KCM 30 Minutes to Fitness Favorites...
 

Hi y'all! I recently got into Kettelbell Kickboxing right after a MetaShred rotation thanks to your suggestions! While I loved both and will continue to use them independent of a strict rotation, I'm feeling a bit burnt out on "systems" and seeing the same instructors repeatedly day after day, so I decided to revisit what's already in my extensive exercise DVD library to weed out what stays and what goes at an eventual yard sale, trade or whatever.

I did KCM Plateau Buster 1 today and it brought back how much I love her and the succinctness and efficiency of this 30 Minute series! I see she's got a ton more out since I last bought one and I'm seeking suggestions on the best of the best of these.

My goals, as usual, are strength, endurance, definition and overall body re-composition. I also do all high impact moves on my rebounder just because it's less punishing on my joints, so easily modifiable is a big plus.

Thanks for your input!

We've got all the same goals :) I think that Muscle Up would probably be a good choice for strength. I also really like Shape Up and Trim Down for endurance.

KCM is one of my favorite instructors, though I haven't clicked with all of her workouts. My favorites are:

Lean Body Circuits
Cardio Pump
Plateau Buster

I also like Trim Down but need to build up endurance, I do think it moves quickly in some spots. Kickboxing is the one DVD of hers I have had the longest, I pull it out every so often but sometimes struggle with the moves, my issue mainly.

Really, all of her workouts are good, I have tried most of them but the three listed are my very favorites of hers.

My favorites are Cardio Blast, Circuit Burn, and Your Best Body.

Cardio Blast-You get an easy to follow step workout and a fun plyometric workout.

Circuit Burn-This dvd covers all the bases for cardio and strength.

Your Best Body-This is a good strength dvd with premixes to include cardio between body parts if you wish. There is also a short yoga section.

Hope that helps!

Please note I am likely to change my mind in a few months:

1. Strength and Stamina is my current favorite. It uses a kettlebell for some parts, but you can use a dumbbell (like Samantha) or skip those sections by using a premix. Also, includes a step workout.
2. Split Sessions - I use a premix that is a full body strength workout.
3. Athletic Conditioning 2 - A mix of cardio/strength with her son and niece. Just fun.

Runners up: Cardio Blast, Stepboxing, Cardio Blast, Weights

The only ones I didn't care for:
1. Trim Down - goes too fast for me to have good form. I am not coordinated.
2. Kickboxing - I am too choreographically challenged.

My fave KCM's are Kickboxing, Stepboxing, and Cardio Pump- but I love kickboxing in general. I also like her Circuit Burn, Muscle Up, and Cardio Quick Fix.

I love love love love love the strength section from Cardio Pump. I'd been looking for the perfect old-school (gym style??), full-body, not-too-long strength workout for ages now, and stumbled into Cardio Pump around Christmas last year. It's funny, because before this I had *never* liked a KCM strength workout--she has so many weird moves that just feel awkward or unnatural. But Cardio Pump is perfect!! Just basic, familiar moves (squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, etc) that you work at your own weight and pace. Warm-up to cool-down is 32 minutes and change. There's no abs, but that's ok, b/c there *is* a biceps section, and I have tendonitis so I never work my biceps in isolation. :) So I sub abs for those moves.

The cardio work out is boxing, and it's *fast.* It's fun, but I'm not that coordinated. :D For me, the DVD is all about the weights, but they're both fun.

Big fan here :) My favorites are:

• Muscle Up -- best heavy weights workout ever because it's efficient... I am short on time nowadays and make it a point to do this once a week and I've seen real strength gains as I'm going up to 30 lbs for pullovers and one arm rows, as well as 10-15 lbs for shoulders and 20-25 lbs for chest exercises. Love it!
• Weights -- mid to heavy weights, fun!
• Cardio Pump (weights section) -- very efficient, no dread workout
• Split Sessions -- I use the upper body segment more than the lower body segment as I have tweaky knees and some of the moves can be a bit fast for me... and I do modify the upper body segment by substituting front raises and rear delt raises for upright rows and (sometimes) overhead presses
• Your Best Body -- lighter weights because there are lots of reps
• Body Shop (strength-oriented premixes) -- different but not-too-different moves, also efficient
• Slim Sculpting -- my favorite kettlebell workout because it goes at a good pace, has lots of varied moves that are relatively safer/easier to learn than some other more traditional/advanced kettlebell exercises, easy to substitute a lighter dumbbell for some moves (and there's a modifier showing dumbbell variations) as I usually use an 8 kg/18 lb kettlebell for most moves but not for shoulder-intensive and core exercises (where I switch to 10 or 15 lb dumbbells)
• Body Training -- I haven't done the floorwork segment yet but the standing work segment is great when I can't drag out any equipment

