Product Details

• Actors: Elisabeth Halfpapp, Fred DeVito
• Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acacia
• DVD Release Date: May 4, 2010
• Run Time: 55 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0030ZRL68
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,374 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

"A solid total-body toner" --USA Today
"Thorough, core-busting workouts" --More.com
"Delivers results in a short period of time" --Los Angeles Times
"The perfect fusion of fitness and fun" --American Spa magazine

A quarter of a million people have transformed their bodies at exhale, the exclusive mind/body spa. Now you can get these same results at home.

Lengthen, strengthen, and transform your physique with Core Fusion Lean & Toned. This program targets all the major muscle groups in five 10-minute segments, each focused on a different part of the body. You can tailor your practice to time constraints, or do them all together for an invigorating total-body workout.

Bringing the mind/body spa experience home, Elisabeth and Fred teach Lean & Toned like one of exhale’s nationally renowned Core Fusion classes. Subtle but intense moves increase your heart rate, helping you burn calories and lose weight as you tone. Soon you’ll have flat abs, firm glutes, chiseled arms, and slender legs. And since the unique Core Fusion approach mixes stretching and sculpting moves, your newly defined muscles will be long and lean. Reshape your body, and enjoy the workout the celebs are raving about! Includes 5 min. bonus stretch.

Husband and wife team and Core Fusion co-creators Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp have over 50 years of combined experience teaching Pilates, Lotte Berk Method, yoga, and dance--disciplines that comprise the Lean & Toned workout. They are founding team members of exhale, a leading mind/body spa with locations in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Core Fusion Workout May 4, 2010

By Dysterious

Format:DVD

I own all of the Exhale Core Fusion DVDs and I also take the live classes at Exhale Spa. I continue to be amazed by how Core Fusion literally transformed my body. I am now toned and strong and feel more confident and comfortable in my own skin. Needless to say, I was excited about this new DVD because it is marketed as being like a live class. Even more exciting is that in the DVD with Fred and Elisabeth are three of my favorite Core Fusion teachers! So if you get this DVD, you'll be watching the teachers whose classes I take the most.

So what did I think of Core Fusion Lean & Toned?

I liked it! I think that for someone who doesn't have access to live classes or can't afford/doesn't want to pay for them, this DVD will definitely give you a good feel of what class is like. That said, Lean & Toned is not exactly like a live class as I thought it would be. It was like a compressed version of class - as if someone held a full-length class at both ends and squeezed it in.

Lean & Toned goes something like this:

Warm up (leg/arm lifts)
Pushups
Reverse Pushups (tricep dips)
Forearm Plank
Weights (for biceps, triceps, shoulders, back)
Thighs (ouch)
Abs (flat back/round back against a wall)
Glutes
Abs (pretzel/curl combo)
Stretch

That is a lot to pack in 50 minutes! The movements are fairly nonstop so it does work up a sweat, although the stretching in between creates a nice feeling of balance. That said, some parts did feel rushed, like the plank and arm weights sections, which were much shorter than I expected. I also never saw the pretzel move interspersed with the abs curl position, as was done here. I was confused by the pretzel (imagine sitting with one leg bent in front of you and one straight or bent to the side) being here at all since there was already a glutes section, and this pretzel was intended more for abs. Just something I haven't seen done in class. One final difference is that in class we do glutes right after thighs. In the DVD some ab work falls in between those sections, although a little birdie told me that was a production error.

All in all, this is an excellent workout DVD and you will get the idea of a Core Fusion class. If you decide to order the DVD, you will need to own a set of light weights. I've been doing Core Fusion for months and I use 3 pound weights. You also need a chair to hold on to for the thighs segment, and a wall with space to lean against for flat and round back abs.

While stretching after each exercise is crucial in Core Fusion, I do think this DVD had a tiny bit too much time devoted to it. But I love how Fred and Elisabeth explain the benefits of each movement; it really makes you understand why each exercise was chosen and what it will do for your body. Another great aspect of the DVD is the ability to do it all at once and work up a sweat, or pick and choose 10 minute segments if you are short on time.

All in all, a great DVD. I recommend!

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Addicted to Core Fusion May 28, 2010

By HLW

Format:DVD

I have been practicing Yoga and Pilates for over 2 years and discovered the Core Fusion series earlier this year. Since then, I have not picked up any of my other workout DVDs or bought anything other than Core Fusion. I use Body Sculpt, Lean and Toned, and Pilates Plus, and I literally have never had results like what I've gotten from Core Fusion. My body is leaner, I feel more solid and well-balanced, and I'm so toned- sometimes I can't believe it's my own body. I weigh 135ish, I have thick thighs and what I call a "juicy" butt, and no ankles. Now my thighs are lean and you can see the definition of the muscle at the knee. My ankles and calves are the same way, and my butt is actually shapely.
I'm literally addicted to all of these workouts. They're not easy, especially if you haven't done any core work before, but it is worth it and you just want to do more because of the results. I recommend it to anybody who wants to lose inches and is willing to work hard for an hour a day to do it!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I nice step up from their previous DVDs September 5, 2010

By Jenny G

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This DVD is like a merging of all the best parts of Body Sculpt and Pilates Plus, but more advanced than either. The segments are:

Upper Body Tone & Stretch: starts with a brief barre style marching warm up before moving into a mix of pushups, planks, tricep dips, and then finally into upper body weights. I completed the pushups and planks on the toes (knees lifted) and it was a very nice challenge. Pushup options included: hands together in diamond and legs wide, arms wide and feet together, single leg pushups (these are quite challenging done on the toes). There are regular forearm planks and then single leg planks. I used 5 lbs weights for the upper body workout. The weight portion covers shoulders, lats, biceps, and triceps. The routine ends with some nice stretches. When I used the DVD on other times, I substituted more planks for the weight section and then caught up with them again on the stretches.

Thighs Tone & Stretch: In addition to plie variations, this sequence also includes standing leg lifts that really work the inner thighs. There are also lunges done up on the toes - I wasn't sure how my knee would like these but it did fine with it. The lunges on the toes feel very different from traditional lunges.

Flat/Round Back Tone & Stretch: I've done the Pilates Plus segment many times and am actually fairly good at it, although not as advanced as Fred. But the first time I did the one on this DVD I thought they were crazy. I stuck with it, though, and on the third try I started to get it. This is one of my favorite segments, but is definitely more advanced than Pilates Plus. Since I'm limited on wall space I first tried using the base of my sofa but decided a door worked better.

Gluteal Tone & Stretch: This is similar to other Core Fusion standing glute routines, but a little more advanced. She adds a brief optional balance pose before moving into first one hand on the floor and the other raised, and then both hands on the floor for a kind of standing split. I've used a chair or a wall for this segment. As usual, it ends with stretches.

Pretzel Core & Toner: As is true with the other segments, the version of pretzel is more difficult than that on Thighs and Glutes, adding an option to keep the back leg straight. Liz alternates ab work with the pretzel work. Some brief stretches close out this segment.

Bonus: Stretch (7 minutes): This stretch segment requires a wall space - I used a door. Starts with hamstring stretches (Liz does the splits) and then they move to the wall. They do some very nice feet up the wall variations - I really enjoyed these.

I really liked this DVD and see myself using it over and over again. I like the additional challenge they offer over the previous DVDs. At first I was using the DVD segments as add-ons to other exercise but now have completed the entire DVD a couple times and had some nice inner thigh DOMS after!