Customer Reviews

Bryan Kest - Power Yoga, Vol. 3 - Sweat [VHS]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been working out to both #2 and #3 and they are both great -- though I prefer #2 slightly. They both are challenging to the intermediate level person and I imagine they will continue to offer a challenge once I master the tapes. To me there seems to be only a very slight difference in level between number 2 and 3, so I use them interchangably. Each is a seriously good workout. My only negative comment is this: what the heck is up with all that cool guy posing he does at the beginning of the video? It's good for a laugh, but PLEASE! I recommend this video for people at the intermediate level who want a great total body workout. Kest is a good teacher and those 50 or so minutes fly right by.

As everybody said before, a true beginner might become discouraged. This tape is a REAL workout, makeing you feel pumped up afterwards rather than just stretched out. I particularly like the constent flow from one pose to the next.

Hahaha... Yes, he could cool it a bit with the shirt off, ripped 501s, hair down, "hands-on", but who cares, at least he didn't lull one to sleep.

I wanted a tape that made me SWEAT and was a CHALLENGE, THIS WAS BOTH.

I was reluctant to buy this because of a few negative comments about the people being too pretty/showy but I'm glad I did. Yes the students seem to be extremely flexible dancers and there is artistic lighting and filming, but I appreciated the effort. This video offers a dynamic flowing yoga session and conveys the feeling of being in a real class. The instructor is down to earth and sincere. As an intermediate student, I found it to be challenging yet doable. I would not recommend it for beginners, but I think intermediate students who like Ashtanga and Power Yoga will really like this tape.

I started w/ Ali MacGraw's "Yoga Mind & Body," and then moved up to Kathy Smith's "New Yoga Challenge" and now Bryan Kest's video, "Sweat," has once again advanced me further in my yoga practice.

Now, I do other yoga routines daily (along w/ strength training & cardio), but one day I week I like to work all the kinks out with a good power yoga video. It's not easy finding one that's challenging but do-able for me, and I'm quite pleased & thankful that "Sweat" fits the bill nicely.

You start w/ sun salutations, add warrior poses & side stretches (holding for several breaths), some twists & arm balances, and then to the floor for a little abs work, some forward fold variations, a nice long-ish backbend, and then you finish by stretching out your back with the plow pose. Well, that's the gist, anyway.

Bryan's instruction is fine, but not for beginners. It's more for people who already are familiar with the poses, who might appreciate some fine-tuning: he tells you where to look and what muscle(s) should be turning out while others turn in, etc. ... He seems quite gentle & motivating to me.

Yes, he does kinda pose a bit, which is a little silly but, hey, he's got a fine body, there, so power to him. And he handles his students in class, which, combined with his posing & the artsy production quality, comes off as kinda sexy -- something I've never seen nor did I expect to see in a yoga video. At first, it was a little odd to me, but now I think it's cool. He rolls people's shoulders under & pulls on their legs during relaxation pose and, man, that looks like it'd feel good!

Anyway, I think Bryan Kest's "hands on" yoga instructing is great, and I often try to extend my own body the way he's demonstrating on his students, and I find it helps me settle deeper into each pose. I've been doing this tape once a week for awhile now, and the time always FLIES by, and I'm always loose & refreshed when it's over. I have been challenged, but I haven't been frustrated. Cause, after all, its not about depth in a pose, but about breathing and feeling something, as Bryan reminds us throughout the tape. And, oh, you'll feel something, alright!

Really enjoyed this tape. Although I felt he was more into the camera in this one than the second tape in the series...I really enjoyed the workout. I like the length of time he gets you to hold each pose and it makes me want to work harder.

This is a great workout. I have been using this video for a few months now and I can really feel my level of strength improving. Some of the poses are a bit challenging, but it gives you something to work towards. Plus, I like his message that it is not about doing the poses perfectly, but just doing you're best. I recomend this video for those who have done a bit of yoga already and want a good workout.

I started with this video to address chronic neck pain and migraine headaches and have been amazed that this 50 minute workout, done 3-4 times per week has corrected a condition which chiropractic manipulation, nsaids and massage therapy couldn't resolve. I am eternally grateful.

As an experienced practitioner of yoga, I assumed this video would be challenging, hence its title, Sweat. I did not sweat or feel energized, strong, calm, or light, as Kest explained would occur. Instead, I felt irritable and anxious, mostly due to his aggravating, aggressive tone. Furthermore, he rushes through the poses too quickly to experience their benefits, especially considering that the warm up is slow, and not motivating. The length of the video is also too short, as it does not allow the student to work every muscle. Anyone who desires a serious workout that results peace and stillness should check out Mark Blanchard's tapes instead.

When I lived in California, I took Bryan Kest's class in Santa Monica and just loved it. As much as I miss the classes, this is the next best thing. In some ways it's better because you can see him on the television, as opposed to trying to find him in a 100+ person studio. This tape is definitely for the advanced yoga person and is quite challenging. The participants in his video are very proficient at the postures. I learned a great deal of modifications to the way I was doing the postures because he is able to explain them in better detail and you can view his participants very clearly on the tape. He has taught many celebrities and so his class was always filled with people, but it was nice that I could "take" his class with me when I moved 3,000 miles away.

Not everybody likes Bryan's 1995 tape series, but these were my first yoga tapes and are still my favorites after all these years and many other tapes. No other yoga teacher's tapes leave me feeling as simultaneously loose, strong and tingling as Bryan's do. I feel that these workouts have also helped my athletic endeavors by making me much stronger, smoother and better able to move my whole body dynamically. I really wonder about the people who say that these workouts didn't make them sweat -- from what I can tell, every pose has deeper and deeper levels you go to to increase the muscular, breathing and balance challenge in the pose. I can't imagine being "bored" with these workouts when every pose seems to have endless potential.