OhmyGod, woman, where do I start? :D

In no particular order (I lie, my current favorites are at the top :) )

1. Strength & Stamina, :heart:
2. Lean Body Circuits, :heart:
3. Cardio Pump, as someone else mentioned, AWESOME weights/strength section. I only ever do Kelly's workouts as the combined workout premix, and, in this particular instance, for that premix, the cardio portions are more active recovery for me. I accidentally started just the cardio WO one, though, and, the small portion I did before realizing my mistake seemed to get my heartrate up more than when separated by the strength moves/weight work, which isn't the case for her other workout premixes that alternate strength and cardio.
4. Slim Sculpting!
5. I know you already have Plateau Buster, but I love that WO, too.:)
6. Circuit Burn
7. Your Best Body
8. Shape Up, I normally ETA: am not a fan of tabata WOs -- boring and grueling end ETA-- but Kelly manages to make it FUN. :)
9. Bootcamp
10. TLC is just fun, and the 2nd WO is great for muscle endurance. Some of the moves? Whoa.
11. Love the music in Cardio Blast, which always enhances my pleasure and WO enjoyment. :) Plus, it's a fun WO, as well.

There are actually a fair amount of her WOs I haven't gotten to, yet :o, almost exclusively her straight toning/strength offerings -- I generally prefer SOME cardio in my WOs.

Some of my favorite KCM workouts are:

Home Gym Intervals- I love being able to change up the cardio equipment that I use
(treadmill, spin bike, rebounder, etc).

Muscle Up- You can go heavy. She uses a weight bench (other use a step for a bench) in this workout.

Body Shop - Nice mix of exercises

Total Body Kickbox- The first workout is all cardio kickboxing. The second work is cardio toning with light weights. I like to do this workout using the premixes that combine parts of both workouts.

Step Boxing- Great cardio workout

Split Sessions- One workout is upper body and the other is lower body. This is good for when you want to do splits (although using KCM's premixes you can do that with her other weight DVDs)

Train Like A Contenderr- This is my favorite boxing workout.

Circuit Burn- Good circuit workout and nice mix of cardio and weight moves

Lift- Has a good olympic lifting workout

Muscle Definition- good endurance workout using light weight and high reps

Weights- Good mix of weight exercises. You can pick active rest (cardio) or no rest between sets . You can also do this with some of KCM's other DVDs (cardio rest, ab work rest between sets)

Lean Body Circuits - 2 great circuit workouts with excellent premixes.

I might have to take a look at Muscle Up, have debated on that one.

I will sometimes hit the chapter back button after chest and then do 3 ab exercises to tack them on. This is a great workout, I agree!

I like her heavier circuits: Plateau Buster, Your Best Body, Shape Up

i like Strength & Stamina, Lean Body Circuit, Train Like a Contender, and Total Body Kickbox best.

i didn't click with Bootcamp and was able to trade it. in fact, it turned me off in trying anything from Kelly for a while. then i found NYC at a book sale, and was so thrilled with it after trying it.

found a few more at a used bookstore, then created a spreadsheet of everyone's (VF) favorites at the time. see thread below.

Which Kelly Coffeys are your favorites (for sale tomorrow)?

Oh wow! Thanks bzar Jeanine! I do have quite a few of the less recent ones, but she's got so many new ones too so I need to be selective.

which ones do you have besides Plateau Buster?

here's a list in descending order of release. you can check the VF reviews or do a search in this forum for people's impressions.


Title, run time, year
30MTF Amped Up Cardio Live, ?, 2016
30MTF Athletic Conditioning Vol 2, 60, 2015
30MTF Strength & Stamina, 60, 2015
30MTF Lean Body Circuits, 60, 2015
30MTF Cardio/Pump, 64, 2015
30MTF Abs & Core, 65, 2015
30MTF Athletic Conditioning Vol 1, 63, 2014
30MTF Slim Sculpting, 70, 2014
30MTF Home Gym Intervals, 70, 2014
30MTF Muscle Up Lift 2B Fit, 75, 2014
30MTF Your Healthy Back, 30, 2013
30MTF Trim Down, 60, 2013
30MTF Body Shop, 60, 2013
30MTF Total Body Kickbox, 60, 2013
30MTF Shape Up, 64, 2013
30MTF Cardio Quick Fix, 60, 2012
30MTF Plateau Buster, 60, 2012
30MTF Start Here, 60, 2011
30MTF Stepboxing, 60, 2011
30MTF Your Best Body, 60, 2011
30MTF TLC Train Like a Contender, 60, 2011
30MTF Split Sessions, 60, 2011
30MTF L.I.F.T., 60, 2010
30MTF Circuit Burn, 60, 2010
30MTF Body Training,60, 2009
30MTF Muscle Definition, 60, 2009
30MTF Cardio Blast, 60, 2009
30MTF Kickboxing, 60, 2009
30MTF Bootcamp, 60, 2009
30MTF Weights, 60, 2008
Cardio Kick/Step-Boxing, 85, 2008
Step-Boxing Workout , 55, 2007
NYC New You Coming, 55, 2007
Get Ready, Step, Go, 56, 2007
Shape of Things to Come/Complete Cardio Sculpting, 60, 2007
Cardio/Sculpt Fitness, 69, 2007

