Customer Reviews

Lotte Berk Method For Beginners - Hip Hugger Abs

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a dancer turned teacher, therefore, I have been doing situps and ab strengthening exercises for a long time. This video (if done with correct positioning) will give you great results. Be aware you most likely won't feel a burn like you will after a hundred crunches. These exercises are designed to FLATTEN your stomach, where most of the crunches and situps people do build muscles that bulge out. Stay consistent and you will be extrememly pleased with the results.

Out of all the workout DVDs that I own this is the one that I enjoy best and that gets me the results I want. It includes yoga poses and uses pilates. There are three instructors at all time which is better than just having one or eight! One of them demonstrates the beginner stage, the one who's instructing you demonstrates the intermediate and the other one shows the advanced level. The instructor reminds you throughout the DVD how to hold yourself, reminding you of how to place your neck properly, to hold in your abdominals which is very useful since if you're like me you'll tend to forget. I have the complete lotte berk workout, my favorites are 'hip hugger abs' and 'muscle eats fat'. You'll feel very relaxed and good with yourself and stronger after doing these workouts. I highly recommend this.

The Lotte Berk Method is a form of exercise developed by Russian dancer Lotte Berk and brought to America by Lydia Bach. Drawing from dance and other similar disciplines, many of the exercises require the use of a ballet barre, and the focus is on making small, precise movements to facilitate the development of long, lean muscles. Unlike the other videos in this series, however, the movements in Hip Hugger Abs, which work the abdominal area, are performed entirely on the floor without the use of a barre.

Like all of the Lotte Berk videos, this workout begins with high knee lifts to warm up. Instructor Suzanne Cook leads two other Lotte Berk instructors, one of whom shows modifications. Also included in the warm up are push-ups: 2 sets of 10 on your knees, and then 2 sets of 10 "reverse" push-ups, performed with your hands behind you and your chest up to switch the work to the triceps. After the warm up, the workout moves to the floor. Starting in a seated position with your knees bent, you lean back, tilting your pelvis, pulling in your abdominals, and holding a sort of isometric contraction. You perform several repetitions and also several variations, such as holding one leg in the air. By the end of this segment, I could definitely feel my abs working!

Next comes a series of Pilates inspired movements. Beginning on your back, you lift your bent legs in the air and dip your toes to the ground; you then perform the same movement with straight legs. Moving on to your side, you do a single set of side leg lifts, and to finish, it's on to your stomach for a few brief holds of elbow plank. Although all of the above are effective movements, I don't think that enough time was devoted to the individual exercises, and I didn't feel very worked out after this segment. The workout ends as all the LBM videos do with a "Shape by Stretch" section in which you perform several different stretches to finish at a total of 26 1/2 minutes. While there are certainly some merits to this video, better abs and Pilates workouts are available.

I watch the video first before I attempetd the wokout and it looked so simple. I almost didn't do it. But from a few simple and even relaxing moves (the stretching) I got a great workout. I didn't feel the effects on my abs until the day after. Every time I moved my core I felt the burn of worked muscles. I did have one problem with this workout. It was hard on my wrists. I found the backwards push up painful and skiped doing part of them. A great workout for those of us who long to look great in thos hip huger jeans.

I was shocked at my results! I have been killing myself at the gym, doing crunches and working on the machines for over a year now with only some results. After the first workout with the DVD, I started seeing some definition! I thought I was just imagining things, but now I have done this workout for the past 2 weeks, and the results have been amazing! I am on my way to having a total 6 pack after just a few sessions! At first, the exercises looked way too simple to be effective, but the results have proved me wrong!

I've been doing this workout for six months, and it's the most effective ab workout I've ever done, as well as being one of the quickest and simplest. I know the exercise by heart now so I do them daily after some cardio or power yoga; I am quite fit and health-conscious generally, but these few simple moves, done daily and with awareness, have really sculpted my mid-section as it's never been sculpted before, and I'm wearing the hipster jeans and bikinis for the first time (and I'm a mother in her early forties...). I'm impressed enough to be considering buying other Lotte Berk dvds..I wonder if I could make my asets higher and rounder too?!

