Slim Strong & Sexy Body Sculpt (DVD)

Price: $19.99

Slim, Strong & Sexy Body Sculpt will reshape your entire body in an easy-to-follow fashion. The key element to creating a slim, yet strong & sexy body is to build the muscle needed to boost your metabolism. This will help you burn fat all day long and give you the body you’ve always wanted.

This DVD features two 30-minute routines that focus on the areas you truly want to change. Upper Body and Core will help you strengthen and sculpt beautiful muscles in your chest, back, shoulders and arms while firming up your core. Lower Body and Core will help you create a long, lean and shapely bottom half by focusing on your hips, buns and thighs, and provides specific exercises to give you abs you’ll love to show off.

Includes resistance band. For best results, 1-2 sets of hand weights and the resistance band included are recommended.

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Reviews

Michelle Dozois has designed Slim, Strong & Sexy Body Sculpt to help reshape your entire body in systematic, easy to follow fashion by mixing a blend of classic dumbbell exercises with innovative resistance band exercises, and sometimes using dumbbells and the band together. Two 30-minute workouts allow you to target upper body one day and lower body another, while simultaneously challenging your core with Pilates and ab exercises that are sprinkled throughout both workouts. Balance and coordination come into play too, since some exercises are done while standing on one foot, while others require that you follow a progression of movements, making small changes in the base exercise. This workout includes a big variety of advanced exercises with intermediate modifications. Multiple levels can benefit from this workout. Advanced can lift as heavy as possible for strength gains or lift lighter for a maintenance day workout, while intermediates can always strive toward performing the hardest version of everything. The Upper Body & Core Workout is divided into 4 sections of about 7 minutes each. Section 1 opens with a short warm-up that efficiently warms the upper body, then focuses on back, chest, and shoulders twice (once with core) with four exercises. In section 2, the focus is on the pulling muscles with four different back exercises and one set of biceps curls. The pushing muscles, chest and triceps, are targeted with floor exercises in Section 3. After three different exercises for the chest, the triceps and core each get two sets of the same exercise. Shoulders and arms are the focus of Section 4, with three exercises for biceps, one for triceps and three sets for shoulders (one exercise is repeated). A short but thorough upper body stretch closes this section. Section 1 uses only the band for resistance. In the other three sections, the band, dumbbells and body weight are used. Although the core gets only one specific exercise (side planks) in Section 3, Michelle emphasizes the need to engage the core in every exercise performed. The Lower Body & Core Workout is also divided into 4 sections of about 7 minutes each. Seven compound exercises are performed standing in Sections 1 and 2; isolation exercises are performed on the floor in Sections 3 and 4. Section 1 opens with another short warm-up that efficiently targets the muscles that will be used in the workout, followed by three exercises using three different types of resistance: body weight squats, dumbbell deadlifts and one-legged balance hinges with the band. Section 2 alternates using dumbbells and the band during four long sets of lunges, squats and leg lifts. Pilates-inspired multiple-move leg exercises with the band open Section 3, followed by a core exercise and a combo glute/ham/core exercise. In Section 4, core and legs are again worked simultaneously with 4 more Pilates-style exercises that progressively add more moves to the base exercise. A brief lower body stretch closes this section. Who’s it for? Experienced exercisers who are comfortable with dumbbell strength training and basic squats, lunges should find the new twists on basic moves, the combination exercises, and learning how to use a resistance band fun and challenging. Beginners to exercise should start elsewhere, since even some of the easy options still require good core strength, balance and coordination, and the volume of work could be overwhelming for someone just starting out. Best features: The huge variety of exercises and use of the band delivers a solid workout that can be made easier or harder depending on your fitness level and energy that day. Excellent instruction from Michelle and real-life motivation from her crew members. They are inspirational role models. Resistance band is included. What needs improvement? Unlike the other workouts in the Your Body Breakthru set, this DVD doesn’t offer a shorter Express workout. If you need to shorten it, you can use the Chapters menu to pick and choose the sections you want, or use your chapter skip button. However, when a chapter is finished, you’re not returned to the menu. Rather, the workout keeps playing in order, so if you’re not paying attention, you’ll find yourself doing more than you wanted. Sometimes, at the end of a section, a “page turn” starts the next section, so that’s a good place to return to the menu. A menu that would allow you customize the order of the sections and to intermix the upper and lower body workouts would make this workout a bit more versatile. More information on the Chapters menu would make it easier to choose exactly what you want. Since the upper body chapters focus on different muscle groups it would be handy if that were listed on the menu so you could find what you want easily. Since the workouts are only half an hour perhaps Michelle figured that most people wouldn’t be choosing individual chapters very much. More instruction about (and other options for) curtsey lunges, deadlifts, and the plie/fencer’s lunge combo would be helpful for those with knee issues. These are advanced exercises that may not work well for everyone. How’s the instruction? Michelle moves along smoothly and quickly, wasting no time between exercises. She’s chosen band exercises that set up easily and fluidly, so the workout has a good flow to it. Michelle’s delivery is straightforward, friendly and helpful. She’s never gushy or silly. With over 18 video workouts under her belt she’s learned to let her personality shine through. Set & Crew Michelle’s crew is composed of four members of her gym who’ve had success using her Your Body Breakthru program over a period of time. They all certainly look fit and trim and perform the exercises well. Guisy demos the easier modifications for many exercises. If these busy women can fit regular exercise into their busy schedules, there’s no reason why you can’t too. For inspiration, you can listen to their personal stories in the Testimonials section. Will I do it again? Sure, it’s fun, it’s fast and it’s effective. Rating A few minor points keep this workout from earning a perfect score. All in all it’s a worthy addition to the Your Body Breakthru set.
Paula Z