My favorite KCM's:

Strength & Stamina
Lean Body Circuits
Cardio/Pump
Muscle Up Lift 2B Fit
Shape Up
Plateau Buster
L.I.F.T.
Muscle Definition
Weights

Weights and Muscle Up Lift 2B Fit are my most favorite KCM workouts. I cannot connect to Split Sessions, for some reason.... Bought, traded, reacquired, then traded again ...

I tend not to care for her newer offerings. I just find them kinda boring and not very challenging. I'm glad my library has most of them and I didn't purchase. That being said, I love NYC, Body Shop, Muscle Up, Muscle Definition and Split Sessions.

I *like" most of the KCM workouts, but the ones I never seem to tire of are:

Weight-training:
Muscle Up - you can go heavy and it's well-designed
Split Sessons - same as above
Muscle Definition - lighter weights than the two above and the workouts are 40 minutes instead of 30, but both the workouts are really good
Plateau Buster - I turn to this one when I need to lift but I'm tired, or I don't have much time. It's easier than the others but I still work up a sweat. Everyone needs an easier weight training workout to turn to now and then and this one is my go-to.
Cardio Pump - don't be fooled by the title, one of the two workouts, the "Pump" from the title, is a pyramid weight-training workout. Simple and effective.

Circuit training:
Circuit Burn

I just got KCM's "Amped Up Cardio Live" in the mail this weekend but am working through a hip injury so will have to wait to try it out.

I purchased my first KCM workout in January and liked it so much I quickly ended up with 8 more! :D

It's hard to choose favorites as I really like them all, and have been doing only KCM's 30 minute workouts for cardio and strength for the last several months. With all of her premixes the options are seemingly endless! Here are the ones I have:

Strength
Muscle Definition (If pushed to pick a "favorite" strength it would be this one)
Your Best Body
Body Shop

Cardio
Kickboxing
Train Like a Contender (TLC)
Stepboxing

Circuit/Interval/Mix
Circuit Burn
Trim Down
Cardio Pump (one workout is all boxing/cardio, one is pyramid strength, and the premixes make a variety of interval workouts)

Steph

while we're on the subject, which ones have step cardio and of those, which ones are "easier" step?

i ordered Cardio/Sculpt Fitness after looking at VFer's reviews and comments on this forum since there was no review in the review forum.

Cardio Blast is a great dvd in my opinion. It has a very easy to follow step workout that is fun with good music. The second workout on the dvd is a plyometric workout, and it is fun, too.

I got rid of my step, but I still have my rebounder and my tall box, I guess I'll have to experiment with what I've go to see which workouts are adaptable. Maybe someone will chime in on which ones I don't have are suitable for the equipment I have.

The KCM 30MTFs I have are:

1. Plateau Buster
2. Your Best Body
3. Split
4. Lift
5. Weights
6. Muscle Definition
7. Circuit Burn

...and I just ordered Muscle Up based on all your recommendations!

Hi......just curious how old y are and if you have an injures?....just for my own info....sadly I'm severely injured but I love KBKB and do rotations often and also ad on Kelly quite often... however I have to modify.

i'm 53 and i've had knee surgery. i work extensively to maintain my joint health. for me, that means constant working out for strength and flexibility. some times i do have to modify moves but not nearly as often as i did in the past.

it took me a long time to figure out what my knee needs to be healthy and rest is never one of them.

i used to rest, baby my knees, and go easy in my training. all that ever got me was limited mobility and joint pain.

the minute i took over and did what i thought was best for my body and not what the physical therapist thought or what the doctor thought my knee improved dramatically.

my doctor is routinely amazed by what i was able to do all on my own when the physical therapist failed.

