Product Details

• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony
• VHS Release Date: November 3, 1998
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 157330994X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,390 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gym quality strength training at home, June 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Kathy Smith - Secrets of a Great Body Total Workout, Vol. 1 - Upper Body [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you don't want to visit a gym and lift weights there, you can do this easy workout at home. All you need are a couple sets of hand weights (1-2 lbs. & 4-5 lbs.), and Kathy Smith shows you the rest. The moves are easy and effective. This isn't an aerobic workout, so you only do it 2x a week, and couple it with exercise 3x a week for best results. I prefer to use it with "Functionally Fit: Peak Fat Burning" which has a lot of lower body toning in it. There is a "Secrets of a Great Body: LOWER Body Workout" available, too. By the way, this video isn't just TONING, it's a STRENTHENING workout which actually changes your shape by producing stronger muscles. If that's what you want, this is the video for you! Kathy Smith is great.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Upper Body Workout!, April 29, 2002

By 

C. Sullivan (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kathy Smith - Secrets of a Great Body Total Workout, Vol. 1 - Upper Body [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I love the workout, but don't care too much for the video, so I gave Secrets of a Great Upper Body "only" four stars. But allow me to say it's a GREAT strength-building routine that you will get A LOT out of if you listen to Kathy Smith's instructions and really focus in on the individual muscles you're working.

Oh, the video. Other reviewers have mentioned it: the brief anatomy lessons before each muscle group & short demonstrations of each exercise before the reps start. Clearly a misguided editing decision, but not a big deal overall. Keep the remote handy, or better yet, do what I've done and abandon the tape altogether once you get the routine down. It'll shorten your workout time, and also let you maximize your efforts by allowing you to follow YOUR OWN PACE, as opposed to trying to follow along with the tape.

I wrote down the different exercises, and what weights I use for each. The first set I usually make lighter than the second set by a few pounds, so that the second set I'm really pushing to the point of fatigue. I aim for each rep to take 2 seconds to contract and two seconds to release, and instead of watching Kathy & her spandexed peeps when I workout, I've found it's much more helpful to keep an eye on my own form in a full-length mirror. Using this method, I've been VERY happy with the workout Kathy Smith put together for this tape! Talk about results!!

For a year beforehand I worked out with weights, but always by following along with a video (Arms of Steel, and also Kathy's Lift Weights to Lose Weight). This tape, however, is so straight-forward --just ten basic moves, two with an additional variation -- that after a couple of weeks I felt comfortable with just my "cheat sheet" list of exercises to guide me. Since I no longer need to keep up with the tape, I can really work at "eeking out" those last few reps, allowing me to use heavier weights, which has really increased my strength and also my motivation!

Whether you do the tape or just the workout, you'll soon appreciate the many benefits of this fine strength-training routine that Kathy Smith has put together for this video. Enjoy!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This "Secret" Should Be Shared, March 5, 2001

By 

April Blake (Genesee, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kathy Smith - Secrets of a Great Body Total Workout, Vol. 1 - Upper Body [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Because this workout is designed to be done only twice a week, it is easy to stay motivated and to keep up a routine. Kathy explains the function of each muscle group in the upper body, as well as details how the exercises will affect the muscles. Because of the explanations, it is easy to master the form of each exercise, and when you're strengthened enough to zip through each set with ease, you get heavier weights, and it's like a whole new tape again. So far in the two months that I've been using this workout, I have seen improvement in my upper-body strength. The ab and lower-back section of this tape still provides ample challenge for now (especially those HFL Leg Thrusts). What drives me to recommend this video is that before I came across this video, I was a closet couch potato. I'd do an exercise tape semi-faithfully for three weeks at the most, then get bored with it because I wasn't feeling or seeing results. The "Secrets of a Great Body" workouts do not give instant results, but you will start feeling stronger during the first few weeks of your routine, and when you can do all twelve push-ups in both sets, you feel like you're getting somewhere. Get this video and let this Secret out!