Customer Reviews

Kelly Coffey-Meyer's 30-Minutes to Fitness Muscle Definition DVD

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First, I want to recommend this for the intermediate - advanced because there are many new moves and you have to be very careful of your form. You also can not let your mind drift off because these are movements where you need to be aware of your ability. Kelly uses various hand weights-she goes for the heavier ones plus a step and a mat/towel. This DVD sold me on the 30-minutes in the title.

The 2-30 minute workout segments are packed with combination moves. Kelly demonstrates the newer moves and the pace is acceptable. Watch out for her form during the dead lifts (not the one legged) because it's questionable whether to bend back so much! I found that she focused mostly on the upper body. There are lunges and squats, but she combines them with upper body moves. I also on occasion, work out to the abs section-it's short and intensive mixed with old school moves with oblique twists, planks with leg twists. I liked it when she said don't bother counting, just do as much as you can, and I took that with me when I worked out with her again. To end, I will definitely watch out for more of Kelly's DVDs because there are always several options offered in the menu, my preference for working out with women around my age, and she comes up with fresh, new moves to beat boredom.

Muscle Definition is a new DVD in instructor Kelly Coffey-Meyer's 30 Minutes to Fitness series. It is sort of like a cross between an earlier DVD in this same series, 30 Minutes to Fitness Weights, and one of Kelly's older workouts, NYC: New You Coming. As with 30M2F Weights, Kelly presents full-body muscle-building and sculpting moves, putting her own unique twist on many traditional weight-lifting exercises. In 30M2F Weights, Kelly offered several different "active rest" options, but for this DVD, as in NYC, she uses the "rest" periods to focus on leg work (unlike in NYC, however, Kelly uses weights throughout for Muscle Definition, including for the lower body work). In her brief Introduction, Kelly states that she will be using 8 lbs. for shoulders and triceps and 12 lbs. for back, biceps, and chest; the DVD case additionally recommends 5 and 7 lbs. for Beginners, 7 and 10 lbs. for Intermediates, and 8 and 12 lbs. for Advanced. I generally consider myself to be intermediate, but because of Kelly's unique take on the exercises and the fact that many of the moves were a bit more dynamic, I preferred to go a little lighter than usual, sticking with my 5-lb. dumbbells for much of the workouts.

The Main Menu offers the following options:

Introduction

Workout One

Workout Two

Pre-Mixes

Individual Muscle Mixes

Abdominals

Contact

Music On/Off (not sure why you'd want to turn it off; it included fun 70s hits such as "You Should be Dancing" and "Saturdays in the Park")

One minor downside of this DVD is that both workouts are actually a bit longer than 30 minutes, something that is NOT true of the other workouts in Kelly's 30 Minutes to Fitness series. Workout #1, which includes a 4.5-minute warm-up and a final stretch of just under 2 minutes, is 41 minutes long. Workout #2, which does NOT include a warm-up but does include a slightly longer (3.5 minutes) stretch, is 34.5 minutes long; if you want to go back and add the warm-up from the first workout, you'll need to select that workout from the Main Menu, go back to the Menu once the warm-up is over, and then proceed to select Workout #2. Kelly tends to perform an exercise, completing 1-2 sets; insert a lower body move as "rest"; and then repeat the entire sequence once. Her moves are innovative: examples include a one-armed kettlebell-like swing, a one-legged deadlift/lunge combination, a "scarecrow" overhead raise to work the rotator cuff, a one-armed row with elbow rotation, a tricep extension performed across the body, and a chest flie with rotation towards knees. (Note: A full list of the exercises can be found on Kelly's web site.) The separate 8-minute Abdominals chapter utilizes high reps (25-50) and includes hip lifts, reverse crunch, full sit-ups, crunches, walking the legs, reclining twist, and plank with knee twist.

Also on this DVD are a number of Pre-Mixes as well as individual muscle group breakdowns. The Pre-Mixes are as follows:

Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps (58m): warm-up, two sets per body part, abs, and stretch

Chest and Back (38m): warm-up, two sets per body part, abs, and stretch

Full Body Compendium (77m): warm-up, both workouts combined, stretch

"N.Y.C. Two" Mix (85m): warm-up, both workouts combined, abs, stretch

Two notes about the above. First, the third Pre-Mix has "abs" listed in its on-screen menu, but there are actually NO abs included in this mix (which is what makes it different from the fourth Pre-Mix). Second, there is no "Lower Body Trimming" Pre-Mix as suggested on the DVD case. There are, however, a number of Individual Muscle Mixes as described below:

All Chest Mix - 7 minutes

All Back Mix - 14 minutes

All Shoulder Mix - 10 minutes

All Leg Mix - 11 minutes

All Bicep Mix - 11 minutes

All Tricep Mix - 15 minutes

Some might not feel this is enough lower body work, but that is consistent with Kelly's style. I do think she tends to place a bit too much emphasis on the triceps, which I think is born out by the time breakdown above; this smaller muscle group shouldn't need quite as much work. Overall, however, I have few complaints about this DVD. I love Kelly's enthusiasm as well as her approach to exercise--she always seems to find ways to make the moves feel fresh, new, and varied. I have already gotten a lot of use out of her 30 Minutes to Fitness Weights DVD, and I know that I will get a lot of use out of this one as well.

I own most of Kelly's workouts. Some I like better than others. This one is awesome and reminds me of a Cathe workout. It is true that the workouts are longer than the advertised 30 minutes, especially with warmup and cool down, but that's fine by me. Both segments are total body routines. Additionally, there is a separate ab workout. I didn't find it boring at all and the music is quite good too. I'm glad I bought it. It's a great DVD for the advanced exerciser.

She is so uplifting. I feel like Im working out with a friend. Fast and fun. My arms look great too!

I love this dvd - I alternate between the workout one and two options - both are total body workouts, but different exercises. And I do the ab workout occasionally also. I have other ab dvds that I prefer, but this one is OK to work into the rotation. I really like Kelly's workout style - no nonsense and a good pace. Great DVD!

I am no stranger to fitness dvd's. I have quite a collection going, mainly because I get bored with exercise so easily so I need to change it up. Being pressed for time, I'm always interested in a quick workout. This is by far the WORST dvd I have ever purchased.

First, the workouts are well over 40 minutes. Second, the upper body movements are dangerous. They involve throwing and jerking motions with hand weights that left me in a lot of pain (and not the good kind).

Third it was boring. Repeating the same moves for four, five cycles. There are much better dvds out there. Don't waste your money!!!!