I am curious what kind of results you've seen from just doing KCM workouts for several months.

Schoolgirl-01, what kind of workouts seem to be good for your knees? I'm 54 and I had knee surgery two years ago, and I've noticed that if I miss working out for more than two days, my knees feel stiffer. For me Jari Love workouts have been working out well, as well as consistent cardio, as long as I keep the impact to a minimum. The worst thing for my knees is inactivity.

For quite a while I was afraid of weight workouts for my knees, but after trying Cathe's ICE workouts, I realized they made my knees actually feel better. I remember when my knee surgeon told me to stay away from squats and lunges, but that was right after surgery. To me it only makes sense to strengthen the muscles that support the knees, but I just keep the weight to a reasonable amount so I don't stress out the joints too much.

I'm just curious what has worked for other people with knee issues.

Thanks,
Sue

KCM's weight sections don't quite work for me -- the word "tweak" comes to mind -- but I really like the boxing workouts on TLC and Cardio Pump. (The boxing premix on Trim Down is fine, but a little dull.)

And Sue, how funny!! I had the same experience with my knees when I started doing ICE and more Cathe and almost no barre. Not what I expected, either.

AF

Check out my blog at www.typeALC.com

Aunt Famous, barre did not agree with my knees at all! I tried Callenetics, which is supposed to help the knees, but it made my knees stiffer! I think the tiny pulses don't work as well for me as traditional weights with more natural movements. When you think about it, what kind of tiny, pulsing movements do you do in your everyday life?

After my knee injury and surgery, my top priority is feeling capable of walking long distances comfortably and going up and down stairs, which I probably do 20 or 30 times a day in my old colonial house, pain-free. Having an injury and feeling incapable of doing the most basic daily tasks is definitely an eye-opener. Just this morning I was thinking how grateful I am that I can do so many different kinds of workouts that I couldn't do two years ago. I never want to take that for granted, or try doing crazy high impact just because I think I need that for fitness. Before my lateral meniscus finally gave out, I had tried a Tonique rotation that was 6 days a week of Tonique workouts, including the high-impact "warm-up" of Tonique Premiere and Sculpt Dynamics. I remember going on vacation, and both of my knees felt unstable, and even my arm had the beginning of a weird ache. Lesson learned: Too much of the same thing is no good, and high impact is not good for my body!

I've learned so much from everyone at Videofitness. I can't imagine the shape I'd be in if I hadn't discovered VF so many years ago.

Sue

i do kettlebells 4 or 5 days a week and think it's done the best for rehabbing my knee.

i also do KCM or Cathe Ice or Low Impact Series.

Cathe Ice To The Mat, Low Impact Sweat, and Turbo Barre has helped a lot. i do each of those DVDs once a week.

i also do step like Cathe Low Max or the Stairmaster. i live in South Florida the land of no stairs or hills. it only became clear to me when we were living here for about 6 months or so how bad that is for my knee. so we bought a stairmaster and i'll do Low Max once a week (i use one riser).

then when i'm done beating up my knee for the day i do Yoga Tune UP i have all the DVDs.

then on the weekend i'll do a long foam roller/yoga combined DVD called Flexible Warrior 5.0 Foam Roll, Stretch, Recover.

now on top of this i take a large amount of supplements for joint health (i don't think this is diet related).

I take Neocell Collagen II, Super Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, and Mega Red Krill Oil. i take other stuff but those are the ones that i think help my knee.

we went away for the weekend last week and i forgot my pills by the time we got home i could tell my joints weren't as juicy as they typically are and i felt it in my knees when i did my monday exercises. within two days of taking the supplements my joints went right back to being juicy.


always feel free to ask me anything, my life is an open book and us knee people have to stick together.

I know, I gain so much knowledge from you generous folks here at Videofitness! I used to get cranky knees from running a lot and doing too many forward lunges when I was in my Debbie Siebers period...but I had extra weight on and have since discovered HIIT and sub in back, side or curtsy lunges wherever necessary since forward ones done at a fast pace don't agree with me.

I'm loving the supplement recs! Thank you! My Mom has had double knee replacements a few years ago already so I'm going to share all this with her and maybe I'll experiment with some of those supplements too...is it ever too soon to give father time the finger? ;)

Schoolgirl-01, thanks so much for your response. I remember when I tried to do Cathe's ICE workouts how wonderful it felt to get back to the kind of workouts that are my absolute favorites, that I thought I might not be able to do again. Physical therapists and doctors generally are very conservative with their recommendations for what we should and shouldn't do, and sometimes we just have to experiment to see what works for us.

