Customer Reviews

Kathy Smith - Functionally Fit - Peak Fat Burning [VHS]

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this video after reading positive reviews of it here, and I have to say that the video's praise is well-deserved. The hi-intensity intervals really do get your heart pumping as Kathy encourages you to get breathless. With 2 minute intervals, you are getting as much calorie-burning power you can out of the workout. I think the best thing about the workout is that the moves are very simple and easy to follow, unlike most other aerobic workout videos I've seen. I am pretty uncoordinated, yet even on my first try with the video I was able to keep up. Also, Kathy and her crew are not overly perky and annoying in their enthusiasm for fitness. I'd recommend this tape to anyone looking to burn fat and get their body moving!

I love Kathy Smith, and this is my favorite video so far. With the 2 minute intervals between intense workout & active recovery, it goes fast, and you can't get discouraged and quit. In the intense interval, you push yourself, and then you get to slow down for 2 minutes while you tone your lower body. The moves are fun and easy to do for beginners, and if you're more advanced, they are easily modified (she shows you how). If you're also wanting to tone your upper body, a great complement to this is the "Secrets of a Great Body: Upper Body Workout" by Kathy Smith. It's made to do only twice a week, and can be done on the same day as this video. (There's also a lower body workout, but you probably won't want to do it along with the Functionally Fit video.)

Kathy Smith is the right amount of perky. She leads her troupe of excerise groupies with authority and is fun to watch. This is a great workout which alternates 2 minute sections of cardio/aerobic work with lesser impact moves designed to tone the lower body. She has done a good job of choosing excerises which use large muscle groups, so more calories are burned. Kathy and her crew have the required amount of enthusiasm, and are well coordinated, but you should buy this video just to see the guy in the back. I know he means well but it looks like he's having some sort of an attack. Do not try his unique style of aerobics at home, you might hurt yourself :)

No equipment is neccesary for this workout. You'll burn lots of calories but don't expect to get a very good upper body workout.

The aerobic portion of this video is fairly short (there are only six, 2 minute intervals) but amazingly, it works! At least if, like most women, you are looking to get rid of those "saddle-bags". I had been faithfully using Tae-bo (advanced) but noticed that my legs were actually getting bigger in the areas I was trying to get smaller. However, in using Kathy Smith's Peak Fat Burning video 2X per week for the past 4 weeks (w/o a change in diet), I have finally reduced those areas of my legs that needed it! This is the first video that I have found that actually worked in that way! The work out itself is not the most challenging, but it is easy to follow if you give yourself a day to learn the routines. This is because, as I have found in all of her other videos, she is not the best at telling the viewers the steps in advance. Regardless, she makes it fun and the minutes just fly by!

I have been trying to get into exercising for about 6 years now to no avail. I ordered this video to give it a go and I absolutely love it! I can't wait to come home and get moving. It's great for me being a beginner with the low-impact people to watch, or more advanced people like my husband w/ the high impact people to follow also. It fits for whatever your level of fitness. The intervals go by quickly and the recovery periods really work on your lower body. Kathy is wonderful at explaining everything as she goes and previewing all the moves before each interval. The warm up is also great, and the stretch at the end is invigorating. I will definitely be purchasing another Kathy Smith workout!

This is a terrific workout for getting both a thorough cardio workout and some decent leg toning exercises. It features a great warm-up that gives you plenty of time to get the muscles ready for some good static stretches, followed by a cardio interval section that requires no step or special equipment. Every section is demonstrated first at a normal cardio tempo, then is done much more quickly for a two minute interval designed to get you breathless. Unlike most aerobic workouts that encourage you to keep the heart rate low enought to pass a "talk test," the theory behind interval training is that you condition your heart to recover more quickly when you repeatedly raise the heartrate. In between intervals, you keep the pace challenging while doing some lower body work like lunges and squats (in what's called an active recovery.) It's pretty thorough, easy to follow and easy to adapt depending on fitness level, back/knee problems, etc. This type of training is ideal for anyone who plays sports or wants to see more allover strength and endurance. It's a training secret that athletes have used for years and Kathy presents it for the common man very well.

This workout is a great way to burn calories, without being BORING. It's also a great workout for anyone who isn't real great with alot of complex dance steps. I personally have six different Kathy Smith workouts, and she never disapoints me. I am a mother of two small children, and Kathy Smith's "Functionally Fit" tape has been a great way for me to not only burn calories, but to also get physically stongger. Kathy always gives great insructions and cues in all of her videos. Yes her tapes are on the more difficult side, but if you want to shed the extra pounds this tape can help you do it. I also recommend, for anyone with very little time (like us moms), the "Timesaver Cardio Fat Burner". It gives an excellent workout in just twenty minutes, and there are two different twenty minute workouts on the tape so you won't get bored.

I bought this video about a month ago and I love it. I was able to follow the routine completely by the second or third viewing. Kathy always gives cues as to what's coming up next, so I never get lost. I've tried Denise Austin, and found her to be terribly difficult to follow and annoyingly perky. Kathy has a nice disposition with lots of energy, but never feeds you obviously fake motivating lines (e.g. "You're a GREAT PERSON!!!!" "You DESERVE to lose weight!!!!!!"). All in all, I love it. The only thing is that it concentrates a whole lot on the lower body. I use it everyday in combination with 8 minute abs and 8 minute arms, and I have started seeing results already.

I have quite a few Kathy Smith fitness tapes and they are all the best home exercise tapes on the market - period. That said, this is the best of all for cardio and weight loss. You don't need any equipment and the workout is only 40 minutes long in its entirety, or just do the first half if you can't spare the time.

It's great for beginners, but even intermediate exercisers like me will get a TOUGH workout. Kathy is always wonderfully motivating and the time flies by. I alternate this with her Functionally Fit Lower Body Sculpting and New Yoga tapes. These are the only fitness videos you need to see great results in 3 weeks (each tape 2x/wk)!

I am brand new to aerobics (2 months) and what strikes me about this tape is how fast the time goes and how much fun it is. The entire workout lasts 40 minutes with your warmup/stretch and then 6-2 minute high impact aerobic intervals followed by a couple minutes of active recovery time where you are doing squates, plies, and lunges. Then you have your stretching at the end. There isn't any wasted time on this tape. Kathy is one of my favorite instructors, and she didn't disappoint me with this video. I hope she comes out with another one just like it. Out of my collection of 20 videos, I'd have to say this is my favorite.