run run). Kendell’s combos are short and not really as choreographed as Rob’s or even Gay’s, but he runs through all combos together at the end before the short cool-down with a few stretches, more for the upper body than lower, at least in comparison to the other instructors (~3.5 min.). For what it’s worth, to me it feels like he has more filler steps (e.g. marching in place) than the other instructors.
*Kimberly Spreen’s Power Within (33 min.) claims to be an interval-training workout. Simple steps and dynamic stretches serve as a quick warm-up (~3 min.). Kimberly uses moves like lunges, knee lifts, repeaters, jumping jacks, step touch / side to side hop, squats, chair pose on toes, front kicks, ski hops and other jumping rope variations, aisw leaps, side crunch, side leg lift, shuffle, hamstring curl, and other more athletic moves. The “intervals” are more short power bursts when Kimberly adds impact to the base moves; she’ll then provide a quick recovery, which may include a few filler steps (e.g. step side to side) before starting back up. The stretch (~4 min.) moves through dynamic and static stretches for the lower body, back, and torso. Like Violet she doesn’t really build combos but moves through exercises, some of which form mini-series, one at a time.
Level: I’d recommend this to intermediate exercisers, although some experienced beginner / intermediates and some intermediate / advanced exercisers may also like this with the appropriate modifications down or up. Each segment includes high impact (i.e. both feet off the floor at once) moves, although for the most part these moves aren’t particularly jarring; I’m not a high impact junkie, and the moves here are within my realm of tolerance.
Class: Each instructor has four background exercisers, one of whom wears a heart rate monitor (and, yes, the numbers thrown out seem random and certainly should be taking with a grain of salt since they’re not really given in proper context, like the wearer’s weight, level of fitness, etc.), one of whom might show modifications to take out impact or pivots, and one of whom is male (if the lead instructor is female; if the instructor is male, all background exercisers are female). Surprisingly, only Kimberly pops up in one of the other instructor’s workouts (she’s in Rob’s).
Music: mostly instrumentals, although there are some (remade) vocals, usually upbeat and better than average for fitness videos. I’ve heard some tunes before on other videos, however.
Set: bright interior studio with colored lights behind windows and curtains and black and white photos of each Star Trainer.
Production: clear picture and sound, with camera angles usually showing all to mostly all of the class, with surprisingly few close-ups.
Equipment: sneakers.
Space Requirements: You should be able to take a few steps in each direction. These aren’t the most compact workouts (especially Rob’s), but they’re not huge space hogs.
DVD Notes: The main menu offers these options: Workouts, Custom (which allows you to select more than one workout to do at once), and Trailers (for Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser, Envy Girls, and Denise Austin workouts).
As noted, Propel fitness water is plugged at the beginning of each workout and during a water break about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way into each segment. (One method of dealing with this annoyance is asking oneself who seems least interested in fulfilling their plug obligations.) And while we’re on the subject of annoyances, each session begins with the same Star Trainers montage plus the instructor intro and meet the cast bit (~1.5 min.) which can’t be skipped.
Comments: This offers a nice little variety of short cardio sessions that work well as add ons or for those who don’t have lots of time. Because of the different styles, most likely not everyone will like every one of these. Personally, as a hi/lo fan I’m more partial to Rob’s and Gay’s, although I enjoyed Kendell’s, too, because of his personality. Actually, I like (but don’t love) all except Violet’s; that type of workout just isn’t my cup of tea.
Instructor comments:
Each instructor has his/her own personality and style of instruction, but they all cue well, mirror cue (when they do mention direction – some are more thorough than others in this regard), and are encouraging and positive without being overbearing or obnoxious.
KathAL79
January 21, 2009