Thanks again,
Sue

Warning: this may be more detail than you were looking for. :D

Prior to doing only KCM workouts for strength and cardio, I was primarily using Jari’s workouts for strength (the original Ripped series, Get Extremely Ripped, and the Weights and Abs workout from Lean Machine) and a mix of various instructors for cardio (mostly Kathy Smith, Christi Taylor, and Leslie) and some Ellen Barrett and yoga workouts mixed in.

Since I have switched to only KCM for strength workouts, I have experienced a noticeable increase in strength in all muscle groups but particularly in my shoulders, which have traditionally been rather wimpy. I was not getting any noticeable strength gains from Jari’s workouts -- after up to a year of doing them I was not able to increase my weight load at all for any muscle group other than lower body, although her workouts did help with endurance. With KCM workouts, I have been able to increase my weight load with many upper and lower body exercises and feel stronger overall. I am also seeing muscle definition in my arms, shoulders, back, and chest which I have never had before.

I have also had a very noticeable increase in cardio capacity from doing KCM’s cardio – I don’t get nearly as winded now as I did when I first started her workouts, even though my heartrate is still nicely elevated.

The biggest surprise was the results I have seen in my abs/core. It seemed that no matter what I did, I could not flatten my abs. Now, my abs are almost flat and some of the excess fat that was holding on for dear life has melted away. I still have some more progress to make in that area but I am astounded by the results so far without doing any “traditional” ab work. I attribute this mainly to the boxing/kickboxing as well as the standing core work she incorporates into many of her workouts.

I find that the 30 minute format works well for me. I work out in the morning so I get a little extra sleep with a 30 minute workout compared with the hour I usually spent with Jari. :) And with KCM’s premixes there is the option of doing longer workouts when I have more time (usually on the weekends).

I still mix in Ellen and yoga workouts for a change of pace, but you’d have to pry my KCM DVDs out of my cold dead hands. :D

Steph

Steph, were you using the rotations that Kelly has on her site, or were you making up your own rotations?

Congratulations on your awesome results!

Sue

Steph, thank you so much for your detailed response! That's exactly the kind of response I love actually :D. It sounds like KCM has helped you on so many fronts, that's great! I'm especially impressed with the strength gains and ab/core results! You may have convinced me KCM is the way to go! Congratulations and thanks again!

Sue: I have not been using a specific rotation, but I generally aim for 3 days of strength and 3 days of cardio per week. I try to make sure that 2 of the 3 strength days are total body "pure" strength, and 1 day is circuit/interval. But sometimes I break my own rules. :D The great thing about Kelly's premixes is they allow for so much versatility. For example, even though the main workouts on Circuit Burn are cardio/strength circuits, there are premixes with only the strength or only the cardio components of the circuit. So this DVD can be used as pure strength, pure cardio, or circuits/intervals. :heart:

summer_breeze: I'm glad my response was helpful! As I mentioned, my abs are not exactly where I want them to be yet but I am seeing progress toward that goal for the first time in a *long* time. I use 1-lb gloves for boxing/kickboxing, which surprisingly helps me to actually feel my core engage. I have never really been able to achieve that feeling with other ab workouts. Not sure why, but for whatever reason the boxing just seems to click.

Thanks to you both for the congratulations! :sun:

Steph

"SOMEWHAT" OLD THREAD ALERT:

been stalking really good threads about people's favorites since today is Kelly's sale.

i want to get more of her workouts that have more weights segments. i already own about 14 KCMs.

QUESTION: what are your favorite KCM weights workouts, and if you could, quick sentence on why it's your favorite?

the following have made the short list for this possible order:
30MTF Muscle Definition - can go heavy, can use as endurance w/o; good premixes
30MTF Muscle Up/Lift 2B Fit - can heavy up
30MTF Plateau Buster - easier weight training w/o

also considered these:
30MTF Body Shop
30MTF Split Sessions
30MTF Strength & Stamina (bonus step routine is good to have too)
30MTF Your Best Body

if i could only have one KCM it would be strength and stamina i love doing dumbbells and kettlebells in one workout

Right now, my favorite is Muscle Definition (I say "right now" because my tastes tend to vary over time). I like it because each of the two main workouts are total body workouts, although there is a bit less emphasis on the lower body. I can go heavier as there are fewer reps and active rests between sets (generally, there is a lower body exercise as a "rest" between sets of upper body work).

The main workouts do clock in closer to 40 min than 30 min.

There are a variety of premixes as well, but I tend not to use them much as they are splits and I prefer total body workouts.

Steph