Customer Reviews

Kathy Ireland's Advanced Sports Fitness [VHS]

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This is a varied, challenging workout.

My biggest gripe is that nowhere on the box is it advised that one must have a living room the size of a ballroom to fully execute all the moves!! A little frustrating!! One also need a weight bench & basic weights. Furthermore, Kathy's baby-soft, sex kitten whisper is even MORE annoying than those ultra-perky cheerleader-type exercise trainers (you know what I mean!!!)

I exercise almost everyday. I used this video just one time.

I was not greatly pleased with this tape which should actually be for beginners or intermediate level people. The strength portions of the tape were ok challenge wise but I did not like the cardio section. It was really slow and it didn't get my heart rate up high enough or for long enough because she only does them for like 5 minutes and then goes into another strength section.
The tape starts out with a really long talk from Kathy Ireland and then she goes into introducing all the people who will be working out with her (really weird). This is followed by a quick warmup and then she slowly goes through the cardio circuit which will be repeated 3 times throughout the tape. The circuit is then brought up to tempo and lasts about 5 minutes tops. Then there is 3 different strength exercises for the shoulders, the cardio circuit is repeated, 3 strength exercises for the chest, the cardio circuit again, 3 bicep/tricep exercises, then a cool down.
Good for beginners but not for the advanced who really want to get their heart rate up. Plus the fact that her own routine is too hard for Kathy and she is out of breath most of the whole way through is kind of ironic. Also she doesn't know where the beat is in the music and her friends constant chatter is annoying. It is strange at the end when they all shot water from their water bottles at each other and some guy we don't know comes out and hugs Kathy. Kind of a strange tape but hey, if you're a beginner stick it out because the strenght moves should be beneficial.

Like the other reviewers said, if this is for advanced exercisers, why does the instructor give so much beginner information on form? That would be my biggest gripe about this, that a lot of time is spent giving pointers that beginners can use but intermediates already know. Also, I think the faster tempo reps on the weight exercises are too fast. Instead of flailing my arms about trying to keep up, I do the reps at a slower, more controled pace. She does so many reps that even at a slower pace I get all the reps I need.

All the weight work is upper body. All the cardio is lower body. Not my style. I felt it worked my inner thighs/glutes but not much else.

There are a host of problems with this tape:

1) As mentioned by another reviewer, you need alot of space to execute the moves. Also, dumbbells and a weight bench are necessary.

2) Poor cueing. During the cardio sections, Kathy doesn't prep you for what's coming up next. I imagine over time you'd memorize the cardio section since it's repeated four times, but on the first few times through it's hard to remember what comes next. Also, she doesn't mirror - she moves her own right leg when she tells you to move right, so if you follow her verbal cues, then you're exercising in the opposite direction shown on the tape.

3) I couldn't figure out much rhyme or reason to the muscle groups that were targeted during the strength sections. You exercise shoulders, chest, biceps, and triceps - but no back, abs or lower body (I imagine all the lunging and squatting during the cardio section are meant to target your legs).

4) Once the cardio routine is brought up to tempo, there are places where it moves pretty fast and seems that even Kathy is having trouble with proper form.

5) There's not much flow to this workout. Lots of standing around between sections and even waiting during the cardio section while Kathy finds the beat for the next set of moves.

6) The talking between the people demonstrating the routine was definitely annoying. One guy's role seemed to be to remind Kathy of what she was supposed to say next. "Kathy, I find that I'm getting as much of a workout when lowering the weights as when I lift them." "That's an excellent point Ross, because...blah, blah, blah."

In sum, don't waste your time and money on this video! There are too many other good ones out there.

Kathy created this work-out for the intermediate to advanced exercisers and warns about this in her talk at the beginning of the tape. True intermediate to advanced exercisers have probably already found some better tapes for their routine - and if not, they should!

Kathy leads us through this work-out with 4 other cast members, one of which is her own mother who demonstrates an alternate version of easier moves for some of the exercises.

The work out starts out by Kathy teaching a series of steps that is to be used to keep the heart rate up in the cardio sections. These moves are then repeated at a faster pace several times in the work-out with weight lifting sections in between. The cardio routine is not done in time to the music and everyone seems to struggle with it - it just looks clumsy. Then everyone catches their breath, gulps down water and works with weights.

Kathy does give good tips on proper form which are beneficial if you have never worked out with weights. Her cast members help out by asking her questions about form through-out the work-out which she answers. This is nice the first time for those who need this information - by the time you are doing this work-out for the 20th time (which I didn't) you will likely be irritated. Kathy also encourages you to drink water through-out the work-out and does so herself several times. In this sense this work-out shows good and correct exercising practices. If you do not already know that you should keep yourself hydrated and that you should not bend the knee over the toe during lunges then you will indeed be enlightened. For the trully advanced exerciser this will not be news.

The work-out itself is very mediocre. There are TOO many better choices out there for serious fitness to waste time on this one. Unless you are a die-hard Kathy Ireland fan this will not be the best choice for you to do during your precious work-out time.