I love, love, love this one and I really enjoyed this instructor, Suzanne. She was firm but sweet, lol. She gently chided you if she suspected you were getting sloppy: "Keep the integrity of your form, because they're not sloppy."

Uhm, this ab work leaves Burr Leonard (The Bar Method) in the dust. I've never seen some of the exercises and my abs let me know it right away. These are incredible. Some are just plain freaking scary ... *cry* but I loved every minute of it. If you buy the 4-pack, this one alone is worth the price of the pack. I do this one every day after whatever workout I do in the pack. I alternate Lotte Berk with Bar Method but I make sure either this workout or the HHA Bonus Blast is done every day and I have people in my office coming over to touch my abs. They are ROCK HARD. It's that wonderful. There are 3 modifications shown for the workouts here and each one could be done by us, depending upon how strong we're feeling or crampy or ambitious we are.

Barbara (the most advanced instructor) is really scary in this one. She kept the plank held even through the rests and she never trembled once. Perfect form, perfect posture, strong and muscular body.

I'll say the easiest exercise was the Lotte style situps and that's saying something.

The Bonus Blast is going to be humbling if you're not extremely fit. Be warned. It is grit tough and maddeningly horrifying, lol. At first, you just collapse and stare at her as if she's some kind of demon woman. But somehow, you force yourself back up into position and pick it up and keep going. Your legs won't be as high as hers, your back won't be as straight but each time you do it, your form will improve to the point at which you smile happily when you realize, "OMG, I'm DOING IT!"

The Bonus Blast is only about 10 minutes, but you're working hard the entire time. Again, there is no easing in, especially on the Bonus Blasts. You get straight to business and isn't that what you want when you don't have a lot of time for chatter in DVDs?

I love these kinds of exercises and am happy that I bought the 4-pack because there are 4 DVDs -- I have a very nice rotation now and am even more motivated now to keep pushing forward! Hooray!

One other thing: If you've been doing The Bar Method or Callanetics, you will be very well prepared for the Lotte Berk workouts. If you don't have that background, don't worry. There is a beginner DVD/tape. If you start with this one, you just may collapse from the shaking, trembling and sweating. LOL! And strangely you'll feel really good about it because every muscle in your body will feel worked and you'll also be strangely relaxed.

The abs are notoriously difficult to sculpt and they resist overtraining but if you're watching your diet and you are religious with your workouts, you will see them begin to appear. You really will. This is the first DVD I've used that has backed up that boast.

I enjoy all of the Walk Away the Pounds DVD's but didn't feel that I was getting an adequate ab workout. I started searching for an ab DVD and came across the Lotte Berk Method - Hip Hugger Abs. Well, I've lost 60 lbs and am attempting a 2 piece bathing suit this summer for the first time, so I thought that would be the best one to try. IT IS TOUGH, but I love it! The music is fabulous and the instructors are wonderful. I now plan to order all of the Lotte Berk DVD's and alternate them with my WATP DVD's. I would like to do both every day, but I don't always have time for that. I did both today, but I had a rare "un-busy" night. I can't wait to see my results in a few weeks - I was really sore today after doing this last night for the first time. It has a very modern feel to it. I will say that I love Leslie Sansone to death, but sometimes tire of all the laughing and conversation - at least after hearing it a few thousand times. There is none of that in this DVD which is a nice change of pace. I don't care what they cost - it's worth it.

The only advice I can give: concentration. If you concentrate on truly holding your abs in, your breathing, and your form, this DVD is truly amazing. If not, if you simply go through the motions, it's no better than any other one out there.
That being said, this DVD truly gives you something to work towards. While none of them have the scary 6 pack abs found on female body builders, they all have shapes to be envious of, and Barbara? The woman held the plank pose the entire time! I was shaking the first time I did it after 30 seconds. If you want the streamlined dancer's look, and the sleek, hard abs of someone with core strength, this is for you. The extra blast at the end is not for the easily intimidated--it's much harder than it looks. Great value for the money!

I love this dvd. I have done pilates for quite a while and was getting a bit bored with it and wasn't noticing much change anymore. This Lotte Berk Method Hip Hugger Abs is just the change I was needing. It is very similar to many pilates workouts but targets the muscles differently. I feel the burn everytime I work out. I would definately recommend this DVD to any one, beginner to advanced.