A Better Bag of Groceries

Fitness DVD Review: Bob Harper’s Inside Out Method Cardio Conditioning

Friday, January 4, 2013 at 07:15 AM

Happy Fitness Friday! A few weeks back, I posted the Top Ten Workout DVDs of 2012 according to Fitness Magazine.  Soon after, I went shopping at my local bricks and mortar Barnes & Noble to peruse the fitness DVD selection.  It was then that I picked up Bob Harper’s Inside Out Method Body Rev Cardio Conditioning.  I think it was only $10.

The DVD promised “an intense hour of explosive heart rate accelerating cardio.  Try to keep up with Bob and his team as they push you harder and faster than you thought you could go.”

I’m all for intense, but in reality the DVD sat in our media cabinet for about 6 weeks.  We tried the other DVD I purchased that day (Jillian) many times, but not this one.  What kept us from giving it a shot?  The one hour.  A whole 60 minutes is needed.  My husband and I get that workout done in the morning – but we’re so pressed for time that 50 minutes is somehow more do-able.

So, over Christmas vacation (two days after Christmas, in fact) we finally gave it a try.

Our basement TV is nothing special – not even a flat screen.  We bought it from the previous owners of our house for $100.  But it’s perfect for the basement.  If a Wii controller ever goes flying during a game of Wii bowling and hits it, it will probably ricochet right off.

Well, as the DVD promises, it was indeed heart-pounding and calorie smashing – a really tough workout.  And as you know, I am a tough judge.  The workout starts off innocently enough with a light warm-up, but before you know it, you are in a loooooooonggggggg series of kettlebell swings.

You don’t need a kettlebell, by the way.  The trainees on the DVD even use just dumbbells.  You do kettlebell swings about a million different ways – one-handed, two-handed, alternating, suitcase (that one was new to me).  There’s also a lot of squats, jumping jacks, squat holds (ouch!), sumo squats, mosh pit jumps (fun), walkouts to push-ups, deadlifts, fast feet moves.  Then, you add some weights to the cardio (think weighted jump rope, weighted jumping jacks.)

There are no breaks in this DVD.  You keep on going.  I did see one water break somewhere in the 2nd half, but other than that, it’s non-stop cardio.

 There’s a lot that I liked about this DVD, including:

• The countdown clock: From the beginning of the workout, a little clock starts ticking down from 63 minutes.  It definitely kept us going when we could see that we only had 30 minutes more, 20 minutes more, etc.  And it tells you what exercise you should be doing.
• The real-life trainees:  While the three trainees (Becky, Roxie and Zack) are in good shape, they struggle at times.  You see Roxie’s legs shake during the squat holds.  You see Zack fail to make it through a cardio segment at the end.
• The music – and the artistic shots:  While not a perfect DVD (they probably shot it in one take), there are some cool artistic shots (mostly at the beginning) that give you something to look at – especially during the warm-up.  It gets you motivated.  The soundtrack does too.
• The impact on my heartrate:  Yup, it was up there!  I wore a heart rate monitor to see what it would do.  It was similar to my HR while on the elliptical machine – at least for part of the hour.  During some of the weights and push-ups, it came down a little bit, but Bob keeps on bringing it right back up.
• The afterburn:  We felt it.  A lot!  Back (from all the kettlebell), quads, glutes, shoulders.

We liked it so much that we thought we really needed to bring this into our regular rotation of work-morning fitness DVDs.  We knew we’d have to get up a little earlier to get the whole hour in, but since we were both feeling a little puffy post-holiday, it was worth it.  So, yesterday morning, we set the alarm extra early and got up to be ready to go by 5:25 am.  We made it through 55 minutes of the 63 minute DVD (hey – there’s a dishwasher to unload, lunchboxes to pack.)  It was a great way to start the day.

After our workout, as I was hastily packing lunchboxes and sipping my first coffee of the day, I noticed the temperature on our thermometer.

Yup, that’s 5 degrees Fahrenheit.  Yet another reason why it’s nice to get an at-home workout.  Great to know that I can burn the same amount of calories if I had bundled up and driven to the gym!

Yoga

For those of you whose New Year’s Resolution is not to get more cardio, but rather to try yoga, check out this Boston Globe article.  They featured my fitness colleague Gail (whose yoga class I take whenever I can).  She is fabulous!

Question of the Day

What’s your favorite fitness DVD?

Posted by: Melissa 4 comments

Posted in: Fitness Friday

Tags: Bob Harper, Bob Harper Inside Out Method Body Rev, Fitness Friday