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62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to follow circuit workout, March 11, 2004
First, let me say at the outset that this is an intermediate workout. If you like high-intensity/high-impact aerobics or you usually lift very heavy weights, this workout is going to disappoint you. Also, as is appropriate to a circuit workout, neither the aerobic or weight-lifting section are very long. Having said that, I love this video. The three aerobic sections, all low to medium impact, are done on the floor. The pace starts out slowly but then quickly picks up in intensity. While I wouldn't call these dancy moves, you may need to do the video a few times before you pick up all the moves. The toning segments are divided into Floor Upper Body, Standing Upper Body, Standing Legs and Abdominals. For both upper body segments, light weights are used, no more than 8 lbs, but 5 lbs will probably do pretty well for most of the exercises. Why? Because the moves are very fast. It would be too much of a strain on one's joints to use heavier weights. While I enjoy both sections, I prefer the floor segment, where she has a nice combination of pullovers, flyes and presses. As with almost every tape Voight has ever done, all of the moves flow quickly into each other. The standing leg segment uses neither weights nor lunges. If you're someone who has knee problems and usually needs to modify (or skip) standing leg work, you will probably enjoy this section. Not that it's easy. In addition to squats, she also includes a one-leg deadlift variation which immediately targets the hamstrings and buttocks. Ouch, but in the good way. While I would have preferred some floorwork (which Voight does very well), I think she used standing work to keep the heartrate up after the last aerobic session, thus extending the cardio benefits. While I'm not a fan of traditional abwork, Voight's work here is very effective. She uses a combination of yoga-inspired stretches for the back and then Pilates-inspired crunches and bicycles for the abdominals. You may not love this section, but you will feel it. As to the comment that Voight recycled her work, not exactly. When this was originally released in early 2003, she offered this tape and Yoga Focus separately. Both segments were also released on one programmable DVD called Sleek Physique. That release allowed you to pick and choose segments from both programs to create a different workout for each day. While it was possible to reconstruct all of the footage for both separate tapes, it wasn't very intuitive and that wasn't the original intention. While I can see why some would be annoyed, I don't believe Voight was trying to exploit or trick any of her customers.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Recycled Material, September 3, 2004
This review is from: Karen Voight: Burn & Firm - Circuit Training (DVD)
My experience with other Karen Voight DVDs and videos has been very positive, especially with her "Sleek Physique" DVD. Unfortunately, I felt a bit cheated having purchased "Burn and Firm", since the segments on it are identical to the "Sleek Physique", cut and pasted into different combinations and missing the very well done yoga strength and yoga stretch segments. I recommend "Sleek Physique" instead of this one.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very nice circuit training workout with a wide variety of DVD options, August 30, 2005
This review is from: Karen Voight: Burn & Firm - Circuit Training (DVD)
Karen Voight's Burn & Firm is a circuit training workout which alternates short but intense cardio segments with weight/toning segments. The DVD menu offers the following options: 1) Full Circuit (45 minutes), 2) Double Circuit (77 minutes), 3) Just Upper Body (12 minutes), 4) Just Cardio (24 minutes), and 5) Abs, Butt, and Thigh (23 minutes). Each of the above options is a complete workout including the warm-up and cool-down, but because the DVD is so well-chaptered, you can easily skip around, mixing and matching to create your own perfect workout.
I'll describe each workout segment by listing them in the order they appear in the Full Circuit. The circuit begins with a 4-minute warm-up which combines simple leg steps with large arm movements to get your heart rate going. Next comes the first cardio segment, "Energy Boost" (each of the cardio segments are 5 minutes long). Here Karen continues to use 4-limbed movements: you are always moving both your arms and your legs to keep up the intensity. At times, I found it a little difficult to follow Karen's movement changes, but I think this will become easier with practice. In addition, I have also tried doing this segment with light hand weights for increased intensity, which worked well when I decreased the range of the arm movements. The first toning segment is upper body work on the floor. Here Karen performs traditional movements such as flies, pullovers, and triceps, but she varies the tempo of the movements, adding in double-time pumps which really help you to feel the burn. Next comes the second cardio segment, "Side to Side." As the name suggests, this section consists of many lateral movements, again using both the arms and the legs, and I again added hand weights. More upper body work follows, this time from a standing position. Karen moves very quickly through basic exercises for the biceps, back, and triceps here--in fact, I felt like I was getting an additional cardio workout here!
The last cardio segment is called "Jump Rope," which is somewhat of a misnomer, as Karen performs mock jump-roping only at the very beginning of this section. The majority of the work here comes from a knee lift series: Karen gradually increases the intensity here by adding arms, more knee lifts, and small hops (or a "ball-change"). The lower body strength segment follows and is just under 9 minutes long. Karen avoids lunges and instead focuses on squats, leg extensions, and dead lifts. Your body remains constantly in motion--e.g., you are doing mambo steps in-between each leg extension--which provides some additional cardio benefits. The final toning segment focuses on the abs; as always, Karen's abs work is short (5 1/2 minutes but intense). She performs several different types of crunches, again varying the pace for more focused work. This section includes some Pilates-inspired moves to work the lower abs as well as the obliques in a side-lying position. Finally, the cool-down consists of a series of static stretches: it begins in a reclined position for leg stretches and a twist, then moves to a quad stretch and seated forward bend to finish.
The DVD contains just a couple of bonuses: a list of workout tools and where to buy (in this case, only dumbbells are used), and video clips from five of Karen's other workouts. This workout is filmed in a pleasantly bright studio (although the odd-shaped lamps in the background are a bit distracting), and Karen is joined by an assistant, Kathy, who shows modifications for some of the moves. Karen's personality is similar to all of her newer (post-2000) videos: she is warm and friendly but not chatty--her comments are focused on the workout, and as always, she offers excellent cueing and impeccable form. Overall, I'd probably rate this workout at about an advanced beginner to intermediate level; it would be easy to either increase or decrease the intensity. Overall, I really loved the flexibility of this workout, and I know I will reach for this DVD often--highly recommended!
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